So far, if you have been following our articles on “12 Steps To Leaving Your Comfort Zone Behind Forever”, you have:

• Learned how to create your map that will help guide you to a new life.
• Learned that you will need to get used to being in a state of being “uncomfortable”.
• Learned that you must think in “bigger” ways to have a “bigger” life.
• Learned that you must change your habits and rituals if you want a different result in life than what you have been experiencing thus far.

The question is that, while you may have learned some of what you will need to do to have the life you desire, have you been applying what you have learned? If not, you will continue to get more of what you have received in the past and while that may be enough to allow you to survive, it will not be enough to allow you to thrive in your life. You cannot continue to be the same person that you have been in the past with all the same routines, work ethic, habits in your finances, lifestyle, health, and mindset and live the life that you want. You may have heard stories several times in your life about people who have literally went from rags to riches through playing sports, inheriting money, or winning the lottery only to find themselves back in the grips of poverty or even owing millions just a few years (or even a year) later. This is because they had no time to learn what they needed to know about managing large sums of money when they had only dealt with meager amounts prior to receiving massive amounts of money. They never had the time to develop the discipline, habits, education, and experience necessary to successfully build, maintain, and grow their fortune. They never had to deal with failure and losses along the way to teach them what to do if things started going wrong. They never learned about living on only part of what you earn and diverting the rest to savings and investments. This is only some of the reasons why you cannot become who you want to be and live the kind of life you want and remain unchanged from the person you currently are.

What you must learn to do next to become who you want to be is Re-Invent Yourself! This is not to say that you must become something that you are not. After all, who would want to sacrifice who they authentically are for success? I, for one, would not and neither should you. What I am talking about when I say “Re-Invent Yourself” is that you must replace your mindset and how you presently do things with thoughts and actions that are useful in leading you from where you currently are in your life to where you wish to be. To be a true success and experience the happiness that you hope, comes with it, you must be able to believe in yourself and you must feel good about yourself (and what you do). You must have the confidence & knowledge that comes from achieving your goals through working smart as well as being able to learn from your failures and keeping a proper perspective on both.

Imagine, if you will, how you would feel when things are going great for you. You have a nice home, the car you wish you had, a loving family, plenty of money, no debt, you are doing what you love to do for a living, you have & wear nice clothes, you are a picture of health, and live your life exactly as you wish to be living it. How would you feel if you were living this life? How well do you think your existing life, possessions, financial habits, your work, and your mindset would fit into that picture? Probably not so well. Maybe wealth and material possessions are not your thing. Maybe you would like to travel the world, help others, and be free from your present work-a-day life; is that you? Either way, is how you picture your ideal life a far cry from what you have, what you do, and who you are today? If so, think about what you would have to do to be that person in your mind? You would have to re-invent who and what you are to become what you want to be. The thing is, what most people in that position do not realize is the best and fastest way to accomplish this goal is by becoming the person you desire to be one step at a time, in any way you can bring it into your life TODAY! You may not have the money or ability to just walk away from your life and re-invent it overnight. But what you can do is start with the little things that can make a big difference in your life immediately. If you want to feel better about yourself and build a solid, positive self-image:

Start by working on your health and physical condition. Eat better by making smart choices in what you consume, get more exercise (you don’t have to be a member of a gym to walk more, do some sit-ups, and get more physical activity). Do this consistently and you will begin to see results!

Dress yourself better! While you may feel more relaxed, you may notice how you never feel as good when you are dressed in old, poor fitting clothing as you do when you are dressed up and ready to go out for a night on the town. The old phrase “you clean up nicely” applies more than you know. While there are times that are appropriate to relax and dress down, most people feel much better about themselves when they are cleaned-up, well groomed, dressed up and looking their best. This is not to say that you need to be dressed up in a tuxedo or if you are a woman dressed up in a formal gown or dress to go out in the day or go to work. But if it’s appropriate, it doesn’t hurt to be dressed in a nice pair of slacks and a crisp-ironed shirt or a nice polo shirt. If you are a woman, you might want to consider a blouse and pants that flatter your figure (whatever it may be) or maybe a business-style dress. The point is, whether man or woman, when you look & smell nice, you feel great and that is exactly what you want to feel like, better about yourself.

Surround yourself with people that inspire and motivate you. Jim Rohn once said, “You’re the average of the five people you spend most of your time with”.  This is truer than most people like to believe but, you can see it time and time again if you just look around. How many underachievers do you see hanging around successful people? How many pessimistic people do you see in a crowd of positive, optimistic people? How many poverty-minded people do you see in a group of wealthy people trying to learn what they know, and vice versa? Not many, if any. I say this not to judge, but as a fact. It does not typically happen in normal life UNLESS a person is on fire about changing their paradigm (and their future). The point of this is that if you are serious about changing your life for the better and permanently; in the process of re-inventing yourself, you also need to change the people that you spend the most time with. Work to surround yourself with the kind of people that you admire and want to be the most like. It is only there that you will learn what you need to know and grow into the person you wish to become in the process.

Find a mentor! Make a real effort to find a person that you respect, admire, and who has been successful in life (and business if that is what you are looking to do). When you find them, introduce yourself and authentically become the friend that they would like to spend time with, provide them with value and make yourself useful in their lives. Do not become an annoyance by picking their brain for what you are wanting to learn. Instead, be truthful with them and let them know of your desire for them to become your mentor then, if they accept, be open to learning from them in what they are willing to teach you and grow more from the experience.

Make a conscious effort to live in a state of happiness and gratefulness. This can prove to be one of the biggest challenges in re-inventing yourself, especially if you are not normally a person that always has an optimistic point of view. Until you develop these habits to the point where you don’t consciously have to pay attention to them, make the effort to maintain a smile most of the time, pay attention to keeping a positive point of view when dealing with situations in your life and work, and most importantly, you must learn to consistently live in a state of gratitude for what you have in the moment. While is fine to want to have more, you must learn not to focus on that. Having abundance in your life is a by-product of being grateful for what you have, what you are given, living in a state of happiness in the here & now, being open to receiving, and acting towards your goals in your life and work.

Dream Build! Take some time every week or so to spend a few minutes or hours feeling what it would be like to have the life that you want. Remember that feeling something is a powerful motivator. Go into the car dealership where your dream car awaits and take a test drive (don’t forget to dress the part when you go in if you want them to take you seriously). Visit some open houses on the weekend in the style of the home you want to live in, it makes no difference if you can afford it today, browse your way through the rooms and take it all in while keeping the thought in your mind of what it would be like to live here. Save some of your money so that once a month or so you can splurge on something that you could enjoy on a regular basis if you had the means to do so. Get away for a weekend, stay in a nice hotel (there are great travel discounts available if you just search a little), if you are at the beach, rent a jet ski and go riding or go out on a deep sea fishing expedition, have a nice dining experience, and maybe rent a luxury car if you are on a mini vacation (or for a weekend of driving enjoyment) so you can really get the feel of what it would be like to live this lifestyle every day.

Bear in mind that you will not only re-invent yourself once, but many times as you learn and grow as a person and in the knowledge that you attain along your journey. And what about once you achieve your goals? Then the journey will continue as you reach ever higher towards becoming all you can be in this life. Change is perpetual. Here’s to the Re-Invention of the new YOU!

“What you must learn to do next to become who you want to be is Re-Invent Yourself! This is not to say that you must become something that you are not. After all, who would want to sacrifice who they authentically are for success? I, for one, would not and neither should you. “