Here’s my action step for you: Find something you dread or feel neutral about. What can you do to change the circumstances? Are there parts of your daily activities that you can take advantage of? Change one thing about your routine, and over time you’ll find great change. Get Goal Organized This 1993 book was written by a couple of therapists who encountered people whose problems tended to be long-term, not very acute, and hard to solve through the means commonly used in therapy at the time. So they developed their own system, based on early life, through which they categorized problems in patients (clients? I forget which term therapists use) and helped them find a way out of their current problems. When something bad happens, you have three choices. You can let it define you, let it destroy you, or you can let it strengthen you.” -Dr. Seuss Self-assessment will help you reflect on progress. You can reevaluate your long term goals along the way. Continuous reflection helps you to avoid stagnation and continue moving forward on your reinvention. Celebrate your success

Fourth, brush up on yourself. Craft your body language so it radiates professionalism, ask the best standout interview questions, and know what to say when you inevitably get asked, “What do you do?” When it comes down to it, you don’t need a reason to justify wanting change in some areas of your life. But understanding why that yearning exists is still beneficial. 10 steps for reinventing yourself Courage can come from building confidence. And confidence comes from competence. What are the things in your personal life that you’re really good at? How can you carry over that competence into new areas of life? That will give you the confidence, and thus courage, to make those bold changes and start moving forward. 7. Change your routineThis can be interpreted in a number of different ways. For some people, self-reinvention means a major career change. While for others, it could mean breaking bad habits or adopting a new life skill. Two of America's leading psychologists, Jeffrey E. Young, PhD, and Janet S. Klosko, PhD, draw on the breakthrough principles of cognitive therapy to help you recognise and change negative thought patterns, without the aid of drugs or long-term traditional therapy. They describe eleven of the most common lifetraps, provide a diagnostic test for each, and offer step-by-step suggestions to help you break free of the traps. Thousands of men and women have seen the immediate and long-term results of the extraordinary program outlines in this clear, compassionate, liberating book. Its innovative approach to solving ongoing emotional problems will help you create a more fulfilling, productive life.

As you learn how to reinvent yourself, having a strong support system will improve your chances of success. Begin filling it out! Add your life goals, set up your monthly goals, and add daily tasks to the weekly planner to help accomplish your goals.

Dr. Jeffrey Young, PhD, developed Schema Therapy and opened the first Schema Therapy Institute in New York out of his work at Columbia University. Dr. Young serves on the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University. He is also Director of both the Cognitive Therapy Centre of New York and the Schema Therapy Institute. He is a Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, and founder of the International Society for Schema Therapy. Dr Young has published extensively, including Schema Therapy: A Practitioner’s Guide, for mental health professionals, and Reinventing Your Life, a best-selling self-help book. He has presented workshops internationally for over 20 years and in 2003 he was awarded the prestigious NEEI Mental Health Educator of the Year award for his exceptional teaching skills. In short, they came up with the idea of "life traps", which are self-defeating modes of thinking and behavior learned in childhood as response to problems: Abandonment (when you feel people always leave and somehow seek out people who leave), Failure (when you feel like you can never succeed), Mistrust/Abuse (when you feel you can't trust anyone) etc. Reinventing yourself means identifying patterns, values, or activities that no longer serve you and changing them for better options. It can involve external characteristics, like job, hobbies, appearance, relationships, and location. True reinvention also happens inside, in how you think and behave. It will be different for everybody, which is what makes it so powerful.

The journey of reinvention is hardly ever an easy one. It may be complicated, frightening, and full of disappointments. But these struggles are all part of the process. Aspirations are the hopes and dreams that give meaning to your goals. They determine the next steps you need to take to make those dreams into a reality. Negativity/Pessimism: The pervasive belief that the negative aspects of life outweigh the positive, along with negative expectations for the future.Too much going on at once can feel overwhelming, and end up keeping you from making any progress on your goals. If you really want to reinvent yourself, you need to develop mental focus and figure out how to prioritize your life. If you really feel miserable at your current position, or it leaves you no time and energy to pursue your reinvention goals, I suggest taking a bridge job.

The way they present "life traps" is very parents/family oriented, not taking into account community, friends, the influence of future trauma. As with many books that split people into categories, it has the potential issue of splitting *all* people into categories, regardless of whether they fit there or not, through the simple omission of cases that don't fit into the theory. With the right tools, inspiration, and connections, women have the power to transform their lives and communities. These questions are just a starting point. I’m sure that you can come up with others that relate to the kind of reinvention that you are looking for. It’s important to make these questions a part of a “living document.” Don’t write your answers once and assume that your job is done. Return to these questions every few months to see how your perspective has changed. You may be surprised! Value Small Steps and Consistency Over Flashy Promises Discussing the Surrender lifetrap coping style: "Unhealthy as it may be, most people seek and create environments that feel familiar and similar to the ones where they grew up. The whole essence of surrendering is somehow managing to arrange your life so that you continue to repeat the patterns of your childhood." p. 37Reinventing yourself will require you to break old habits and use the old mold to create a new version of yourself. This means changing your point of view and be willing to uptake more risks in life and being open to correction and learning. It means understanding how to overcome low self esteem and start believing in yourself. 3. Be an optimist Goal Systems can be complex, or they can be simple. If you’re starting out, I recommend setting up the basics (and adding onto it later!).