Re-inventing yourself: Getting Creative to Remain Competitive

Written By: Darren Bocksnick © 2009

Leveling the playing field: Job candidates, business owners and entrepreneurs all find themselves in a similar position: they must draw from their reservoir of talents and experiences, education and ambition- just to land the next opportunity. The current economic trend is forcing every opportunity seeker to reach further and push harder than they have done in times’ past such as continuing their education or developing some new set of skills so they can have a broader palette of qualifications to offer a potential employer or client. In other words, opportunity seekers must re-invent themselves to stay on top and remain competitive in today’s economic climate.

A clean slate, what will you make of it?: The notion of re-inventing oneself is much like being given a canvas sheet, some paint brushes and having paint in front of you while you endeavor to create something from nothing. What’s worse is that you are in the midst of a room full of master artists all waiting their turn while each of them observes your every move in exacting detail. Now, here’s the clincher in this scenario: you don’t know the first thing about painting and yet you’ve been asked to create a master-piece on your own! Questions like “where do I begin?” and “what do I do next?” suddenly take on new-found significance.

Breaking down to build back up: Re-inventing yourself takes initiative, courage and a whole lot of creativity. In some cases, you may have to undergo temporary setbacks in order to move forward again and gain a foothold in your career path. You may be forced to take a hard, objective look at yourself to see what areas you need to improve in. In this respect, having close confidants or family members to give you an honest assessment of your strengths and weaknesses is an integral part of the reinventing process. Quite succinctly, it may take a little breaking down firstly before a building up and reinventing of oneself can take place.

The Basics of Re-inventing Oneself- Whether you’re stepping into an unfamiliar industry and endeavoring to change career paths or launching into the unknowns of starting a new business; the challenge of re-invention can be lessened to a degree when these basic principles are applied:

1) Make Personal Development a Priority: In its simplest form, the art of re-inventing oneself is actively engaging in some form of personal development on one level or another. Personal development could be in the way of education, certifications, hands-on experience or other, similar ventures so long as in the end-result- you become something better than you had been before.

Broaden your horizons: While there are reports of highly qualified individuals hiding their degrees for risk of being over-qualified; the concept of re-inventing oneself is to try something new and unfamiliar or to venture into something challenging and unchartered. The slight risk of being over-qualified typically only happens when someone has excelled in one area to the point they are experts in their field and have little room left for growth or development in that particular area. Yet, the most fundamental premise of re-inventing oneself is to broaden your horizons and become adept in many areas of expertise or in multiple professions so that when new opportunities become available to you; you’ll be adequately prepared for them!

The multi-faceted approach: Still, there are other aspects of personal development that are equally as beneficial; yet seldom considered. Some of these include accountability programs like Mastery for Men and Mastery for Women, which are dynamic concepts for helping individuals re-invent themselves and to rise to their full potential through personal, one-on-one mentoring and training. There are also self-instructional courses that utilize multi-media formats such as video webinars or guided tutorials to teach focused visual lessons on a broad array of subjects that are centered on your personal development.

Staying committed to your own cause: As you engage in the practice of re-inventing yourself, it will not be long until you will start noticing the transformation taking place. The real temptation then at this point is in not staying committed to the cause of your own development and instead, stopping short of the process. Stopping short of your completed development only circumvents your own success and advancement. It prevents the opportunities awaiting you from ever occurring and only delays the benefits that will one day come as a result of your endeavors.

The upgraded version of yourself: At that, just stay committed to the cause of your personal development to see just how far it can take you. Personal Development is like an upgraded, higher-performing version of yourself! Without the upgrades, you will eventually become obsolete but personal development will empower you to reach new, unprecedented heights you never before imagined!

2) Be Open to New Opportunities: As you grow with each new challenge and master it; new doors will undoubtedly open unto you that are filled with greater challenges and even more rewarding opportunities. Yet, one cannot gain momentum standing still; neither can there be any reward discovered until firstly, there is a risk encountered and ultimately, overcome.

