In terms of work, each of us has our own definition of success, our own standards by which we evaluate how well we’re doing. Our measures of work success might be: the salary we make; the title we hold, the “perk package” that comes with the job; the status of the organization that employs us; the power we wield; the visibility and recognition we have; the sense of belonging or accomplishment or of being valued we experience on the job, or of making a difference in the world. When we’re not achieving our definition of success, we begin to think about why, and what, if anything, we want to do about it. If we decide to take action, we usually end up, in one way or another, reinventing ourselves.

So, in closing, let me leave you with a few hard-earned and learned tips for successful reinvention:

Understand why you are reinventing yourself, because the reasons why people reinvent themselves are good predictors of how successful they will be in their new incarnations (Ibarra, 2005).

Transform a negative work-loss experience into a positive personal and professional growth opportunity. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “No one can make me feel inferior without my permission.” Being fired isn’t the end of the world ― and believe me, I know. Use or reframe the forced “down time” as an opportunity to take a long-overdue sabbatical and to develop a “slash” career.

Successful reinvention depends on how you see yourself. We can see ourselves as “victims” or “owners” (Chandler, 2005). This also means being able to see yourself clearly and candidly ― no holds barred. So if you need to ask others to give you feedback, don’t be shy. It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself.

Think of yourself as having multiple dynamic personalities and identities. As Chandler says and others have confirmed through research, “We don’t have permanent personalities, we have shifting patterns of thought.” (Chandler, 2005; Harkness, 1997; Ibarra, 2003). If you see yourself as one particular personality type (e.g., shy) or as one kind of practitioner or job title, you associate specific attitudes and behaviors with that label, and that either paralyzes you or seriously restricts the range of reactions you can have in response to different situations. If, however, you are open to the idea that people have multiple personalities and can have multiple work identities, you have many more reaction choices.