It will be easier than you think because you’ve probably already done it a few times but just didn’t know it. The fact is, we reinvent ourselves every day sometimes many times in a single day. One minute you are providing sensitive guidance, coaching, and feedback to staff members; the next you are righteously, relentlessly, resolutely, and often rabidly arguing for increased government funding for a threatened public health project. It’s not a question of can you reinvent yourself you, every day. The question is, can we do it in terms of our work life and when should we?

Every reinvention is not going to be a great success, but it certainly will teach you something, if you’re paying attention. I used to consider needing to move on as failure, but I’ve learned to see these experiences as positive lessons in what doesn’t work for me or what doesn’t contribute to my growth, development, and personal fulfillment.

Don’t reinvent yourself in anyone’s images but your own. Looking for a work change role model is fine. Look for similarities in motives and trajectories rather than work setting or magnitude of change. However, remember: people have different motivations, different degrees of clarity about where they want to go and the self or selves they want to be. Be your selves. (yes, that’s the right way to write what I mean.)

Read more about reinvention ― This is a fascinating idea and much as been written. Start with the references here and see where that leads.

And finally, no matter when, where, why, and how and into what you reinvent yourself, enjoy the exciting dimensions of who you are that are revealed in each reincarnation!

I have learned these the hard way because career development was not a major professional preparation topic earlier in my careers. I hope this and future articles on career development will help make your paths, however crooked, somewhat smoother.