2020 is being hailed as THE year of diamond clear vision for positive change and self development. So if you are looking to reinvent yourself at 50, then there really is no time like the present.
And I use the term ‘reinvent yourself at 50’ loosely because reinventing yourself is something that you can actually do daily, not just once in your life!
There is no statute of limitations on starting over. Reinvent yourself every day. Be the girl who walks barefoot and listens to the blues. Tomorrow, wear a trench coat and speak fierce truths. Be a phoenix. Be ashes. Burn down. Resurrect. Let go of the idea that you must always be who you have always been.
Clear Vision For Reinventing Yourself
To ‘reinvent’ yourself means to alter your perception of how you see the world, your inner programming and self image. Reinvention can be incredibly challenging and requires huge effort because the self fulfilling prophecy of who we ‘think’ we are, determines who we become. A significant paradigm shift is required to change the many underlying assumptions you hold about yourself.
When something is clear, it basically means it’s easy to grasp, it’s understandable and easy to interpret.
A vision refers to something that is an imagined concept, something vivid, a dream or desire. Your vision is something that defines your optimal desired future state of being, something that you would be happy to aspire to and live with.
Your Personal ‘Why’
Your vision (you can also call it your mission or long term goals) is going to be driven a great deal by your personal ‘why’. This ‘why’ is going to be your impetus for change and absolutely essential for your reinvention success.
When the why is attached to your core values and not any external source, chances are that you will reach your vision sooner and stay there for longer, if not forever.
Do You Know What You Want?
To know exactly who you are and what you want doesn’t always come easy.
Are you gliding through life only knowing what you don’t want, recognising all the things that don’t resonate with you and eliminating them? This is what I call the path of elimination which can be limiting and keep you ‘small’.
Knowing exactly what you want and acting upon that knowing to create the life you desire, involves letting go of all limiting beliefs that have previously hindered your path. This is what I call the path of choice and if you can follow this way, life will never be the same again.
Now is the time to embrace your innate power and optimise your fullest potential by identifying what you want, what your vision is, and applying the changes necessary to create the future of your dreams.
Vision To Reality
Reinventing yourself is exciting, liberating, and freeing without a doubt. However, change can be daunting also. Stepping out of your comfort zone can be unnerving, making big leaps seem a bit too much at times.
I get you.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you had a magic wand and da da….it was all done. Truth is, reinventing yourself takes a bit of hard work and patience on your part. Hey, no-one said it was easy and if it was, wouldn’t everyone be doing it!
I absolutely love hearing stories of how women have reinvented themselves, turned their lives around, rose from the ashes….whatever you want to call it. Such stories inspire me. Make me feel good. Doesn’t every woman deserve to feel fantastic about themselves and live a life that is full? Yes they do!
So I put together some tips to help kick-start your reinvention journey. This is not a step-by-step guide but just some ideas that may resonate and inspire you. I invite you to take from it what works for you.
Top Tips to Reinvent Yourself
So, I close my eyes to old ends. And open my heart to new beginnings.
Draw a line and start afresh
New beginnings are sweeter when they don’t come with baggage. Letting go, and coming to peace with what was is a healthy platform to move forward. Consider all the loose ends you have in your life and start to add full stops. Try to identify those people and situations that create turmoil, feelings of being manipulated or selling yourself short so that you can put a limit on what you allow to happen.
Get to know yourself
Ask yourself what are you good at? What skills do you possess? What would those around you (work or home life) say you do better than others? This is where you need to identify your passions and talents by taking a step back from yourself and looking at the awesome being that you truly are. It is OK to be a little bit braggy at this stage, so go for it, ask yourself – what makes you shine? What makes you, you?
Be selfish
This time is ALL about you. Don’t be distracted. It is super important to inwardly focus to ensure a crystal clear vision of who you are, what you want and where you are heading starts to formulate. As women we are very easily distracted by others’ needs so bring some awareness to the fact that right now, you are not available for anyone else other than you. Turn that light on yourself and drown out the noise around you.
Practice believing to form your vision
Picture it in your mind. Imagine the life you want. Absorb all the details. What are you doing exactly? With whom? Where? This is the vision, this is your goal.
