How can you reinvent yourself?

Answer 1

It is a difficult process, because we all have habits and behaviors that we are attached to that are hard to let go. Some of them are healthy, and some of them are unhealthy... but we're still attached to the unhealthy ones, because that is the way we've learned to deal with the world.

Reinventing yourself requires a huge change in the way that you interact with the world. So I would imagine that someone would try something dramatic like "reinvention" if they had acquired a new belief system, or a new significant other that they wanted to adapt to.

One thing to do is some research. What is the biggest thing that you want to change about yourself? Getting rid of an addiction or a habit? Read about the benefits of changing that addiction or habit. Half the challenge is convincing yourself that it is the right thing to do. If you aren't convinced, it is really easy to fall back into your old ways. Get support from the people around you. Tell them what you are trying to change, and ask them to help support you. Then you have to really commit, and give up the habit. Purposely do things differently. For a while, it might help to have a substitute. Instead of whatever the habit is, start a new habit... something active is usually best to get your mind off the former habit.

If you are trying to change the way you think about something, start reading things that agree with the way you want to think. Avoid the other side for now... get some solid reasons and backing behind you. You have enough objections just in your own mind for now that you don't need alternative Propaganda. Find some people who agree with the new ideal, and talk to them about it. Express any doubts or questions, but don't argue the side you no longer agree with. Ask them how they have solved those questions. And keep looking until you find the answers.

Eventually, if you keep working at it, you can change the way you think and feel about a lot of things... and reinvented who you are. We do this subtly throughout our lives, changing who we are and the way we think and act. But reinventing yourself is just doing it a little more dramatically.

AnswerThere is something called "serendipity". It's something like luck, but much better. I think of it as good fortune that you have prepared for. Think outside the box, learn everything you can, read and study. Practice being aware of what is happening around you, both close-by, and in the world. Opportunities will come, and you will be ready for them. The same opportunities may come to your friends, but if they have not prepared, well, you see what I mean.