How To Reinvent Yourself

                                                                            

Now that you have ushered in the new year, (congratulations! Making it into the new year is no small feat); but what next?

This time of the year poses a number of important questions about different aspects of your life - be it career-wise, personal life, development, etc. But you don't have to wonder too long, in fact, one of the best ways to approach this is thinking of reinventing yourself.

Reinventing yourself is a process. It does not have to happen at the beginning of the year. It is something that can be done any time of the year. You can always start a new season when you want to.

You must be wondering what’s in it for you and why is it important to reinvent yourself, well, not only will reinvention make you feel in tune with yourself, but also increase self awareness and confidence, gain new interests and skills, a revamped outlook on life, overcome obstacles as you become more adaptable and agile, happiness and fulfilment. The list is endless.

Looking at reinventing yourself as a lifestyle as opposed to something ceremonial is always a good place to start. In addition, understanding WHY you are reinventing yourself is equally vital. But how do you attain this? Here are 9 tips on how to reinvent yourself for the betterment of your life:

Practice Mindfulness

One of the best ways to reinvent yourself is by being mindful of your thoughts, feelings, and overall reality. Doing this will help you understand your current state holistically, which allows you to think of customised ways to approach each area of your life that requires reinventing.

Create A Routine & Respect It

Having structure in your life is a fundamental aspect for your well-being and overall productivity, hence having a routine should be taken very seriously; because it helps you create structure and promote mental, emotional, and physical health.

According to Northwestern University, some of the health benefits of having a routine include managing stress more effectively, as an effective routine can help reduce stress, which can lead to better mental health, more time to relax and less anxiety, in addition to sleeping better.

One of the best ways to respect your routine and stick to it is understanding WHY you set it; being in tune with the objective of your reinvention will drive you to uphold it.

Be Intentional & Honest With Yourself

Stay away from your old self as much as possible and apply a new mentality to help you become a better version of yourself by reorganising, restructuring, and re-evaluating your routine and habits.

Asses Your Habits

Your habits can impact your prospects of reinventing yourself. It is vital to create a list of your habits for thorough assessment and understanding of what you are dealing with.

You can start by doing an audit of your habits and focus on at least 5 habits that you would like to change about your routine. Name them and then review and assess. You can start by ranking them from the severest to the least severest.

Set & Define Achievable Goals

One of the best ways to set and define achievable goals is setting SMART achievable goals, which can be used for effective goal setting by ensuring each goal aligns with its intended impact as per the following descriptions:

S: Specific

M: Measurable

A: Attainable

R: Relevant

T: Time-based

Define A Clear Vision

Be clear on how you envision yourself. Map out what you want to achieve. Defining a clear vision allows you to work efficiently and give your vision undivided attention. You can use visual methods like sketching what you want to achieve or write a list of what you intend to gain from the reinvention process.

Start Small

Reinventing yourself sounds like something light, but it is very important for your overall well-being, thus approaching it realistically with small but consistent steps should be a great place to start so that you are not overwhelmed.

Embrace Change

As the common saying goes “ change is the only constant in life.” Granted you have planned to reinvent yourself through practising mindfulness, defining a clear vision, but change is inevitable. You need to be cognisant of this reality to help manage expectations and set measures to help you adapt to change without veering off your intentions.

Reflect and Evaluate

Reflecting and evaluating your choices is critical in the process of reinventing yourself. It enables you to assess underlying factors such as your strengths and weaknesses; and how to approach them individually. It also serves as a feedback mechanism, and the findings can be used to adjust and manage your goals and make them a reality.

Summary

Practicing mindfulness, intentionality and honesty with yourself, defining a clear vision, starting small, embracing change, and reflecting and evaluating are just a tip of the iceberg when it comes to reinventing yourself. The overarching factor in reinventing yourself willpower. Having a willingness to reinvent yourself will motivate you to apply the above mentioned tips effectively.