Life is constantly throwing challenges our way and this means that there will always be times in our lives when we need to reinvent ourselves. These challenges could come when we experience big changes, such as leaving our jobs, moving on from relationships, moving countries or to a new home or losing a loved one. If you are going through a major shift in your life, you may have to find new ways of thinking or doing things, or risk failing to reach your full potential.

Many people who dared to leave their old unhappy lives enabled themselves to pursue their passions and find a renewed zest for living. You can also achieve the same but only if you take a leap of faith and make things happen for yourself.

Steps on Reinventing Yourself

To help you always be at your best wherever you may be in your life, here are a few easy steps and practical tips on how to reinvent yourself.  Before embarking on a journey of self-reinvention, you need to make sure that you have everything that you need to make the trip as seamless as possible. These things include:

• Resilience.

Problems and obstacles are guaranteed to happen. Some of them will be difficult and may knock you off course; the important thing, however, is that you learn from these difficulties, never lose focus and always get back up.

• Support.

Humans are social beings. Although it is important that you learn to rely on yourself when facing any challenge, it is also important to have a support team that you can lean on to give you a boost when things get too tough and correct you when you’re making mistakes. The key is to find the right balance between independence and dependence.

• A new self-image

Develop a new image of yourself to serve as your guide to your new goal. Remember that you are actually pulling yourself away from your old comfort zones, habits, roles and self-perceptions. It can be as difficult as kicking a vice, but a new self-image will always remind you of why you’re trying to change.

Once you are sure that you’re equipped with all the tools enumerated in the self-reinvention checklist, you can begin your journey of self-reinvention.

• Find out what your strengths are.

This step provides valuable information on how you specifically deal with certain situations. If you have this information, you will be able to manage difficulties more efficiently. To find out what your strengths are, you can ask your friends and colleagues for feedback or take a few free online psychometric or personality tests.

• Plan.

This step calls for a thorough assessment of your current emotional, psychological and financial status so that you can develop plans that are realistic and practical. It’s okay to have ambitious dreams but your plans have to be realistic. Consult experts (career advisers and counselors, for instance) for practical tips and advice.

• Try things out.

Sometimes we don’t know if solutions actually work until we try them out. This is why it is important to experiment whenever possible, especially if you’re dealing with a career change.

• Manage your finances well.

Changes may require a bit of money. If you’re shifting to a new career, you may have to pay for training. If you’re going through a tough divorce or having a hard time dealing with the death of a loved one, you may have to pay for therapy. If you’re moving to a new home, you’ll definitely have to pay a whole lot of expenses.

• Be brave.

Fears and self-doubts may arise when we encounter difficulties and setbacks. Sometimes they may also come when we’re taking risks. You have to manage these negative emotions well and not allow them to discourage you.

• Use your support group.

As stated above, you need to build a strong support group before you even start the process of reinventing yourself. Your group will keep you from taking wrong turns and encourage you when you get too weighed down by problems.

• Remind yourself every day of your commitment.

Write your goals in different-sized cards and scatter them at home and at work in places where you can easily see them. This way, you will constantly be reminded of where you want to be.

• Accept failure, learn and resume your journey.

Failing is normal especially when we’re trying out something new. When you fail, simply recognise it, learn from it and move on.

What is certain is that reinventing yourself and developing a new skill is hard work. Going from out of shape to the best shape of your life is hard work. Transitioning from corporate desk jockey to proud entrepreneur is hard work. And so is pretty much every other goal worth fighting for.

So, if you are thinking of a reinvention, instead of asking yourself, what should I do? Consider asking yourself, what do I want to get out of what it is that I do?  It is after all less about getting what you want and more about wanting what you get.  Once you have answered that question, go out there and create the new you.

“When something bad happens you have three choices. You can let it define you, let it destroy you, or you can let it strengthen you.” ~Unknown