Things gets jaded with time — people; products; processes. Brands are no exception.
Still, some survive longer than the others. Why? Well, I credit reinvention for this. What works at one point of time, ceases to work in another for the same reasons that made it work earlier. How does one escape this?
Accepting reality
There is a saying that the seeds of destruction are built within success. With hard-work and focus, success is achieved. And once achieved, the mind tends to relax in the glow of success and becomes too sure and arrogant. While some wake up when competition looms large, many become oblivious to the oncoming sunset.
It takes courage to accept reality and discard what worked in the past. It is doubly difficult when you are in the peak of your success. Reinvention calls for such an ability. It takes an attitude to say that the past is dead and I am not going to feed and sustain myself on it. It takes pride and confidence in oneself.
It is the courageous few, who, at the altar of success, give up everything and walk out and seek a new challenge. J Krishnamurthy walked out of the Theosophical Society after he was anointed as the new messiah.
But you don’t have to be a Gautam Buddha or a J Krishnamurthy or a CheGuevara to do that. I have witnessed quite a few not-so-well-known people in my life, who have done the tough job of reinventing oneself. It has been like rebirth.
What it takes
Apart from courage and confidence to venture on the untrodden, unknown path, giving up the comfort of the familiar, it takes a mindset of being unhappy with the status quo that one needs to have. Many great leaders possessed that. It requires a sense of adventure to get out of one’s comfort zone and challenge oneself.
But why does one feel the need to reinvent himself? Well, there are many reasons for this.
~~ Being in a wrong career.
~~ When career interests or passions evolve, or work becomes boring .
~~ A career burnout.
~~ Changes in personal circumstances.
~~ Getting bitten by the entrepreneurial bug.
~~ Wanting to do something meaningful.
There are many benefits of personal growth, such as professional flexibility, getting a new outlook, ability to overcome obstacles, building resilience, and getting new opportunities.
Reinvention requires belief in oneself and staying true to that. Having a sense of the big picture and putting it down on paper, willingness to start from the scratch and leaving your baggage behind before finally jumping in headlong is how you begin the process.
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