This article is additional information regarding the personal development exercise proposed for the month of February (Rebirth - I reinvent myself throughout the days) in our positive affirmations card game .
What does “reinventing yourself” mean?
Beyond a change in hair color, house or job...which ultimately are only surface changes.
Nicole Bordeleau, master yogi from Quebec and author of the book “The art of reinventing yourself” had to rethink her existence twice from A to Z, the first time following a 5-year addiction to cocaine and the second time following to a diagnosis of hepatitis C.
Reinventing yourself according to Nicole means abandoning the myth of what you believe about yourself.
“Draw deep within ourselves to discover hidden talents, unsuspected resources that lie dormant deep within ourselves. Reinventing ourselves also means transcending imposed limits, fears and conditioning that keep us cramped. It's opening up to the unknown, stepping out of our comfort zone and having the courage to live from our heart. »
When we take a moment to observe nature, we see that it is in perpetual change, because it follows the movement of life.
What if we too dared to reinvent ourselves to be more alive?
This inner transformation is accessible to everyone, whatever your age, your current situation, your studies, your origins…
Whatever happens, life will throw obstacles at us until we make the necessary changes. So why not take the lead, for once?
Nicole Bordeleau suggests that we change our outlook on the world and consider each day not as a new day where all the problems and anxieties of the day before are repeated but to welcome these next 24 hours as an opportunity to create something new.
There will never be a perfect time to start reinventing yourself so you might as well start right away 😊
As soon as you feel that you are transforming into an automaton, that you are always ruminating on the same thoughts, that your projects are stagnating, it is time to reinvent yourself.
And this rebirth may well take place several times in your life.
By leaving your comfort zone to move towards this reinvention of yourself, you will undoubtedly go through a period of turbulence.
It can be very uncomfortable to question ourselves, to take our doubts and uncertainties one by one.
It is nevertheless an obligatory passage but what a reward to arrive on the other bank!
But then, how to reinvent yourself?
If you give yourself permission, follow us!
1. Adopt a clear vision
What would you like to see change in your life?
Have a fuller social life?
Spend more quality time with your children?
Learn watercolor?
Take care of yourself ?
What are your new priorities, your new values?
Write down in a notebook what you would like to change.
And every day, do one tiny thing that brings you closer to that change.
2. Change your mindset
Do you have a fixed or flexible mindset?
Translation: do you think that you have the ability to always learn new things, to bounce back from your failures or that you were given a “package” at birth and that it conditions your successes?
There is a great book on this subject by Caroll Dweck (another American 😊 ) called “Change Your Mindset” and which is one of our favorite personal development books.
If you feel like you're stuck and it's hard to give yourself permission to change and learn, this reading might give you a little boost.
To reinvent yourself it is necessary to believe that you are capable of learning, of changing, of transforming yourself.
Why is this super important?
With a fixed mindset, we spend our time trying to justify ourselves, finding excuses instead of learning from our mistakes and moving forward.
We want at all costs to believe that we have the royal flush in hand when we have been given a ridiculous pair of 10s.
Conversely, when you are convinced that you can learn, this pair of 10s is only the beginning of the story, not the end.
3. We let go of the moorings
To reinvent yourself, you have to somehow let go of your old life.
Do a big spring cleaning.
Get rid of false beliefs and other pollutants of our existence.
But also forgive.
Make peace with what went wrong, with the people who hurt you.
Allow yourself to free yourself from past suffering and reconnect with your humanity. Because maybe you too are the person someone is trying to forgive.
Let go of the judgments of others, the formatting, the expectations of each other.
Drop everything to travel lighter or take off.
4. Tame your biggest fear
Do you know your biggest fear?
The only power fear has is to ruin our lives.
And 90% of our fears are pure mental constructs.
When we are afraid, we are no longer in the present moment.
If two situations arise, choose the one that scares you the most, it will help you reinvent yourself.
This is how you gradually build your self-confidence, it will keep you alive and vibrant.
Ask yourself: what would I do and who would I be if I didn't listen to my fears?
Reinventing yourself is not about changing your life but about modifying the vision we have of our life.
5. Patience and courage
Reinventing yourself takes time, requires effort, sometimes requires reversals.
Take the time to move in the right direction.
Be patient with yourself.
Give yourself a moment every day to take stock of yourself, during a short yoga session for example!
The transformation is underway, enjoy your metamorphosis!
6. Say thank you
Life owes us nothing, not even our next breath of air.
To reinvent yourself, you have to practice gratitude.
Sometimes finding a reason to say thank you is going to be very, very hard.
And yet, gratitude is the key to bringing even more beautiful things into your life.
Start with the most basic and mundane things: thank you for the 3 meals I ate today, thank you for my breathing, thank you for the few hours of sleep.
And then little by little, other things will appear for which our gratitude will flow more and more spontaneously.
Good luck on your path to reinvention!
Discover the personal development exercise proposed for the month of March: Get rid of your false beliefs!
Discover here our eco-responsible yoga outfits made in France from recycled materials, perfectly suited to practicing all types of yoga!
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Photo credit :
- Ashley Batz
- Madison Yocum
- Matthew Ronder
- Nicole Geri
- Peter Bucks
- Timothy Dykes
- Toa Heftiba
Sources:
- Dare to Shine Blog
- La Libre website
- The art of reinventing oneself by Nicole Bordeleau, editions L'homme Eds De, May 2016
- Interview with Nicole Bordeleau
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