When a Reinvention Isn’t a Transformation
Shortly after my book was published I held a workshop at the Santa Clara Public Library where much of my research was done (never overlook great research librarians!).
One of the women in the audience asked if reinventions and transformations were the same thing. Great question and one that we often get asked.
Reinventions are often associated with external behavior, particularly career and life changes, while transformations are internal, mindful, and impactful. On their own, it’s true that reinventions have a few things in common with transformations, but when taken together this powerhouse duo has the potential to go wide and deep in altering our lives.
This opening question got the audience discussing the differences between a reinvention and a transformation and how one can trigger an interesting chain of events. I’ve had clients pursue a career reinvention that on its own felt like a professional upgrade or career refresh, but as they deepened their understanding of the Change Story (one of the lessons in our reinvention online course), a restlessness gnawed at them—something that happens more frequently than you might imagine.
Sometimes this feeling of emotional restlessness surfaces when we’re forced into a reinvention instead of one that we’re making by choice. Why is that? It’s because our emotions are raw when someone takes away our options. We don’t feel in control of our life. This is one of the reasons why I always emphasize the importance of reinventing yourself before you need to—in front of your Personal Inflection Curve (another lesson in our online course).
But it’s this emotional rawness and vulnerability that make us ripe for powerful personal transformations. It’s by taking a deliberate and systemic approach to the integration of the practical and the spiritual that we’re able to design an authentic-centered life.
I have plenty of clients who quite happily go from reinvention stepping stone to reinvention stepping stone for years, but at some point they discover the need to go deeper when a reinvention no longer satisfies their personal needs or aligns with their values.
In other words, it’s possible to outgrow your reinvention goals.
It’s for just this reason that we’re launching a four-month program at Seeding Change. Users who have purchased our standalone course 30 Days to a Recession-Proof Reinvention have asked for a combined course that incorporates our reinvention process with that of a personal transformation. And although a professional reinvention works nicely as an online course, we still find that in-course discussions and human-to-human interactions support the process. And given that personal transformations can be more complex in navigating and implementing, we want to ensure that our Seeding Change Renewal 2019 program provides a good mix of learning content, interaction, and support for our cohort of participants.
Our program also gives you complimentary access to our published courses, so not only do you get to experience our transformational renewal process you also get access to our recession-proof reinvention course!
We hope that you decide to join us and transform the arc of your life journey.