Reinventing yourself
What’s holding you back?
My younger kid had a tough time breaking his Lego creations, until recently. Tearing down the building or the bridge he built meant that all his hard work was a waste. His Lego structures stayed in his room for days and days. So would his vending machine made out of carton boxes, a castle carved out of a refrigerator box, and more!
His older sister finally rescued us from all of the big mess that was piling up.
She told him to click a picture of each of his creations. Whenever he would need to look back at any of his past projects for inspiration, it’ll all be there on his iPad.
“This way”, she said, ‘You’ll save it forever!”
The idea of past hard work serving as an inspiration in the future nudged him to move on, to keep trying new things.
Deep inside, we realize that reinventing ourselves is the novel and right thing to do. For example, making a major change in lifestyle for better health, relocating countries for better education or work opportunity, changing industry to align our interests, learning an entirely new skill, and the likes.
But, when it comes to taking a hard step towards it, we chicken out.
More than the fear of the unknown, there’s this unsettling feeling, “It would mean that my past self was a waste.”
These feelings are born out of sunk cost. Here are some examples from my life:
- Three years I spent graduating in Biology would be a BIG waste if I switch to programming now.
- My effort spent in learning to code would be a waste if I take up a marketing job now.
- The past seven years of corporate work experience would be a waste if I quit my boring job now.
- My schooling and job was a waste if I explore entirely new interests now.
Its not just individuals who struggle on reinventing themselves. Businesses also hold back on making tough decisions.
- How can we redesign our app again although it’s bad! We spent so much time and money getting this one out.
- If we downsize now, it would mean hiring so many people was a waste 6 months back when we got our funding.
- Firing the ridiculously expesive agency now would mean it was a waste of money hiring them at the first place.
- Removing features from our product now would mean they were unnecessary.
If you are dealing with similar insecurities, let me assure you — Your past self was never a waste. Your past learnings and experiences will help you grow in your future venture.
A tweet by Prof. Feynman encourages us to never regret a day.
It will all come together eventually. In fact, the bridge that you build with your Lego now will be more stable than the old one because you won’t make the same mistakes.
Reinvent yourself, your ideas, your health, your work, your life. Reinvent happiness.
It’s just about clicking a picture and moving on.
To keep up with the world of 2050, you will need to do more than merely invent new ideas and products, but above all, reinvent yourself again and again.
— Yuval Noah Harari
