Reinventing Yourself During a Crisis

How do you reinvent yourself during or after a crisis? It takes a lot of courage to reinvent yourself, let me tell you! A lot. Guess what in some ways we are always reinventing ourselves, however, now is the perfect time to look at where you are at. Also where you want to go or who you want to be especially if you have been hit by this crisis like many of us.

Let me share with you some insights and a story that may help many of you reinvent yourself during this time and come out braver, better and stronger.

It was 2006 and my four-year-old daughter was standing over me and crying profusely. She was yelling at me to get up from off the floor. She was confused, lost and worried about me. I was in shock and couldn't respond. See my world had just fallen apart where we had moved to Shanghai, China and my husband had abandoned us and left us with very little money.

At the time I had a wonderful role in Human Resources and my CEO at the time had told me that I had to move home as I couldn't be a full-time solo mum without a support network. In turn, I had met an American Psychologist around the same time to help me and she listened to me for an hour and after I paid her $100, she said to me - see that door? I replied well yes. Leave, pack your bags and get on a plane. You don't know the state of mind of your husband and he could kidnap your daughter here and you won't have a leg to stand on.

So, I left and packed my things and returned home with a few suitcases. It sounds very dramatic and it wasn't as dramatic as it sounds however as soon as my daughter was asleep on the plane, I sobbed the whole way home.

After I came home and moved in with my parents, it was a lot more challenging to find a senior role that would offer me the flexibility I needed back then. I knew I had to reinvent myself and start again. I needed to put a roof over our heads. This is how I got to where I am today by saying yes to an opportunity where it took me on a path to something I so passionate about - leadership.

I am not saying it was easy as I have worked incredibly hard over the past 14 years however I did it. In turn, I have reinvented myself several times since then and I am using this time to come out bigger and better than ever before!

If I can do it, you can...!

What is my advice and tips? I would love your insights too.

1. Think about what you really want and determine how committed you are to it.
2. Write a list of all your strengths and talents. Ask people around you too.
3. Think about what you are passionate about. This is a challenging tip and you might not know immediately so give yourself time.
4. Next, visualise what you want and even do a vision board or create visual aids.
5. Write a plan in a journal and start to map actions needed today, tomorrow, next week, next month and so forth. I wrote a great blog on some questions to ask yourself too.
6. Write down on affirmations and say them every day! You must love yourself and your reinvention first.
7. If you have any ANTs (Automatic Negative Thoughts), reflect on them and see if they are really true and then DELETE. Attention goes, energy flows. Get rid of anyone and anything that doesn't serve you anymore.
8. Network! I know it is challenging to network at present however reach out to as many people as possible that you admire, follow or know that can give you some guidance and support.
9. Look at your brand and profile. I have a wonderful and free brand plan if you would love a copy to help you determine what you stand for. Look at your LinkedIn too - update and refresh it!
10. Find a coach and/or mentor. This is a must! They will be great investments in time to help keep you on track.
11. Put yourself out there. Don't be afraid to promote yourself. I always say to people if you have talents and skills that someone needs and they don't know about you, then you are doing a disservice to them!
12. Think about the legacy you want to leave and don't live life with regrets.
13. Be kind to yourself and being courageous is tough and you will have some hard days (these suck!). However, it is the great days and wins which will stand out.
14. Say yes to opportunities. I am not saying all of them but the ones that are aligned to where you want to go. If you tick 7 out of the 10 boxes, go for it!
15. Keep Learning! When I reinvented myself by saying yes to an opportunity and then read every book, researched leadership, met with people in my space and did everything I could to be an expert in this space.
16. Love and learn from the stuff ups. When you are reinventing yourself, you will stuff up. Embrace the fear and failings as they are our greatest lessons.
17. Think about who you are doing it for and why. At times I felt selfish focusing on me and my passions, dreams, goals and so forth. However, I did it and continue to reinvent myself to be braver and stronger ultimately for my daughter, so she be brave too.
18. Never, ever give up. The path to reinventing yourself is one of the most rewarding paths you can ever take. It will take time and won't happen overnight.
19. Finally, don't be afraid to ask people for help. During this time (or anytime for that matter), it is important to reach out to people for guidance and support.
20. Remember to celebrate the small successes and keep moving forward.

Don't be afraid to fake it until you become it....!

Remember we are all in this together. 

If you would love to know more about how we can help you - grab a copy of my books and free tools or sign up to my Group Coaching Program or apply to work with me one on one.

Stay Kind. Stay Courageous. x