The Reinvention Artist

Do you ever feel like you must remold your life to fit in with our fast-paced modern world? I do.

We are living in an era of constant change. Whether it’s technology, work, or even politics, the ground seems to be constantly shifting beneath our feet. We seem to have to face new challenges daily, and we have to continuously adapt if we want to be successful.

It’s clear that the world is not going to adapt to us — so it’s time for us to start adapting to it.

One of the ways to adapt is to avoid letting your degree or job title define you.

It may surprise you to know that the latest projects Google is working on as a company are not search related at all. They are working on building an automated car, developing a bracelet to cure cancer and connecting remote areas to Wi-Fi through stratospheric balloons.

Some of history’s most famous people have also been the most creative. Pablo Picasso created 50,000 works of art, which averages at two per day. Jimi Hendricks recorded enough music to fill nearly 70 albums, despite having lived only 27 years.

That’s not to say you need to churn out work every minute to be creative — but high production helps you sharpen your talents. Hence the saying “Practice Makes Perfect”.

The writer Barbara Cortland is an inspirational example of how much you can accomplish if you put in the work. In 1983, she set the world record for writing 23 novels in a single year.

Her passion was for romance writing and she wrote every day. Due to her dedication, she published 723 novels and sold 600 million copies of them.

Find your passion by thinking back to your childhood and practice it every day.

Try to recall your childhood and ask yourself; What did I love doing or dream of doing back then? Which activity made me lose my sense of time while doing it or imagining doing it?

There is your calling. It may not seem practical — even if it was childish, it can still give you a starting point from which to set out.

Your burning desire is the key

Imagine waking up every morning feeling so motivated and excited about the day ahead that you bolt out of bed. Is this your present reality? It’s time to identify the goals and activities that will fill you with excitement to start your day and go after your passions.

Consider the story of Wayne Dyer. To say the odds were stacked against him would be an understatement; he was an orphan who spent his childhood bouncing between foster homes. He was able to earn a PhD in educational counseling and become a professor. Then he wrote his first book, Your Erroneous Zones, which sold a whopping 35 million copies.

At first, his book sold only 5,000 copies, which he considered a failure. So, he decided to buy all the unsold books from his publisher and go on a cross-country adventure, visiting bookstores in person to convince them to sell his book.

He also tried to appear on national television to market his book, but he was rejected by all the producers he approached. But he did not give up; he drove from station to station to promote his book face to face. He was able to take his initial sales numbers and multiply them by 7,000!

What about rapper Eminem? He grew up in a poor family in a trailer park, suffered many tribulations, which continued until he was a young adult with a slew of familial betrayals and bad jobs.

Rather then stewing in his troubles, he transformed them into material for the rap lyrics that would eventually propel him from underground rap battles in Detroit to worldwide stardom, with 220 million in record sales under his belt.

So you’ve identified the talent that is your calling. Mission accomplished, right?

Not quite. You’ve ignited your inner fire, but now you need to keep fueling it. One way to do it is to keep practicing. This takes great willpower. Determination is the key to success; without it, your talent will fade out before it takes you very far.

Every time you decide on your business or career, ask yourself, “Was my decision fear-based or growth-oriented?” Many decisions are made from fear — such as fear of going broke.

When you make a fear-based decision, it usually points toward an insecurity. You might stay in a job you hate because you’re afraid you won’t find another one. Fear-based decisions almost always lead to regret.

Here’s some actionable advice…

Every day write down ten ideas for new ways you could go after your passions. If you get into a daily habit of writing down ten ideas per day, you’ll generate 3,650 ideas in a single year. Each of these ideas represents one possible path you could take toward achieving your goals and living out your passions. Out of all those ideas, at least one or two of them will take you closer to where our want to be.

In today’s fast-paced world, the only constant is change. Companies go bankrupt, technologies become obsolete and governments change their policies. In order to succeed in this world, we need to become Reinvention Artists who master the art of reinventing ourselves in order to make our way through the shifting waters of the modern world and reach success.

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