How I Reinvented Myself

When we reinvent ourselves we basically create an entirely new version or make over who we are.

I found reinvention to be painful when I needed change. I believe this was because I didn’t want to close the door behind me. Now, I see how appropriate change was, and always is.

Who really wants to hear that I was a soap maker and a farmer, and that I miss all of that, to the degree that I wouldn’t develop into what I want, and what I feel God wants?

First, we should be happy, second, we should take our gifts and skills and use them to the best of our ability. Life changes. We use what we have, what we’ve learned, and we re-create.

See, I think we hang onto what we perceive as a need, but what we don’t see is our own personal value in what we can accomplish if we simply let go, and let be.

Okay, so, I (we, my husband and I) left behind a farm and goats, and a business, and my soap and lotion studio. I changed my life around completely for a number of years (rode across the states with my truck driving husband), and then I went back to work full-time. Going back to work after being my own boss for nearly 15 years was not easy, yet, I was filled with enthusiasm because I faced a challenge that I knew I could handle — a full time job in an accounting office (where my career originally began nearly 40 years ago).

I still work full-time in the “back office,” and I’ve also reinvented myself as a virtual assistant. This is a transition, right now as I speak. Remember, finance to business ownership, farmer and entrepreneur, return to finance and office, and now virtual assistant. I became an author in the past 5 years, with 4 books published, and now with several books in different stages of completion. I earned certifications as a life coach as well, and I have plans to grow that around the VA business.

There is value in this second ear, eyes, and brain for small business owners. I free entrepreneurs up to do what they want to do (not work in their businesses, but to work on their businesses, or both), and I end up being their trusted assistant. They don’t have to provide four walls, a desk, a phone, a computer, or pay payroll withholding taxes. How cool is that?

Reinventions can be positive moves. It was for me. It can be for you.

Remember this, you can let go when you think you cannot. You do not have to tell the same story over and over again, in fact, when you do exactly that, there is little growth for us.

Think about reinvention — who are you today? Have you totally flipped yourself from what you were (or did) then, to who you are (or what you are doing) now. Or, are you somewhere in between? Are you utilizing your best (skills, knowledge, gifts and talents)? Is there anything missing, or something that you have not let go of that could bog you down?

Remember one big thing. You aren’t what you do. You are who you are. There’s value in you, in your uniqueness and qualities.