Oprah Winfrey is an artist, and her life is her canvas. She is a woman who constantly reinvents herself. She started out with a tabloid television show, and then transformed it into an iconic television show focused around self-help and spirituality. Then she transitioned from being a television host to owning her own network; it’s literally called the OWN Network. Although these changes may seem inevitable in hindsight, in the moment, they are giant leaps forward. She is a master at reinventing herself.
One key to reinventing yourself is having a good support base. Oprah is not a one-woman show. Oprah has a huge support base in both her business and her personal life. Along my own journey of reinvention, I had a core group of friends who always supported me, and encouraged me to pursue my dreams, even if my dreams changed every five years. It’s important that you surround yourself with people who emotionally support what you want to pursue.
The most important key to reinventing yourself is to believe you have the wisdom within yourself to know what needs to be done, and the courage within yourself to then do the right thing. You have to let go of old habits, old identities, limiting thoughts, and negative scripts. You have to be willing to believe in the impossible.
I know from first hand the challenges of reinventing oneself. My personal career paths range from being an Internet marketing consultant to working on documentary films to becoming what I am today: an idea coach. Along my journey of reinvention, I discovered that I had more strengths, skills, and knowledge than I realized. I didn’t just transition from one career to the next; I took giant leaps forward into the unknown. And every time I conquered the unknown, I learned more and felt more confident about myself. As a result, today, I feel like I can conquer any challenge.
The most important lesson I learned is that human being are not meant to be one thing, and one thing only. Human beings are transformational learning beings. It’s literally in our DNA. Every time we learn something new, we are transformed into something new. If you have not yet experienced transformation, I would argue that you have not learned anything new. Just as we are not meant to be children forever, we are not meant to be in a one state of being for the rest of our lives. As human beings, we are meant to reinvent themselves. We are meant to transform. We are meant to learn and to create. We are meant to be artists, and our lives are our canvas.
Young B. Kim is a writer, artist, serial entrepreneur, and the creator of ideavist™. Young's mission is to help people make their ideas happen through his writing, coaching, consultations, and through speaking engagements on ideation, creativity, and entrepreneurship.
Read more of his articles, visit www.ideavist.com