How to Authentically Reinvent Yourself in 5 Simple Steps
Today we’re going to talk about how to really reinvent yourself and transform your life.
As I’m writing this it’s mid February, and if you’re the average person your New Years Motivation tank might be running on fumes. Or it died in a ditch on the side of the road back in January. Rest in peace friend, you’ll be missed.
The good news is that you can reinvent yourself and start over at any time and it’s really not hard or complicated. You don’t have to wait for a new year, month, or week. You don’t even have to dye your hair or buy new shoes.
As you go through these steps to reinvent yourself, you’ll create a clear vision of who you want to be, craft a new identity, begin to take inspired action, clear away what isn’t working, and find sources of inspiration to keep you going.
Transforming your life happens on the inside first. You can hit the reset button today and see a real change in your life.
Why do We Want to Reinvent Ourselves?
Whether you’ve recently gone through a life changing event like finishing college, getting married, or being fired from your job, or if it’s just Tuesday and you are tired of life’s nonsense, sometimes we just need a fresh start.
When it feels like you’ve been jogging in place or you’ve hit a wall, wiping the slate clean and starting out fresh can help you get out of the stagnation swamp and move forward.
Maybe you have really big dreams and you haven’t been able to make the progress you want. Or maybe you just know you can be a better version of yourself and you’re ready to make the change and actually be that person.
There are so many reasons to reinvent ourselves and everyone is going to have a different one. Not matter the reason I’m going to share how you can authentically reinvent yourself and create a life you love.
5 Simple Steps to Reinvent Yourself
1. Create an Inspired Vision
Before you can reinvent yourself you need to have a vision of what you want and why you want it. Knowing why you want a fresh start can help you determine which direction to go, and it keeps you going when motivation starts to fade as it always does. When you know what you want it puts you in the drivers seat.
If you’re not sure exactly where you want to go, focus on a feeling you want to have.
If you’ve been feeling tired and listless, then you might focus on the feeling of being energized and inspired. So then you think about what inspires you, whether it be a place, color, music, activity, or person.
It’s important that your vision is meaningful and kind of realistic. I mean, I don’t want to crush your dreams if you’re like “I’m going to reset my life and get a unicorn, baby!” because I want you to have that unicorn, or better yet I want you to be that unicorn.
But the point is we’re working with what we have available right now and much like Rome, unicorns aren’t built in a day. At least that’s what the leprechauns tell me.
Make sure you’re being honest with yourself about why you want change. Sometimes we think we want something, but it’s actually what someone else or society wants. If you’re trying to change something because your parents, spouse, or friends want that then you’re not being true to yourself.
You might find it helpful to learn how to listen to your intuition, it will help lead you in the right direction.
So take some time to figure out what needs to change and why. You can do a brain dump or ask yourself a few questions and see what comes up. I’ve created a list below, answer whatever resonates with you.
Journal Prompts to Help Reinvent Yourself:
- Why do I want to change my life?
- What is working for me right now that I can do more of?
- What habits or situations are making me unhappy?
- Five things that inspire me are ____.
- If my best friend was in this situation, how would I encourage her or him?
- If I wasn’t afraid, what would I do?
- Where do I want to be a year from now?
- What does my perfect day look like?
- What activities make me happy?
- What’s one small change I can make today?
For even more insightful questions you may enjoy 55 Self-Discovery Journal Prompts.
2. Adopt a New Identity
Once you create a vision of what you want, you have to then figure out who you need to be to make that vision real. So, what change do you want to see in yourself? Who do you want to be?
You have to adopt the identity of that person. That means changing your mindset and adopting the attitude of your best self.
Forget wishing you were the type of person who did this or that. Start telling yourself I am that person.
You have to embody your ideal self through your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and actions, and that starts with your self-talk. Whoever you want to be, tell yourself you are already that person!
For example, instead of telling yourself “I wish I exercised regularly,” you have to tell yourself “I am someone who exercises 3 days a week and doesn’t make excuses.”
Create an Alter Ego
One way to get in touch with your reinvented self is to create an alter ego. Imagine another version of you living in an alternate reality. They are successful, happy, healthy, abundant, every thing you want.
Take some time to really fantasize about this version of you. Get inside your alter egos head. I want you to sit for 10 minutes and answer the following questions. Remember this is the person is already at the destination you want.
- What do they believe about themselves?
- How do they talk about themselves?
- How do they feel about themselves?
- What do they do for a living?
- What does their home look like?
- How do they get through challenges?
- What’s their purpose?
- How do they carry themselves/what’s their body language?
- What are their daily rituals?
- How do they practice self-care?
- How do they treat their body?
- How do they treat other people?
This is something I guide my students through in my program Transcendence. Over 21 days we shed old limiting beliefs and create a new identity that allows you to take back your power and become whoever you want to be!
Start to think of yourself in a new way. After answering the journal prompts above I recommend choosing some affirmations that define that version of you and using them daily, here are some ideas:
- I am worthy of my dreams.
