The Reinvention Effect
Most people never reinvent themselves. Not because they can't, but because they're waiting for something-the perfect time, the right circumstance, their “magic number” of age plus the years of service when they can finally retire, when they finally have enough.
They've been working with investment companies that tell them exactly how many years they need to work, how much they must put away, and if they follow the plan, they'll get the dream. They'll walk on sandy beaches with their husband or wife, carrying their sandals in their hands, smiling just like the magazine ads show.
But that moment? It never comes. I know, because I’ve been there.
I've reinvented myself more than once. From pharma to fashion, triathlete to homesteader, customer experience expert to best selling author and podcast host. Every single time the hardest part wasn't learning something new, it was taking the risk.
I had lost the idea that I needed permission years before, I had realized that the meaning and purpose of life was to be found in the experience of it, just like Joseph Campbell said. I had stood at the front of corporate meetings, feeling the weight of perceived expectations. I looked around the room, eyes were locked on me, showing relief that it was me speaking and not them. They were “compassionately indifferent”. The other eyes, they were glued to their phones, not paying attention to me at all.
I saw it again in fashion. Customers, so caught up into their own lives, simply weren't focused on mine. They were indifferent, “compassionately indifferent”, and in that indifference, I found a gift. I found it freeing. I found freedom to be myself without a fear of their judgment.
We like to tell ourselves that change is hard, doing something different is complicated. We need to save up. We need better connections. We need better circumstances. Those are lies.
Then there's the fear of failure. People talk about failure as if it’s the end. But I never saw it that way. I learned. Depending on one's perspective, I suppose every transition, every shift in industry, and every bold move could be labeled as some sort of failure. I adjusted and moved forward. What came with that was a bigger, better, more interesting life.
And what about that comfort zone where failure doesn't exist. You won't find growth, impact, happiness, or new experiences either. People crave certainty, wanting to know how things will play out before taking the first step. Reinvention doesn't work that way. Comfort in discomfort is the price of entry for the life you want.
Imposter syndrome? I've grown weary of that phrase. Feeling like you don't belong, stepping into a world of unfamiliarity, that's not imposter syndrome, that's normal. It's not an identity. It's not a syndrome. It's growth.
I spent the years of my youth caring about what other people thought of me and I realized they weren't judging me. They weren't watching my every move and they weren't waiting to see if I failed. Even if they were judging, watching, and waiting to see if I failed, what did that tell me? It told me more about them than it did about me.
They were projecting their own fears, their own doubts, and their own limitations. It told me something else-that if they were focused on me, I had power.
Reinvention doesn't happen all at once, it happens when you stop waiting and start moving The perfect moment? It's not coming. If you won't give yourself permission, no one else will either. Start with the smallest steps, the phone call, the email, signing up, and see what happens. Do it again.
The judgment? Overestimated. Worst case scenario? Unlikely. The risk? Not as big as you think, and the fear? Do it anyway.
Reinvention isn't for those with reserved status. It's for you. The meaning of purpose of life? It's found in the experience of it. Joseph Campbell said it, and I've lived it. You have to say “yes” to new experiences. The real question isn’t-can you? Because you can. The real question is are you ready to say yes to yourself?
Your next experience? It starts today.
