Reinventing Yourself

Hey self improver, a better world starts with a better you and YES YOU CAN! So let's take another step toward your best self today.

Last week I was on an expert session call featuring Chris Hetherington. Chris has an illustrious career as a professional football player, hedge fund manager, business leader, and now CEO. When asked about how he successfully transitioned from one thing to the next, his answer was simple: 

He had to reinvent himself every single time.

He had to show up as a different type of person at events to expand his network in the right ways, he developed new skillsets to take on new responsibilities, and when he entered uncharted territory he had to make up for inexperience with rapid learning.

A lot of us feel resistant to becoming a new version of ourselves, and I think it’s because we misunderstand what it actually means to reinvent. 

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Any invention builds off of previously established understanding. Something new is born from what came before, with a new innovative approach. Every new technology is enabled by what already exists. So similarly, reinventing ourselves isn’t about starting completely from scratch… But taking what we already have and retooling it into its next, more advanced form.

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When you put it that way, reinventing ourselves is a natural evolution. By the very nature of life we are always growing and changing. The difference is, when you reinvent yourself you’re being intentional about shaping your growth so that it outputs into exactly who you need to become to take on the next challenge.

It might feel like a wild reinvention of yourself when you transition from being a corporate leader into an entrepreneur… But it’s just a small change in direction. You have all the same relationships and skills that are now being applied toward a new end.

And it might feel like you need to reinvent yourself when you’ve become a parent and your self-care has gone out the window for a year or two… But you have the same baseline knowledge and creativity that you direct to solve a specific problem.

Reinventing yourself isn’t as disruptive as you think it is. It’s part of the process. And the more you can embrace it, the more it will work for you.

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