Self-actualizing or re-inventing yourself at any age is possible. Too many people decide it’s either too late or too difficult to find a new career, passion, or relationship. The result of settling for less than what you want or not being who you are is a recipe for unhappiness.
Feeling unhappy, stuck, bored or resentful can be signals that a life change is needed. Unhappiness that occurs without a situational trigger event indicates that emotional, physical, intellectual or relational needs are not being met. Besides feeling sad when we are unhappy, we can also feel disconnected and under-stimulated in our lives. It is essential to determine if these feelings reflect how we feel about ourselves or if they indicate the disappointing state of our careers, our relationships, or the longing for change, growth, or adventure.
People who crave big change in their lives often discover they did not consider what their core values were when originally choosing their career or partner. Values are what we care the most about in our lives. It’s a judgment about a standard or principle that we hold in high regard. Including values in the reinvention process improves awareness of what choices for change will increase self-esteem and fulfill unrealized potential.
Deciding whether or not reinventing yourself is the process you need to increase your ability to feel happy or decrease depression involves doing an inventory of what you like or don’t like about your current life. Areas that need to be analyzed are; career, relationship, hobbies, self-esteem, expression of personal values, and attention to your physical and mental health. Retaining the aspects of our lives that are positive is as important as identifying the negative factors that need to be eliminated. Feeling bored and understimulated with your job or career are justifiable reasons to make a change. Sometimes the difference can be simple, like working for a different company but doing the same job. However, reinventing yourself is often more complicated than that. It means you want to take a different path. The transition process is made more accessible by communicating to yourself about the instinct you have to change your life and the fears you must face by doing it.
Expanding your support system is another vital step in reinventing yourself. Making big changes in life can cause anxiety, confusion and hesitancy. Identifying people in your life that will support and encourage you increases the odds of sticking with the pursuit of your new career or lifestyle. It is easy to get discouraged during the reinventing process. Having positive feedback from people who are genuinely interested in your journey or the new discoveries you seek helps inspire action. Talking your feelings and insights out loud with friends, families or mentors helps with decision-making when the time comes to commit to the changes you want to make.
Experimentation is part of reinventing yourself. It’s unrealistic to think you’re going to find your new direction in life just by identifying your values, goals, and strengths. Once you identify the specifics in these areas, finding situations for real- life experience is an essential part of the process of growing in your new direction. Expectations about high performance in new career endeavors should not be the primary focus. The essential component of reinventing yourself is seeking pleasure and self- fulfillment in whatever you decide do. It’s an opportunity to find renewed optimism in the possibility that your goals and dreams can be realized.
The need to reinvent yourself can happen at any age. Young adults can find themselves with college degrees or jobs that do not make them happy or reflect who they are. Retired people can begin to experience isolation, boredom, and depression in the transition away from working. No matter what age you are or the stage of life you are in, as long as you can identify an unrealized dream or an openness to identify one, your life can change, and you can change. A willingness to do the work involved in making changes in attitude, behavior, lifestyle will lead to the new beginning you never believed was possible.
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