The Power of Self-Reinvention

To date, 2016 has been the year where many great musical superstars have died leaving millions of fans shocked and devastated.  Two such artists are David Bowie who passed on 10 January and Prince who passed on 21 April.  Apart from the wonderful music both men created, they harnessed the power of self-reinvention and continually reinvented themselves as artists over the span of their careers.  They dared to take risks and dared to change what they did and how they did it.  In fact, Bowie made a habit of confounding the critics – killing off his most famous creation, Ziggy Stardust, at the height of his fame – and reinventing himself in roles including glam rocker, soul singer and hippie songwriter.

Is there power in self-reinvention?

Yes, I think there is.  Sometimes the process of self-reinvention is a conscious one while at other times it is not.  How many times have you thought that you would like to change something about yourself?  It could be anything from your hair colour, the way you dress or the people you associate with, or how you behave.  Other times you faced great trials and emerged forever changed.

I believe the power of self-reinvention lies not in the reinvented self but rather in our inner power and character that we access to bring a new self into being, thereby empowering our lives.

Become Curious

Do you know people who seem to lack curiosity?  They are not interested in discovering, learning or experiencing new things.  They want everything to remain forever unchanged.  When we embark on a process of self-reinvention, we unleash our curiosity.  The change we seek may not always be clear to us but our inner curiosity pushes and prods us in new directions, daring us to learn and grow.

Without curiosity, there is no self-reinvention because it means we have settled, become complacent, willing to accept the status quo.  When we follow our curiosity, not only do we reinvent ourselves but also we unleash our courage.

Using Your Courage

You know many people say that we must overcome our fear, and I myself have said this often enough, but I do not think we must always overcome our fear; sometimes we must simply use our courage.

Courage is that quality that propels us forward and allows us to take risks.  Courage gives us the ability to do something that we know is difficult or dangerous.  Courage allows us to reinvent ourselves.

When we use our courage, we also access our self-awareness and self-confidence.  The more we use our personal courage the more courageous we become empowering ourselves by daring to take risks and do things differently thereby experiencing growth.

Allowing for Growth / Expansion

Another word for growth could be expansion, but whenever I think of the word growth, I feel a tingling of boundaries within my consciousness.  When I think of experiencing expansion as part of the power of self-reinvention, it seems limitless, as if my potential is unrestrained.

When we allow expansion in our lives, we set creation in motion and our lives begin to unfold in manifold ways.  Our mental, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and physical capabilities evolve and we take on more life and enrich our experience.  Perhaps you feel that not every growth experience is successful or enlightening but each opportunity to grow brings us experience and new lessons as well as building our resilience.

Building Your Resilience

As I mentioned earlier the process of self-reinvention can be by choice or through life circumstances, but be assured that whatever the path taken, you will need to rely on your innate resilience.  Whether we realise it or not, we are all resilient.  Throughout our lives, we face problems, traumas or tragedies that we need to bounce back from and as with courage, resilience is a skill that we can practice and enhance throughout our lives making us stronger.

Although we do not always like to hear this, it is through the darkest and most difficult times in our lives that we grow the most.  When all seems lost and we feel broken and yet somehow claw our way back, it is those moments that we remember and cherish as our greatest life lessons.  Perhaps we do not outwardly celebrate it, but it is the power of our inner resilience that carries us through and enables us to stand up eight times when we have fallen down seven.

Reinvention versus Stagnation

You may be thinking that self-reinvention is only for artists or other people and not for you.  This is not true.

You see our very nature; the essence of who we are is all about change, constant reinvention.  From conception to expiration, we continuously change.  We all know this to be true because we cannot prevent it, our bodies change.  This is our human experience and yet so many of us resist, with every part of our being, change in other areas of our lives.

Speaking from experience, I believe stagnation is the worst thing we could allow to happen for ourselves.  I have experienced and actively participated in my own stagnation through the poor choices I made in my life.  However, I love to observe how I have reinvented myself throughout my life and to acknowledge and actively participate in my evolution.  It fills me with joy to know that the woman I am today is not the woman I was a year ago and I am curious to know who she will be a year from now.  While there may not be obvious radical changes in my outward appearance this is not true for my inner self.

We all have the ability to change and to participate in our self-reinvention, the question is, are we willing to?

My Challenge to You

Make a list of 5-10 things you WISH to reinvent for yourself but are not doing.  It could be anything from dying your hair to finding a new job or moving house.

Choose one of those things and start it.  Take an hour each day to do something that reinvents you and has an element of risk to it.  Activate your curiosity, use your courage, seek expansion and rely on your resilience to carry you through.

You may not be Ziggy Stardust or The Prince but in your life, you can be whomever you choose to be.  Make it happen!

I would love to hear your stories of self-reinvention and accessing your inner power.  Drop a comment in the box or send me a note.  Sign up for my weekly blog posts if you have enjoyed this article.