Reinvention: How and why professionals need to evolve, pivot, and reinvent over the lifetime of a career

"In good times, we build confidence. In bad times, we build character. Right now, we are building a lot of character."

Joey Wat, CEO of Yum China

As I write this article, the world is responding to COVID-19, a novel coronavirus. Many people will not have jobs or business or homes or family members to return to when this is done. Parents suddenly must become homeschool teachers. Service providers who have lost their jobs due to the virus may need to find another way of making money. Stay-at-home parents who lost a partner due to the virus may suddenly find themselves returning to the workforce. Many people affected by COVID-19 are going to have to completely reinvent themselves.

In times like this, as we pick up the pieces, we may need to reinvent ourselves and our careers. Now is the time that millions of people around the world need to think about a career change, career pivot, or career reinvention.

OTHER REASONS WHY SOME PEOPLE MAY NEED TO REINVENT

Prison - for whatever reason, somebody ends up in prison. Unless this person makes a radical change and significant effort to reinvent, they will end up back in prison and suffer a lifetime of defeat, discouragement, and despair. Many people, due to the coronavirus, are getting a sudden early release. Getting out and staying out of prison requires a major professional career pivot. Unless you want to end up back in prison, you must reinvent yourself.

Automation - a factory worker learns that their job was replaced by a robot. A secretary becomes obsolete because personal computers replaced typewriters. Vacuums work on their own. Cars are self-driving. People who used to provide services discover their services have become obsolete and no longer needed. People need to evolve, pivot, and reinvent.

Divorce - often but not always a woman, perhaps a stay-at-home mom or dad, suddenly finds him or herself divorced and, at least partly, responsible for one or more children. In short order, she or he needs to reinvent their career after 5, 10, or 15 years of being out of the workforce so they can stand on her own and support their family.

Substance Abuse - perhaps there was an injury that caused enough chronic pain to require strong pain relieving drugs that resulted in addiction or for whatever reasons, somebody found themselves addicted to alcohol and it spiraled out of control. Something must give because the current situation is untenable and unsustainable. A reinvention, if not an intervention, is required.

Digital transformation - natural gas replaces coal, solar panels replace natural gas, electric vehicles replace those powered by internal combustion engines, newspapers go 100% digital. Entire industries and occupations are becoming replaced and obsolete by evolving technology and trends. Professionals displaced by obsolescence need to find a way to reinvent.

War - wars have been raging around the world for decades resulting in millions of people fleeing their country in search of a better, safer, more prosperous and stable life for themselves and their family. Somebody who was perhaps a baker or doctor or soldier back home needs to find a new occupation in their new world. They need to reinvent.

Climate - Hurricanes are permanently displacing people who have lost everything, including their homes, businesses, loved-ones, and jobs. The ice age is long gone and the earth is warming, sea levels are rising, Venice is sinking, fish are migrating, crustaceans are dying, forests are disappearing, and people need to find new places to live and new ways of life. 

Death - Somebody you loved very much or depended on died. Perhaps you had to stop everything you were doing and relocate to be with somebody in their final days. Maybe this experience with death brought you to terms with your real priorities and values in life. Either way, as a direct result of this death, you were dealt a setback and realized that you needed to make some major changes in your life and your career.

Sexuality - Perhaps you always knew that you were born in the wrong body or perhaps the realization came later in life. But one day, you came to terms with the fact that you are not defined by your gender at birth. So, you need to make a series of radical changes to reinvent yourself completely and how people may look at you.

There are plenty of reasons why people may need to reinvent their selves over the course of a career or lifetime.

FAMOUS PIVOTS

Actor Danny Trejo, best known for his roles in movies like Machete (2010), From Dusk till Dawn (1996), Heat (1995), Desperado (1995), and The Book of Life (2014) was born in Los Angeles to Mexican parents and worked in construction between bouts in prison. He was a child drug addict and criminal. While serving time in San Quentin State Prison, he learned how to box and became a champion boxer. Trejo took a 12-step program to overcome alcoholism and drug addiction, which he credited to his turn-around. Danny Trejo reinvented himself and made it in Hollywood.

Entrepreneur Lara Merrekin, a Colorado native was 32 years old, going through a divorce, and unemployed when she created Larabar. A former junk-food nut, she wanted to create something that was indulgent but wholesome so she created healthy, gluten-free bars with names like Cherry Pie, Blueberry Muffin, and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip. She worked at Whole Foods for $10/hour while she started up this business, which sold less than ten years later for about $50 million.  

