Most of us live our lives and pursue our careers in the same way. We acquire set attitudes, behaviors and expectations as young adults, then repeat those patterns in our 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond.

This approach works OK initially, but over the years, we cut our hair, change wardrobes, buy new cars and bigger houses, and ponder: Why haven’t my life, career and dreams materialized as I had hoped? It seems to escape us that Albert Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Sometimes, we seek new horizons by changing jobs or moving to another city. The specific job or location may be new, but most often, we adapt quickly to our surroundings before slipping back to old, familiar habits. For some of us, only health, retirement or major life upheavals force re-examination of our paths and actions.

However, an industry in upheaval and a global world spinning at high-tech speed require not just new ways of looking at the business of newspapers in the 21st century, but also at new personal behaviors and attitudes. It’s time to reinvent yourself.

There are many reasons for doing so, but those detailed here leap to mind.

1) CHANGING YOUR WORK IMAGE
Instead of looking for a “better” job, shedding outdated habits and roles at your current company may be more beneficial. Everyone is prone to falling into ruts at the office. Work styles, even the best ones, can get us stuck in certain roles.

Are you the one who always winds up coordinating office lunches and birthday parties, then resenting it? Do people tap you for your know-how, then get promoted past you? Somewhere along the way, did you take on the role of caretaker, go-to guy, office counselor, workaholic, cynic, company historian, people-pleaser? Were you tagged as too aggressive or too shy to be a leader?

Perhaps you have accepted these roles or perceptions willingly, but if they are defeating your purposes, there’s no reason to be stuck in them forever. Re-examine what people think and expect of you. Is your role working for or against your goals and the way you want to be perceived? If a certain role no longer works for you, consider why you became “tagged” and what parts of the role still resonate with your core values and sense of self.

Consider what you’d be giving up to change others’ perceptions of you and how you might replace the losses with new gains. Then identify ways to achieve those roles in fresher, more satisfying ways that benefit you and the company. Or, abandon them altogether.

2) BECOMING FEARLESS
If you ever have had a fear of something or of not meeting someone’s expectations, you know that it distracts from intentions, dreams and goals. Even visualizing a goal is difficult when fear blocks your vision. At the heart of fear is self-doubt, so when you feel confident in your own talents and power, fear usually melts away.

In her book How Not to Be Afraid of Your Own Life: Opening Your Heart to Confidence, Intimacy, and Joy (St. Martin’s Press, 2007), Susan Piver writes:

“Fearlessness requires attention and receptivity – it takes focus to stand in the still eye of a tornado and not be swept away by it. But once you’ve found a way to face down your worries, you’ll find fear’s opposite – the ability to remain open and mindful under all circumstances.”

Piver offers several steps to help increase fearlessness:

• Admit your worst fears and truths about yourself
• Invite yourself to test your fears
• Be clear about how fear manifests itself within you: How do you react to and address your fears?
• Imagine a supportive companion who accompanies you in facing a risky move.

Work on becoming more fearless. You are capable and powerful enough to do whatever you want to do. Focus time and effort on accomplishing things instead of fretting about worst-case scenarios.

3) DEALING WITH A MAJOR EVENT
At one time or another, an event crashes into our world, shakes us to the bone and leaves us wondering where to go next. It happens to each of us and usually comes out of nowhere – a job layoff, a serious health condition, a spouse who wants a divorce, a house leveled in a hurricane, a forced retirement, a parent who dies.

Amid a topsy-turvy life event is an upside, because during a life crisis we are most receptive to change and open to a breakthrough experience. Let a life-altering experience help jump-start you into meaningful self-reinvention.

After losing her job, partner and identity, baby boomer Sara Davidson pondered her transition to a new life, interviewed 200 people undergoing similar transitions and wrote Leap! What Will We Do With the Rest of Our Lives? (Random House, 2007), to capture insights so others might learn from them.

She writes: “Nobody escapes going through the ‘narrows,’ or crisis of identity, no matter how much money or achievement you have. Whether you’ve been edged out of your job or you’re suddenly striking out on your own, there’s still the question: ‘If I’m not going to do that anymore, what am I going to do?’

Davidson suggests that you let this question and others lead you to new places, people and solutions.

4) LIVING WITH THE UNKNOWNS
Thirty years ago, the concept of “whitewater” change emerged, and the waters of change have only flowed faster. Today, you can e-mail across hemispheres in real time, download music and movies to your cell phone and be interviewed for a position via your laptop. Technology will keep our world changing at warp speed.

We must encounter change with a spirit that does not become paralyzed, is open to new directions and views radical change more as an opportunity than a disaster. Such change may demand ongoing self-reinvention, with multiple careers and lifestyle paths over a lifetime. Don’t just deal with it. Get comfortable with it and build resiliency, agility and creativity to move through this new world. It is the future.

Finally, although I haven’t dwelled on it, I don’t mean to downplay the work – and even, pain – involved in reinventing yourself. It’s not easy. But little in life that is satisfying and worthwhile is easy. So, buck up and get on with it before you find yourself flattened with a black eye after one of life’s surprise uppercuts.

If you are experiencing uncertainty, frustration, fear or dissatisfaction, hold a mirror up to yourself and ask: “Is it time to refocus, reinvent and redirect myself?” Moreover, if you’ve just spent a year moving onto a new path or handling a self-makeover, kudos to you. You are a courageous soul and deserve the new possibilities headed your way.

Goodbye, old you. Hello, reinvented, refreshed, recharged you!

Welcome to the future.

 

Jacqui Love Marshall is former vice president of staff development for Knight Ridder. She can be reached at jlovemarshall@yahoo.com