As one year ends and another begins, it’s traditionally a time to focus on new beginnings. But the truth is that you can work on reinventing yourself at any time and should consider it when life is not all that you want it to be.
Make Good Choices
Recently a Forbes.com article reviewed a book by investment manager Gary Spier titled “The Education of a Value Investor: My Transformative Quest for Wealth, Wisdom, and Enlightenment,” which discusses Spier’s reinvention of himself after he left an ethically-challenged Wall Street investment firm.
The article discusses Spier’s thoughts about recreating yourself when you’re unhappy with where you are or where you’ve been in your career and want to start again.
- Model The Right People – Find the people who are successfully doing what you want to do and learn from them, says Spier. Buy their books or meet with them directly if possible. They don’t have to be famous, they just have to be good at their work and accessible in some way.
- Be True To Your Principles – For Spier, this was being honest and decent as a businessman, which he didn’t really figure out until he left his old company. Sometimes we get blinded to what’s important because we feel we have to stay where we are. But you always have a choice.
Be Willing To Work At It
Although we’d like to be able to change overnight, beginning again takes work and commitment. According to the article “Reinvent Yourself” on the Psychology Today website, we can start by focusing on our future selves.
“To make the best decisions for your future self, you need to stop imagining that person as a stranger and instead see that it’s you,” says the article. “Caring more about our future selves can also help us counter the tendency to discount future rewards, which makes so many of us embrace immediate gratification instead of long-term payoffs.”
Other positive steps include setting long-term goals, being realistic in what we hope to achieve, having a contingency plan for setbacks (which WILL happen), and celebrating every success big or small.
My Reinvention Story
I love numerology, and it revealed that this was a particularly good time for my own reinvention: I recently ended a long-time business partnership and also moved with my family permanently from the U.S. to France.
The numbers weren’t the main reason for my new start, but they played a part in the timing of it. The year 2016 is a “9” year (2+0+1+6 = 9). In a nine year, we need to end relationships which aren’t working, clean out clutter, stop destructive habits/ways of life. 2017 is a 0 year (2+0=1+7 = 0), and these years are all about starting again.
Whatever your motivation, here’s to successful new beginnings for all of us—in 2017 and beyond!
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Colleen Slaughter, Proud Executive Coach to the UN World Food Program, the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Winner
As an Executive Coach for Women in Leadership and Transformational Facilitator, my intention is to help leaders in positions of high influence to understand their worth at a profound level.
Supporting women leaders to truly thrive and step into their greatness, while succeeding in male-dominated industries and spaces is my native genius.
My technique and approach show you how to achieve incredible career success without compromising any part of who you are and what makes you magnificent.