Lift Off! Launching a Reinvention!

Thoughts of my personal reinvention journey are always top of mind in June.This is the time of year during which I launched my reinvention dream over 6 years ago! Since that time, I have coached hundreds of others to realize their dreams too! It’s a good time to reflect on what steps it takes to succeed.

Step One: Get a coach. Coaching can be obtained in various formats. A coach may be a professional coach who you meet with in person or remotely. Another option could be an online website with tutorials. No matter the format you choose, coaches help you generate possibilities, distill options, and execute your vision. It can help when the coach has been through their own reinvention process and has helped others solve similar problems and overcome roadblocks.

Step Two: Find an accountability partner. Tell someone what you are doing! This could be a coach or a trusted friend or mentor.
After two unsuccessful attempts to break free, I resolved to tell someone. I chose a trusted coworker and friend who I knew believed in my talent and vision. I knew she would hold my feet to the fire! We determined that she would check in with me every Monday to ask what steps I had taken that week toward my goal. Being accountable to someone really forced me to push past my fears and anxieties and keep moving forward.

Step Three: Work with specialist partners. Once you come up with a plan, find the right people to help you execute it. Specialist partners are people with specific expertise that help you bring your vision to life.
Because I wanted to keep my overhead as low as possible, I learned to do many things myself such as the social media marketing. I purchased and took an online social media marketing certificate course to teach myself the ropes! I also spent considerable time pouring over “Facebook For Dummies” and “LinkedIn For Dummies” books!
In a career reinvention, a specialist partner might also be a resume writer, a financial planner, or a photographer who takes headshots for LinkedIn. I spent the money where I needed the most help, a web developer.

Step Four: Keep a journal of your goals and progress. This is a weekly accounting of goals and the actions you’ve taken to execute them. Make sure you break down large goals into small, incremental steps. Be willing to share them with your coach or accountability partner!
There are benefits of writing and sharing goals and action steps. It makes it easy to stay on track. Also knowing that others will be following your progress keeps you accountable for taking consistent action.
Whenever I read through my past journal pages I see how much I’ve accomplished and I’m motivated to keep going. Going back in time to read some of my initial baby steps , one of which was “ Open a LinkedIn account”, which filled me with anxiety then, shows me how much I have grown way beyond my comfort zone!

Step Five: Celebrate your small victories! It is so important to give yourself credit and praise for accomplishing a step, even a very small baby step. If we disregard the positive we will never keep going. Focus on the process NOT the result and give yourself lots of credit! You’re doing something many people never even attempt to do, creating a life YOU love!