If you are a person of many interests or passions, with an entrepreneurial streak, becoming a “slash person” is an important reinvention option. I certainly wish someone had told me about it a long time ago! If you’re interested, Marci Alboher’s book is a great place to start!

When Should We Reinvent Ourselves?

Most of us assume that we only need to reinvent ourselves when we get fired or when our current self isn’t working. Just like Lewis Carroll’s immortal Mad Hatter who moved down the table every time he made a mess at his seat at the tea party, we think, “Ok, we’ve made a mess at this job here. Let’s dump this persona and move onto the next one” as if the reinvented you is a completely new you with no real connection to the past (failed?) you.

Others of us assume that reinvention is the privileged prerogative of the chosen few: college students, newcomers/initial starters, those in the official “reappraisal age” (about 28-35 years old), the downsized and outsourced, mid-career restructurists (about 40-45 years old), workers taking an early corporate parachute or public service retirees (in their 50’s), and/or traditional retirement age workers (65). Certainly there are expected periods of life and career transitions (Kanchier, 2000) and anticipating and preparing for transitions is important and helpful.

However, as the previous personal communications and Appendix A show, there are dozens of reasons to think about reinventing yourself (Ballback & Slater, 1996; Harkness, 1997; Helfand, 1995; Solovic, 2003). The reasons can be personal, job-related, organization-related, industry-related, or world-related! Sometimes one at a time ― sometimes all at a time.

You probably know the personal and negative triggers (feelings of pessimism, frustrations, dissatisfaction, boredom, feeling unfulfilled, recovering from an illness or disability). These, I suspect, are the most common reasons you’ll hear why people reinvent themselves.

The personal and positive may not comes as easily to mind, such as when you come back to work after a hiatus, you have a creative spurt, you recognize that you have some skills or talents you weren’t aware of previously, your self-awareness grows through therapy, you want or need more money, you become free(r) in some way, you finish a training program, or you simply feel you need a break/to do something different. These come out of a positive place and are usually overlooked.

At a “higher” level, there are positive and negative job-related experiences that can trigger a desire or need for reinvention. Your job might be eliminated, the work becomes boring, your skills aren’t being used or salaries get cut. On the positive side, sometimes you get to reinvent yourself ― see, not just have to, but get to ― you’re your job is expanded ― you get to do more ― or enriched ― you get to go deeper into a responsibility.