Take it out of your head and recreate it using words or images. Rip pictures out of magazines to build your very own vision board, create a virtual Pinterest board or simply write it down in a notebook. Take the time to really consider and think through a crystal clear vision of how your life will look in the future. Preparation is the key to success.
Name your mission
Create a mission statement to ‘name’ your vision. A simple one sentence statement that encapsulates your vision is perfect. Write it down and put it somewhere you can see it. Everyday! Then jot down two-to five actionable steps that you will focus on in order to get you closer to reaching your goals. Once you have achieved these, you will add more action steps and so on and so forth.
Find your guru(s) and be inspired
You’re not the first and won’t be the last one to reinvent yourself in your fifties, so take a look around. Who inspires you? Who do you look at and go, wow? Read about other reinvention stories. Read biographies of those you admire. Read books and/or articles about what you’d like to be doing. Go for coffee with your friends or acquaintances who you look up to. Knowledge is power and learning from the wisdom (and mistakes) of others can significantly help shape your own reinvention.
I found a great article about many inspiring women who reinvented themselves after they had turned 50, it’s so worth a read.
Create your personal crack team
Show me your friends and I will show you your future.
Jim Rohn once said, that “you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with”. Surround yourself with positivity and encouragement from other driven humans who hold the same motivation in pursuing their own vision that you wish for yourself. Energies are contagious so make sure your crack team reflects who you want to be and what you want to feel. Let your team hold you accountable and check in regularly with them. They will hold you tight when the road gets rocky and doubts creep in.
Flexibility is key
Be open to the fact that your vision may need to be changed or tweaked as time goes on and circumstances become different. Think of your vision as a fluid thing that needs nurturing and taking care of in order to grow and develop. Get creative when things don’t go as planned and never shoot the second arrow when you need to change course. It is all part of the journey.
Be patient and kind with yourself
Things don’t happen overnight. Persistence and commitment will go a long way in ensuring your success but patience is a virtue. Go easy on yourself. For measure, reflect back on how far you have come versus how far you still have to go.
Get feedback
This is going to involve putting your ego to one side and listening to feedback, some of which may be hard to hear. At the end of the day, reinventing yourself is something by you, for you and happens to you so you are probably asking why listen to others?
This is how I see it.
They are your cherry on your cake (if you want a cherry).
It’s your cake. You choose the amount and quality of ingredients you make it with. You decide how long to cook it for and how or if to decorate it. The feedback you receive may just help you tweak your cake recipe to be that much better than you ever envisioned.
We don’t live alone on this earth, ask, get feedback, learn and grow. Eating the perfect cake is more satisfying than one which is half cooked.
Break it down
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step..
When I am confronted with a task that seems mighty and insurmountable I scale it right back to the first thing I need to do and temporarily focus only on that. Identify the starting point and work from there to overcome self doubt, fear and uncertainty.
Kaizen is an approach to ‘creating continuous improvement based on the idea that small, ongoing positive changes can reap major improvements’. In his book ‘One Small Step Can Change Your Life’, Robert Maurer describes how to overcome fear and procrastination to live a life that is full. If videos are your thing, check out this great TED talk on You Tube about the Kaizen way.
Stick with it
Reinvention is a journey, a process. Undoubtedly, there will be bumps in the road and it may take some time. That is OK!
When you falter, keep your vision in mind, reach out to your gurus and crack team, take stock and keep going. Don’t give up. Simple. Fall down 10 get up 11 and whatever happens, continue toward your goal.
The Take Home – Wing It!
At the end of the day, reinventing yourself if not an easy process. Especially once you hit fifty. But it is not impossible. Many have done it, succeeded and gone on to live an authentic super happy life.
I believe that both the process and your end vision should be enjoyable, fulfilling and positive so if at any stage it isn’t, take stock and reassess, make tweaks if needed and continue forward.
Even with all the doubts and fears, ask yourself what have you got to lose? I am a big believer in jumping off and building your wings on the way down – after all, our wings are said to be a representation of our inner strength, power and gifts. Wings that are ready to fly indicate awakening is already underway.
Trust me, the fact you are reading this – your reinvention has already started…….
