Reinvention As A Life Skill

By Saul Kaplan

@TheBIF Founder & Chief Catalyst. Author, The Business Model Innovation Factory

Ask any group of people if they’re doing today what they thought they would be doing when they started out. I begin every speech that way. Occasional a few people in the audience raise their hand, very few. Almost everyone will readily admit that they have had to reinvent themselves multiple times over their lives and careers. And yet if you ask them how they did it or if formal education prepared them for reinvention you get mostly blank stares. You hear answers like, I just did it because I had to. Most seem unable to share useful knowledge on how they reinvented themselves. If anything is clear about the 21st century it’s that change happens faster than it used to. Reinvention isn’t something to be done only as a last resort. It’s something we need to do all the time in order to stay relevant in a rapidly changing world. We have to make personal reinvention safer and easier to manage. Reinvention has become an important life skill.

If we wait until we have no choice but to reinvent ourselves it’s too late. It’s sad beyond words to see how many people and families have been devastated by the latest economic downturn. Politicians may take credit as the unemployment rate improves but we know better. Good high wage jobs with career ladders are few and far between. People not seeking work and the underemployed aren’t counted in the unemployment rate and their numbers are growing. The gap between the skills of our workforce and the needs of a new economy are also growing. If we wait for our political and institutional leaders to act we will be waiting a long time. If we wait for things to return to the way they used to be, we will be waiting forever. Everything about our current economy screams for making personal reinvention more of a natural act.

Why aren’t we taught how to reinvent ourselves in school? Reinvention is imperative as a life skill. You would think we would at least be exposed to the fundamentals of personal exploration and reinvention while we are in school. Instead we seem increasingly focused on the skills necessary to get a specific job, a job that is highly unlikely to exist five years from now. As a society we highly prize specialty education pathways that track students toward narrow career choices instead of celebrating education pathways emphasizing a broad platform and skill set useful in doing future work that doesn’t exist today. Education and workforce development programs should emphasize foundational life skills that are transferable and enabling the personal confidence and skills to constantly reinvent ourselves.

Reinvention is a journey not a destination. It doesn’t have to be a scare word. You don’t have to know what you’re reinventing yourself to in order to work on reinventing yourself. It isn’t about stopping one thing in order to do or be something else. It’s about spending time every day, every month and every year constantly reinventing. It’s about personal R&D to explore and test new possibilities. It’s about experimenting all the time to uncover latent opportunities. It’s about continuing to strengthen our current selves while simultaneously working on our future selves by actively engaging in new ideas, environments and practices. You don’t have to stop doing what you’re currently doing you just have to allow yourself the freedom to try more stuff.

Here are 15 things you can do now to start building reinvention muscle.

1) Hang out in places where more collisions with unusual suspects are likely to happen. Stop hanging with usual suspects!

2) Create a list of new stuff you’ve always wanted to try or be able to do. Start working the list today.

3) Make something and try to sell it online. We can all be makers and entrepreneurs even if society has tried to convince us otherwise.

4) Attend events you wouldn’t normally go to and really listen and engage. Like #BIF2015 for instance!

5) Commit to learning something new every day and keep track. Reinvention requires a get better faster mindset.

6) Share your new experiences and what you learn from them on social media. Be genuine and vulnerable.

7) Have coffee with someone completely new every week. Someone who has a different point of view and experience from your own.

8) Read books and articles from genres you never read. Expand your vocabulary. Stretch your interests.

9) Try new foods. Order something on the menu you’ve never had before. Experiment with different ethnic foods you haven’t tried.

10) Go listen to talks on subjects you know nothing about. Ask naïve questions.

11) Audit a class in a surprising subject area, the more experiential the better.

12) Figure out how to sell something you don’t need anymore online. Ask any millennial, they know how to do it!

13) Travel to places you haven’t been before and really experience the community. Avoid being a tourist!

14) Volunteer on the opposite side of town from where you live. Leverage volunteering to both be helpful and to learn new skills.

15) Explore art if you’re a scientist. Explore science if you’re an artist. Explore both if you’re in business!

Stop thinking about reinvention as a scary, all-or nothing, proposition. Reinvention is a life skill. Reinvention is a life long journey we’re all embarked on whether we like it or not. There are many practical steps we can each take every day to explore our future selves. We can all develop the life skill of reinvention. What are we waiting for? Try more stuff.

10 Things Your Daughter Should Know by the Time She Is 10

By Laura Usky

1. How adored she is. No matter what you disagree on and even though sometimes you may yell, she should know she is the center of your universe -- always.

2. How to cook. She should be able to prepare small snacks such as eggs, pasta, toast, sandwiches etc. My daughter loves to cook and letting them experiment enforces this life skill.

3. Body changes are coming and what to expect. She needs to know that along with these hormonal changes will come some emotional changes as well. I have bought my daughter a great book by American Girl called The Care and Keeping of You that breaks down the physical and emotional changes in a very easy to understand way. I highly recommend it or a book like it to assist in explaining all that is going to happen to their bodies in the next few years.

4. The harm of drugs. Unfortunately, no matter where you live, drugs are a threat to your child and it starts as early as 10 in some cases. Explain to them in no uncertain terms that no drugs are safe to try even once. Make them understand the tragedy that results in the use of drugs and how dangerous and illegal they are. I have made it clear to my daughter that friends will try to convince you to experiment and that she has to be strong enough to walk away, even if it makes her "uncool" to them. I have also let her know that when she gets older and is out and ever feels a situation is becoming unsafe or making her uncomfortable to call a parent to come get her no matter what.

5. At this age, it's important for them to know something about the facts of life. I know it's a tough convo to have, but you surely don't want them getting their info on the playground at school. I don't think they need every detail, but a small chat will help them feel more mature about body functions and will prevent crude talk about the subject that they may hear from other kids.

6. They should be aware how there are people all over the world and even in their own community who may not be as fortunate as they are. They should know that helping someone in need is a gratifying feeling and that the help they give may be the boost that person needs to turn their day around. Take them to a local animal shelter or a senior center and let them spend some time volunteering They will feel so good when they are done and it's a life long habit of helping everyone should practice.

7. Money doesn't grow on trees. I admit I'm definitely a shopaholic, but I try hard to make it clear to my daughter that nothing comes for free. I worked since I was 15 years old and that gave me the opportunity to shop and travel. She is aware that no work equals no money equals no fun. When she gets money for birthdays and holidays, her father has taught her to split it up into three funds: one to spend, one for emergencies and one for long-term goals such as college. She keeps three separate banks so as not to confuse her funds. It's a good habit for them to get into and will keep them on track later in life.

8. Appearance is important. She should know that personal grooming and appropriate clothing for different events are something that will be necessary throughout her life.

9. Everyone won't always be nice. My daughter is going into fifth grade and it's the time that all the nasty girl drama starts. It was already peeking its head a little in fourth grade, but I anticipate the next two years is when they really get catty. I have talked to her about what girls get snippy about and how to stay out of the drama. You have to stay true to your close friends no matter what, and don't be involved in groups that talk about other girls because eventually, they will talk about you, too. I've tried to teach her to be confident enough to hold her own, but aware of trouble makers and not afraid to report issues that seem dangerous, like extreme bullying or threats.

10. Life is not easy. There will be challenges she will face that will seem cruel and impossible. It will take her faith, her family and her perseverance to get through some of the things that life throws at her. It's important to know life is going to be a series of ups and down and be prepared to deal with both.

Learning these 10 things is a good base with which to begin the tough preteen and teen years. Helping our children maneuver life is our jobs as parents, even if we haven't quite figured it all out ourselves yet.