- I am confident.
- I am achieving my goals through small daily steps.
- I am strong enough to overcome any challenge.
- I am living my dream life.
- I am someone who follows through when I set my mind to something.
3. Take Inspired Action
Look at your life a year ago, or five years ago. How much has it changed? If it didn’t change much, had your actions changed? Did you set the intention and more importantly put in the work?
Now that you have a vision of what you want, and you’ve defined the identity of the person you want to be, it’s time to take action.
You have to ask what that person would do every single day.
You don’t have to change everything your life overnight, but you can make small daily steps that add up to big change over time. I highly recommend reading Atomic Habits by James Clear, it’s one of the most inspiring books I’ve read about why taking little steps today adds up to amazing results in the future.
Look at your daily habits and see if they are aligned with the person you want to be. If they aren’t it’s time to change them.
15 Self-Sabotaging Habits You Might Need to Quit
Keep your inspired vision in mind. Write it down and look at it every day. Make small goals and get working on them. Create a playlist that gets you pumped and listen to it when you need motivation. Surround yourself with a color that inspires you and make a mental note that when you see that color you take an action that is aligned with your vision.
You might find it helpful to create a vision board you can look at frequently to remind you of what you’re working towards and keep you inspired. I love using Pinterest for vision boards.
4. Clear Away What Isn’t Working
One way to almost instantly transform your life is to clear out the clutter in your life. Whether it be your physical space, your mind, or your relationships, when you clear away the old things that aren’t working you make room for positive changes in your life.
The best place to start decluttering is your beliefs. If you believe you’re stuck where you are then you’ll stay stuck no matter what opportunities come your way.
We learn limiting beliefs as children and carry them through adulthood like a weight on our backs, but they can be changed. When you do it’s like seeing in color for the first time instead of black and white.
To start, learn to recognize negative thoughts as they pop up in your mind and then gently replace them with positive statements until, over time, the positive thoughts begin to replace the negative ones.
Learn more in the link below:
How to Change Your Limiting Beliefs
I probably don’t have to tell you how to clean out your closet, but when I need motivation one of my favorite things to do is watch organization and decluttering videos on Youtube. I also like to have a list to check off, and I use my Tidy Life checklists.
5. Keep Learning
The best way to transform your life and reinvent yourself is to keep learning.
We all hide in our own little life bubbles 99% of the time. It’s easy to just stay there, but when you stop learning you stop growing as a person. Part of you will know there is something missing but because you never look beyond your own life experience you’ll never know what it is.
When you are always gaining knowledge and expanding your mind you are making room for constant growth and transformation.
Learn from Other People
One of the best things I’ve done for myself is read at least one personal development book a month. I have a list of the 12 Best Self Help Books for Personal Development that have really inspired me and taught me so much.
I also watch a lot of motivational Youtubers like muchelleb and Lavendaire, and I listen to personal growth podcasts once in a while.
You can also look for mentors in your personal life to learn from.
I’m always finding little bits of wisdom and motivation from these sources. You take what you need, leave what you don’t, and apply it to your life.
Learn by Looking Inward
In addition to learning from books and mentors, it’s just as important to learn from looking inward.
When you’re mindful of what’s going on inside you can recognize when something isn’t quite right and then look for solutions. You can see tough situations as lessons and find what will help you moving forward and what to leave behind. You can learn from mistakes instead of repeating them and getting stuck in bad patterns.
If you were an iceberg floating in the ocean of life, the part floating above the ocean would be your consciousness and personal life experiences, the part of you hidden beneath the ocean would be your subconscious, and the sky and water would be all the things you can learn from other people. There is so much knowledge to tap into!
Final Thoughts
While the concept of changing your life might seem big and scary, the reality is that it isn’t that hard or complicated to reinvent yourself.
You don’t have to get a new wardrobe or move to a new city to reinvent yourself, it all happens when you have an authentic vision of what you want, make the choice to be that person, take inspired action, discard what isn’t working, and keep expanding your mind by always learning.
I hope you found this helpful and are able to successfully reinvent yourself in whatever way feels good to you.
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Very inspiring. I love it event though I am a coach. I agreed completely with the continuous learning, the visualisation. I am a product of reinvention. From scientists to Etiquette & life Coach.
Great post, I really like “Take Inspired Action”. You have to take action, no one can change your life for you.
I love this post! It could not have come at a better time for me. Thank you for sharing so many helpful tips, especially the journal questions. They really helped me to reflect on what I want and how to go about getting there.
Yes!! looking ahead, 2020 vision. This will be the year of positive change and success. Thank you for this????????????
Super actionable and clear, thank you.
Also, am I the only one who puts on cleaning videos in the background while I clean as motivation?
I have to agree with the keep learning part. I’m constantly learning. There are too many info which cannot be learnt in school. I learnt more out of school and from reading books!
This is so awesome. I especially love the steps that you outlined.
Visualization is the best motivator! I actually just did this again today to get back on track with my blog! Thank you for some really helpful tips!