The people’s life journey traverses from being child to being wild; the privilege is not in growing old but being able to hold the infant’s nature for as many days and as much as a person can in oneself.”
~ Anuj Somany ~
Reinvention is an “R” word that I’ve come to seriously dislike. I shudder every time I hear it. Call me picky, but to me, it sounds like there is something wrong with anything that supposedly needs “reinventing.” How do you “reinvent” something that already exists? It’s either invented or it’s not.
As an example, how many times have you heard the phrase, “Stop trying to reinvent the wheel? It’s a waste of your time.”
Yep, sure is.
Of course the wheel has come a long way since its humble “Fred Flintstone” origins. Wheels are used in heaven-only-knows how many variations and applications. They are made of different materials, and they come in a myriad of sizes and colors. They have been adjusted and adapted, but they haven’t been reinvented. They are still wheels.
This “R” word especially annoys me in the context of reinventing your job or lifestyle. To me, reinvention implies that you have to tear yourself apart and start over in a sort of back-to-the-drawing-board way.
Reinventing oneself seems intimidating, de-energizing, confidence destroying and overwhelming, as if you have to “undo” something about yourself that’s not right. Why would you want to do that? You’ve worked danged hard and gone through a lot to get where you are!
Where you are is a place you’ve never been. It’s a place where the world has never been. You can’t reinvent something that doesn’t exist. What you can do is become like the wheel. Adapt and adjust how you work and live to accommodate the changes.
Instead of reinventing, what if you thought about what’s next for you as crafting something new? Forge ahead. Invent new ways to use your gifts, skills and abilities. Put them to use in a completely different field. Learn about something that interests and excites you. Spur your creativity to design an innovative business, product, or service.
That’s not reinvention. Quite the opposite. Who you are and how you craft your life is an ongoing invention that engages you no matter how old (or young) you are.
If you’ve reached a point in your life or career where the “R” word is showing up in your vocabulary, I challenge you to find a way to traverse “from being a child to being wild.” Kids don’t “re” anything!
Craft your Sexy Second Act by calling forth that delicious curiosity, playfulness, and childlike wonder you may have lost or put aside. You’ve never been in this place before, so look forward with new eyes.
Be curious. Have fun. And as Steve Jobs urged us to do, stay hungry and foolish. If you do that, you’ll find a way to make this stage the best stage of your life!
January Jumpstart begins two weeks from today on Thursday, January 28th at 6:00 p.m. Pacific time. Join me and learn how to recapture that childlike joy and create your Big, Juicy, Career and Life goals for the year!