5 Keys to Reinventing Yourself

By: Darren Hardy in: SUCCESS

Looking to make a change? Want to start doing what you love, but don’t know where to start?
I know how you feel. I have been there myself… several times, in fact.Over the last couple of decades, I have had half a dozen radically different careers and businesses (real estate, television, online media, software, private-equity investing and publishing). Each new venture required a personal reinvention. Let me give you some field-tested advice about how to do it and do it with success!

1 – Leverage Your Strengths

While each endeavor was completely different, one thing was in common with them all—they needed the strengths I had to be successful…

We are ALL born with unique strengths, talents and advantages. There are some things you do that most people cannot do or cannot do as well as you. Those are your special gifts. Identifying these strengths is the first and most important key to your reinvention. Once you identify those for yourself, focus on them, develop them further and there will be no limit as to how successful you can be.

So ask yourself… what do you seem to do better than most everyone else? What comes easily and naturally to you but is something others struggle with? What attribute, skill or ability do people tend to compliment you on?

Resource: Read Discovering Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham in the October issue of SUCCESS

2 - Identify What Exhilarates You

Have you asked yourself the age-old question, "what is your passion"? The answer doesn’t have to be grandiose, Earth-saving, life-changing or revolutionary. It might be something simple. What are the subjects, products, markets, people, activities you really enjoy? What things do you find interesting and stimulating? What fills you with energy just thinking about it? The answers to these questions will usually lead in the direction of a rewarding profession.

Now let’s figure out how to get you in the door of the new profession…

Look down the supply chain of that industry or marketplace. What are the businesses, products, services and vendors involved in that trade? Now, what businesses in that marketplace require the skills, knowledge and expertise that align perfectly with your unique gifts? That is your fit! Either start a business performing that function or present yourself to a business that NEEDS the specific skills and talents you uniquely possess.

Resource: Read Finding Your Purpose by John Maxwell in the August/September issue of SUCCESS or Turning Your Passion Into Profits by Valorie Burton on SUCCESS.com

3 - Be Willing to Take 2 Steps Back

To make the leap into a new industry, you may need to take a step back to learn and study. Be willing to be an apprentice for a while. Find someone who has the success you aspire to and seek their mentorship and council. Be flexible, patient and teachable. Nothing worthwhile comes without effort and paying the price of tuition.

Resource: Read Words of Wisdom from one of the great mentors UCLA legend John Wooden

4 - Be Wary of the Naysayers

Your friends, family and peers have known you as you have been. Change frightens most people. To many, it is especially frightening to watch someone else have the courage to radically reinvent themselves and chase their dreams. Why? Because it eliminates their own excuse for not doing the same. It is much easier to try to talk you out of your reinvention rather than act on their own.

Resource: Read Dealing with Difficult People by Connie Podesta on SUCCESS.com

5 – Build Your Support Team

Find models, mentors and a peer group who share your ambition and will be allies in your new adventure. Also indoctrinate yourself with books, magazines (like SUCCESS!), audio programs and seminars that will support you as you build new skills, attitudes and knowledge in your new adventure.

Resource: Read the 25 Must Read Books for Achievers and 27 Resources for Your Success on SUCCESS.com