3 – Final Step, How To Get There (Part A)

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In Step 1, we located "Where we are now"... In Step 2, we identified "Where we want to go". Here we go with Step 3, "How do we get there?"

As always, great to see you back for the new edition of the Reinvention Journal.

Recap from last time~ In the previous step, in order to Find Our Way through the Reinvention process we did a lot of writing. We logged our most energizing and engaging activities, wrote out long Ideation lists, and learned about Finding Our Why. So now it's time to jump into the next step!

If you missed Step 2 or need a refresher, see the previous article REINVENTION JOURNAL Step 2 - Finding Your Way and Your Why

Step 3 is a really big step. After all the self-examination we've done in Steps 1 & 2, we now need an effective method to put it all together and move ourselves forward.

Note: Because Step 3 is so big, I've divided it into two parts:?Part A,?what it takes to get there, and?Part B,?the REINVENT YOURSELF 5-Day Action Plan.

Time soon for the Action Plan! Action planning is the one component we need to make our Reinvention a reality, and there are ways to make planning simple and effective, not boring. ?? I've created an action plan template for us all, to pull everything together through all these steps. We'll dig into all that when we get to Part B.

But now let's get going with Part A~ What will it take to get there, my friends?

Get a boost, read Reinvention Stories as inspiration

When we hear a colleague's successful Reinvention Story, some will find inspiration. If we feel confident that we'll get our turn, we're on our way!

But these stories can also leave us feeling frustrated if we've been in job search for a while or faced a lot of rejection.

No matter what, we can make a conscious choice to stay focused on our own growth and success.

First, disable your internal comparison meter

“Don’t compare yourself to others. Compare yourself to the person you were yesterday.” ~ Anonymous

Before we start on Step 3, a note about competition among peers. One of the biggest detractors of personal and professional success can be the tendency to compare ourselves with others. You might feel everyone else is out there getting ahead and piling on the kudos, but remember, many show only their best side.

Do you suffer from Imposter Syndrome? Turn off your built-in comparison meter!

"Comparing yourself to others’ accomplishments is a losing battle and can be a never-ending spiral", says Lisa Quast in Forbes magazine. She says it's better to see everyone, including yourself, as unique individuals. All of us are special in our own way and we need to acknowledge it all — the big wins, the small steps, the missteps, the ups and downs.

Step 3, Part A – What does it take to get there?

Try things out, Build your team, and Show your value

In this part, let's look at how life designers and career experts advise how to get there.

Observations from DESIGNING YOUR LIFE by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans

In this book, the famous Life Design step is covered in Chapter 6 Prototyping – This is where we get permission to "Try stuff out", and find what is most workable for us through prototyping and testing. The authors say that to create a Prototype experience, you can:

• Ask questions to get data about what you're interested in
• Try things out, fail fast / fail forward... then move on

For example, a Prototype experience could be shadowing someone to find out about a job you're interested in. Reframe your existing beliefs through action and finding what works best for you.

Reframed Belief: You design your dream job through a process of actively seeking and co-creating it. ~Designing Your Life

Another helpful section is in Chapter 8 Designing Your Dream Job, where you'll:

• List your dream job choices > narrow down choices to 5 max > then move on
• Use Prototype experiences to test which choices are best, a similar job, or even a different job with the same characteristics
• Build your team for best results: Identify and employ your Supporters, Good Mentors, Co-Players/Collaborators, and Intimates (those closest to you)

Observations from REINVENTION ROADMAP by Liz Ryan

Take steps to show your value – In this book, a helpful section to move us forward is covered in the chapter Taking Steps.

One of the steps shows how to illustrate our merit through stories. According to the author, we've all slayed a few dragons in our careers. In other words, we've already been problem solvers at work and in life. The authors suggests making a list and compose stories to use as examples of our value and skills.

Liz Ryan's stories exercise suggests logging a list of problems you've addressed in your life and career, and the pains you’ve solved. Put them into a table format – In Column A, list what the problem was. In the next column, describe exactly what you did to solve the problem (aka Your Dragon Slaying Story). You can use these stories in job search and personal brand.

For example, here's what I've logged in the first two rows of the table:

• In Column A -?Problems I've Solved, I wrote: "Created Help Guides" as my first example, then in the next row, "Process Optimization Procedure" as my second example.
• In the next column - My Dragon Slaying Stories, I wrote: "I wrote Help Guides for the team to more easily adapt to the new programs we'd brought into the company" as my first story, then next row, "I wrote a plan to combine steps that saved time and money in the team's workload" as my second story.

Also in this book, the author gives great advice on how to get past automated hiring systems by creating a "Human voiced résumé" and the "Pain Letter".

REINVENTION EVENT RECAP

? Reinvent Yourself with a Life Coach, featuring Mario Pluzny

We had a great session with Mario! He's the real deal – a certified life and career coach, he brings those skills to his work as Localization Program Manager. He gave us a lot of information, showing us what working with a life coach is like.

He mentioned a few coaching techniques and tools, including a timeline exercise to see growth through time. I love this exercise!

The Highs & Lows Coach Tool

Mario said, "Draw a horizontal line on a piece of paper, then plot points of the highs and lows of your life." (Try this in your Reinvention Journal)

• Highs — events that were great for you; like getting hired, successful projects, promotions, etc.
• Lows?— events not so great; such as a layoff, a costly error, or other low points.

Here's my timeline exercise:

For me, this was quite an eye opening exercise. I'm grateful to realize, my lowest low-points have lead to my highest high-points. Not everyone will get these results, but from whatever low points we get, our lives could rise to points higher than ever.

Have you found your Ikigai yet?

In our conversation about coaching, we briefly touched on Ikigai. You can identify meaningful career and project ideas through the intersection of passion, mission, profession, and vocation. Try this template:

It's another visually appealing exercise that's perfect for your Reinvention Journal. See Ikigai tutorials in Recommended Resources below.

Replay of Mario's session

Watch the recording on YouTube, here:

SEE YOU IN THE NEXT EDITION for "Step 3 – How to get there, Part B"

In Part B you'll find the 5-Day Action Plan, and the recording of our powerful session "REINVENT YOURSELF with the Confident Leadership Coach" featuring Kristin Gutierrez ... don't miss it!

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans

Reinvention Roadmap: Break the Rules to Get the Job You Want and Career You Deserve by Liz Ryan

Stop Comparing Yourself to Others and Focus on You — Here's How by Lisa Quast (Forbes)

Ikigai and the Four P's by Maren Kate (Medium)

Ikigai Worksheets by Ikigai Tribe (Ikigaitribe.com)

A deeper dive into Ikigai by Marina Gracen-Farrell (LinkedIn post)

Thank you for subscribing, and joining us on the Reinvention journey!

As always follow along, journal away, share your thoughts and stories, and we'll continue Reinventing ourselves together~

Opinions in this newsletter are my own, or that of my guests. The content is focused on suggestions but is not intended to replace professional or clinical advice. Copyrights belong to each respective author.

? 2024-2025 Marina Gracen-Farrell