During these times of uncertainty, many of us are questioning who we are and where we are going. The problem is that many of us don’t know what to do and we feel stuck in who and where we are. Yet, we have more time to reflect on our situations and, more importantly, to start thinking about where we want to be and who we want to be. It is time to reinvent yourself and to take action.
Here are some ways that can help guide you through this opportunity successfully.
Career Resilience
One thing that I always require my clients to do is to build up their career resilience. This is the ability to bounce back from adversity or setbacks. When you come to some difficult choices, you are able to face those obstacles and move forward into new career possibilities and not be stuck. It doesn’t mean that it’s going to be easy but it allows you the opportunity to be in control and strengthen yourself to handle setbacks and turn them into opportunities.
Self-care
It is very important as you reinvent yourself that you practice self-care as you step out of your comfort zone and develop new habits, rules, and attitudes. It can be a difficult journey as you make changes, so it is important that you take care of yourself and find ways to grow through self-care. These may include: meditating, exercising, connecting with your network, unplugging from social media and technology, journaling, and just simply relaxing. You need to find what works for you and helps you recharge as you reinvent yourself.
GPS
It is important to plan and have a vision of what you want and who you want to be. Planning who you want to be one year from now will give you those steps and goals that you need to reach the new you. It is important that you write down these goals for each day, week, and month so that you can have a roadmap to where you’re going. This will help you as you move forward with confidence.
Morning routine
You should start to wake up a little bit earlier so you can begin your day with a morning routine. I recommend that you do a few different types of activities to engage yourself to start the day off right. For example, every morning I do meditation, walks, journaling, listening to a podcast or reading a few pages in a book, and visualizing where I want to be in my day and in my life. This routine can be as short as 10 minutes or could last as long as 60 minutes, depending on my day and the time I have available. It gives me energy and focus to start the day right.
Learn
It’s important that you find learning opportunities to help you grow as a person and as a professional. This could be in the form of a webinar, course, lecture, or reading a book. Learning motivates you and helps you develop your mental and emotional skills and introduces you to new people and thoughts. It also helps you push your boundaries to step out of your comfort zone.
Comfort zone
We all need to step out of our bubble and experience new things. Think of two things that scare you that you could do easily over the next week to take you out of your comfort zone. Do not let your thoughts hold you back; instead, remind yourself that you are capable and confident and that you can do these activities. Put these two activities in your weekly schedule and complete them for your first steps out of your comfort zone. By stepping out of your comfort zone, you’re trying new things, looking at things in a different way and you will gain a new perspective on life.
Fail and fail some more
No one is perfect. We all make mistakes, but it is more important that will learn from those mistakes. I look at my mistakes as opportunities to learn about myself and what I do to grow. Failure is a great way to show you what does not work. It can open other doors and opportunities as you find yourself growing from your failures. Accept your failures and learn from each one.
In reinventing yourself, these are only a few activities and pieces of advice that you can use to start making positive changes. The best way to reinvent yourself is to take small steps and be in action every day with courage and confidence in what you want and where you are going.
The new YOU starts today