Billionaire Entrepreneur Elon Musk, CEO and Founder of SpaceX, CEO of Tesla, Co-founder of PayPal has reinvented himself a few times over the course of his career. Musk was born and raised in South Africa before migrating to Canada and then the United States. He studied economics at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvanian and was about to pursue a Ph.D. in physics at Stanford when he decided to drop out and become a techpreneur. He co-founded a software company that was acquired by Compaq and then went on to found and co-found half a dozen other startups ranging from online money transfers to electric cars to rockets. Musk as also acted in and produced several movies, TV shows, and documentaries.

Actor, entrepreneur, professional bodybuilder and politician, Arnold Schwarzenegger has made a few pivotal reinventions in his life and career. Best known for his roles in Conan the Barbarian (1982), The Terminator (1984), and Kindergarten Cop (1990), Schwarzenegger began his career as a bodybuilder. At 21, the same year he won Mr. Universe, Schwarzenegger started a bricklaying business. The following year, at age 22, he won Mr. Olympia. Profits from the bricklaying business helped start a mail-order business selling bodybuilding equipment and instructional videos. At age 33, he returned to bodybuilding and won, once again, Mr. Olympia. Knowing that he couldn’t rely on his muscles forever, he became an actor. At age 56, he was elected Governor of California. After politics, he returned to acting.

Actor, Tim Allen, known for his roles in Toy Story, Home Improvement, and The Santa Clause, had to deal with the death of his father and, later, prison time. Allen’s father was killed in a collision with a drunk driver when Tim was eleven years old. He spent two years in jail on drug charges. Comedy was his method of coping with and surviving prison, which helped reinvent and catapult his career after incarceration.

Doctor, actor, and comedian, Ken Jeong, best known for his movie roles like The Hangover (2009) and Crazy Rich Asians (2018). Jeong grew up in North Carolina and graduated from Duke University and then the University of North Carolina School of Medicine where he earned his medical degree. He moved to Los Angeles to practice medicine but began performing at The Improve and Laugh Factory comedy clubs. His standup work led to television appearances and ultimately the big screen.

Walt Disney who started out as a newspaper editor before creating Disney movies and theme parks. Famed chef Julia Child who worked as a CIA intelligence officer. Elvis Costello who started out as a computer programmer before he pivoted into music. Pope Francis worked as a chemical technologist and then a nightclub bouncer before he became a priest. Ray Krock was a Red Cross ambulance driver, real estate agent in Florida, and traveling salesman before he became founder of McDonalds.

You don’t have to be famous or a celebrity to successfully reinvent yourself. You need vision and determination.

"A defining moment is a point when in your life when you are urged to make a pivotal decision, or when you experience something that fundamentally changes you."

Sidney Evans, Forbest Coaches Council

A DEFINING MOMENT

In the movies, screenplay writers introduce an “inciting incident” which is the moment that sets the story into motion. It propels the movie from Act One to Act Two. It is a significant, life-changing moment.

Right now, in the middle of this coronavirus pandemic, millions of people are experiencing that defining moment right now. Having pivoted and reinvented my own career more than once in my lifetime, I have a little bit of advice for anybody patient enough to have read to this point in this article.

REINVENTION STARTS WITH REFLECTION

So, you are at a point where you know things are not right and you have to do something about it. Maybe you have lost your job. Perhaps you are in an abusive relationship. A close family member just died and you must pick up the pieces. You are being threatened by gangs. Maybe you are simply stuck in the wrong job or wrong career. Bottom line is that things are not right. If you do nothing, then you are living a life by default. On the other hand, if you choose to do something, then you could be living a life by design.

There is an incredible book out there called, “Life by Design: Making Wise Choices in a Mixed-Up World,” by Dr. Rick Brinkman and Dr. Rick Kirschner. It is an incredible read. They also have an audio book narrated by the author.

An equally phenomenal book out there is called, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change,” by Stephen Covey. The habit most relevant to my point right now is, “Begin with the End in Mind.”

When I was at the end of my military tenure and everybody was sitting around the campfire at the beach, and the question going around the circle was, “what are you going to do when you get out?” I had a moment of reflection.

I realized that serving in the military, while important as it was for me at that time in my life, was not the right thing for the rest of my life. For me, it took too much of a toll on my body and didn’t tap my brain potential. I needed something different. But what? That is where Life by Design and Stephen Covey’s “Begin with the End in Mind” comes in.

To get out of your current situation, you need to imagine what an ideal life or lifestyle might be and then work backwards from that ideal point to where you are now. Then, create a plan to move forward from where you are now to where you want to me. The plan should be strategic in nature. Once you have that strategy in place, keep your eyes on the goal and work towards that goal. You will likely encounter roadblocks and obstacles along the way. So, be agile, be resourceful, be innovative, and be determined.

Sometimes, when your back is up against the wall and you have fallen so low that it seems there is no where else to go other than up, is when you dig deep down inside and do incredible things.

#careerchange #midcareercrisis #midlifecrisis #quarterlifecrisis #coronavirus