The Art Of Reinventing Yourself: How To Reinvent Yourself at Any Age

Stop reading now if you think this is going to be about writing affirmations, wishing for more money, or dreaming big. It’s not. It’s about what’s needed if you’re going to reinvent yourself and that’s not always sexy or popular to write about.

Money is great, but developing the right foundations is more important. You can’t build anything or become anyone if you don’t get your foundations right.

I’m 60 and like most people my age, I’ve experienced the good, the bad and the downright ugly.

Based on my experiences and observations of life, there are 5 things I would recommend to anyone wanting to reinvent themselves. No matter what your age, these insights will help you shift your perspective and build a better future.

Delete The Word Success

I know you think I’m crazy, but just hear me out.

The word success has come to be synonymous with money. We have been programmed to believe that unless you have a shed load of money, you are not a success.

Well, that’s a load of rot.

Money is a bad master, but a good slave. Money feeds the ego and chains you to the hamster wheel. You go round and round and round, always running to make more money and never stopping to take in the view as you run, or appreciate what you have.

Money is great, but developing the right foundations should come first, otherwise you end up repeating the same mistakes.

When I started my first job, I got £2000 a year. It was a good starting salary, and I thought if I could just earn 5k then I’d be really happy and mega rich. I wasn’t. And so it continued till I lost it all.

Curiosity Rules Okay!

Instead of chasing success, be more curious. Curiosity expands the mind and opens more doors than success ever can.

With curiosity, you can go further, you can keep on learning and you are never defined by your failures. When you are curious, there are no failures, only growth or learning opportunities.

Being curious doesn’t mean living in some Polly Anna fantasy realm where nothing bad ever happens.

Oh, no. It means seeing how far you can go, what you can discover and accepting responsibility for the consequences, whether they are good or bad.

You learn and progress and in doing so, you grow and become a better version of you.

Compassion For Self & Others.

If I could go back in time, I’d sack that god awful critic that used to inhabit my headspace.

Instead of putting up with all that negative self-talk, and the shame and embarrassment. I’d boot her out and be a bit more compassionate and encouraging with myself.

If you’re going to reinvent yourself you need a compassionate, supporting & positive coach.

There are plenty of people out there ready to criticise you, so why help them by labelling yourself not good enough?

You are good enough. You are good enough right now, and the only person you need to impress is you. Accepting you as you are, with the good, the bad, and the ugly, will help to improve the quality of your life.

According to Dr Julie Smith, Clinical psychologist and author of Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? Research has shown people who develop self-acceptance are less likely to fear failure, persevere when they do fail and generally have more self confidence.

When you can be compassionate with yourself, you can be more understanding and compassionate towards others.

Respect

This is a big one.

How I wish someone had said to me, have some respect for your dreams and the courage to pursue them.

So many of us ditch our dreams because someone else thinks it is a crap dream and not worth pursuing. Often they are just jealous or don’t have the confidence to pursue their own dreams. Now that’s sad.

No matter what others may think. Do it anyway and do it out of curiosity and a desire to learn and not in pursuit of money.

Have respect for the dreams of others and cheer them on.

No matter how big, small or crazy they may seem to you. Don’t judge, but respect their courage to speak out and pursue them. I’ve seen the craziest dreams transform the world, so who am I to judge whether a dream is a good one or a bad one?

Have respect for the planet that we live on. We are all connected, so when you disrespect the earth you disrespect yourself.

Love, Love.

When you can learn to love, love, it can help to change your perception of the world. It gives you the strength to have more composure and courage. Both are needed in good measure.

In fact, Rockefeller built his fortune based on these 2 characteristics.

Rockefeller kept calm when the markets crashed and people were losing their heads and shirts. Then he invested courageously when others were too scared to move forward.

I used to go to a Spiritualist church. It was a beautiful church full of warm, friendly people who sang hymns to the music of pop songs. It was the 70s, mainstream religion dominated and people thought it was weird and abnormal to attend such a church.

The Spiritualist church was the training ground for mediums who delivered messages from the dead.

Every week on a Sunday and Wednesday, a medium would step up on stage and give a demonstration of proof of the afterlife.

One Sunday, a medium stepped onto the stage and began her demonstration. I watched, mesmerised, as a black mist began to cover her face and formed a black circle, like a tunnel. Her voice deepened, and she began to channel a message about love and how it was the most important thing in the world.

As I looked around the small church, it seemed that no one else was bothered by the mist or they didn’t see it. Only I was shocked.

I have never forgotten the image or the message that love was everything. But sometimes when things go wrong, it’s easy to get angry or drown in bitterness.

For a long time, I forgot this message.

Then one day, a drunk who claimed to have psychic powers asked why I was so angry. I denied it, but it turns out he was right. I had buried a lot of anger. I couldn’t see it, but he could. That’s when I started to work on myself.

Telling myself that I love that I’m angry or bitter etc. really helps to shift perspective. Too bad I didn’t learn this hack earlier in life. But, I love that shit happens and as the old Chinese proverb goes,

Behind a mountain is another mountain.

Gratitude Or I Like This & Thanks.

We’ve all heard this one and some of you are going to be saying not that old chestnut.

Some of you are going to be saying how many times have I gotta be grateful?

I understand that.

Which is why I prefer a gratitude jar.

Take a jar or a glass and every day for the next 30 day write on a post-it or even better still a piece of recycled paper something that made you smile, filled you with joy or for which you are grateful.

By doing this, you will have little moments to remind you about the good things and you can see how truly abundant your life is. Changing from a place of abundance is a hell of a lot easier than changing from fear.

Live Strong, Love & Prosper

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