Be an inventor of your own destiny: Those who are bold enough to re-invent themselves are really inventors of their own destiny. Inventors, in this analogy are never afraid to try new things, take risks, to “step-out-on-a-limb” and find out what works or doesn’t work toward accomplishing their ultimate goals. To them, it’s all an experiment to prove and substantiate a theory. If inventors are bold enough to risk the possibility of failing in order to try experiments based on non-conclusive theories and unproven speculations just to prove it could be done; then how much more willing should individuals be to put their own abilities to the test by stepping up to new challenges and trying new things?

Unprecedented opportunities in unexpected places: When new doors are opened, even if it’s in a non-related industry or is a subject that may not be of immediate interest to you- walk through that open door of opportunity regardless. Sometimes the opportunities we’ve waited our entire lives for are in the most unexpected of places when we are the most unwilling to embrace them.

The open door of opportunity: The view of an open door from the outside looking in is never quite comparable to the view once you actually walk in and discover what’s on the other side of the door! Even though a subject may not instantly appeal to your interests; once on the “other side” you may discover aspects of it that are indeed, interesting. If anything, the challenge alone should be enough to fuel your determination to enter into the opportunity and see what it’s about even when your interest level is not or has subsided.

No risk, no reward: A “new opportunity” only becomes something new upon the cusp of its realization or discovery. Yet, the opportunity is there, existent all along; only it is often hidden behind a plethora of obstacles and challenges that block the opportunity’s entrance from view. Hence; you will never know what rewards await you from the opportunities around you until you firstly take that risk and step into the open doors yet before you!

3) Pursue your Passion: Some people never discover their passion in life and are therefore, left unfulfilled, aimless and without ever knowing their full potential. Still others do discover their passion but never pursue it because they are either too discouraged from life’s pressures or too distracted with temporal pleasures to regain their focus and start the chase. The truly fulfilled and contented individual is he or she who not only discovers his or her potential but who lays everything else aside to pursue it unabashedly.

Keep the pressure up during the pursuit: In the heat of the pursuit, there is never room for easing up on the pressure of the pursuit as every muscle and fiber of one’s being is pushed beyond limits. The pressure is what empowers one with the ability to continue in the pursuit as endorphins activate and neutralize the pain so the muscles can continue exerting themselves. Neither is there a place for faintness of heart or dimness of vision while engaged in the thrill of the pursuit. The prize must ever remain the focal point and be center stage or the pursuit soon loses its appeal.

Do what you love; the money will come: It has often been stated that “if you do what you love, the money will come”. Yet, in our materialistic society too many of us get this wrong and end up doing exactly the opposite. We pursue the money and hope that somehow, we might find our passion in the process. Though this assessment is not all inclusive and concrete; those who do pursue the money first and somehow discover their passion in the process are typically, the exception and not the rule.

The thrill of the pursuit: Many find the pursuit of something to be equally as enthralling as the actual, obtaining of that which is being pursued. This indeed may be the case in many scenarios but in the pursuing of your passion; the saying definitely holds sway. Pursuing what you love while in the actual process of doing what you love as you go is the ultimate definition of dreaming of your ideal life only to wake and find that you’ve been living out your dreams all along!

The Benefits of Re-inventing Oneself- Besides the better person you will undoubtedly become as you go through the process of re-inventing yourself, there are other advantages as well. Here are some added benefits associated with the art and act of re-inventing yourself.

- Increased confidence: You’ll be assured of your success in an endeavor and quick to try new things.

- Respect among peers: You’ll gain a new found respect among peers as they see the “better you” surface!

- Improved health: As you re-invent yourself, your stress and anxiety lessen, thus improving your health.

- Greater sense of well-being: You’ll become relaxed and content with your life and at-ease with yourself.

- Developing of new talents: With a newfound state of mind, you’ll be anxious to enhance your skills.

- Obtaining of goals: As the new you emerges you will suddenly want to accomplish all your goals!

- Enhanced relationships: Throughout the process of improving yourself, relationships will likewise improve.

- Breaking off of old habits: The natural succession of becoming the new also means breaking off the old.

- Greater success: Re-inventing yourself usually spells success in areas of business, personal achievements, etc.

Re-inventing- the accomplishment of a lifetime: In the final scheme of things; improving our circumstances through improving our lives; hence, re-inventing ourselves is perhaps, one of the greatest accomplishments we could hope to achieve. For just as the aroma of spring permeates and refreshes everything around; so also does a life re-invented affect everyone around with the refreshing scents of positive change!