Reinventing yourself doesn’t mean changing everything but we are all ever evolving. Heres how to reinvent yourself in a positive way
You are amazing. You don’t need us to tell you that. But while Teen Breathe always likes to encourage you to be yourself, sometimes there might be an aspect of yourself or your life that you want to change for a positive reason. It could be that you want to be more confident about reading in class, that you’d like to feel more able to express your opinions, or work on being more patient with your siblings.
Reinventing yourself doesn’t mean changing everything. Instead, it’s about letting go of the parts of yourself you’ve outgrown or aren’t true to you – and instead embracing new elements of yourself, or ones that you perhaps haven’t been confident to show before. The important thing is if you want to alter something, you’re doing it for yourself – not to fit in with others – and because you know it will improve your life and your happiness. Of course, knowing you want to change something doesn’t necessarily mean you know how to do it. Here are a few things you could bear in mind.
EMBRACE IT
People evolve all the time, especially during teenage years when there’s a wealth of new opportunities, social circles and hobbies to enjoy. As your experiences grow, change is inevitable – in both positive and negative ways. Think about how much you’ve changed since starting high school. Do you still have the same likes and dislikes? Are you more confident? While some elements of your personality will always remain, things inevitably change and we’re happier when we develop, progress and grow.
DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN THE CHANGES
If you want to become more confident, learn new skills, or update your hair and clothes because you like that style, that’s positive as it’s making a difference to your wellbeing. However, if you alter your hair and clothes to try to fit in with a different group or because you want to be liked, slow down and think again. Ask yourself if it’s really what you want. Positive change is for you – and you alone.
CONSIDER WHAT YOU WANT TO CHANGE
Start your reinvention by evaluating yourself and considering what changes would improve your life and make you happier. Be honest, but don’t be hard on yourself. Everyone makes mistakes, but that doesn’t mean they define who you are. Once you’ve had time to think, make a list of areas you think you could improve on, such as confidence, kindness (to people and the planet), being a better student, or even trying new hobbies.
CONSIDER WHO YOUR ROLE MODELS ARE
If you know you want to make some changes but are struggling to think of what you’d like to evolve, consider who you admire and why. Who has the characteristics you wish to have? It could be musicians or bands you listen to, actors, teachers, family members, older students or friends. It could be someone who never lets failure get in their way, like Oprah Winfrey, who was fired from her first television job before becoming the successful talk show host, actor, author, and philanthropist she is today. Focus on your role model’s words and actions, and consider which of their positive attributes you want to incorporate into your own life.
VISUALISE
Once you know what you want to change, have a vision in your mind of what this would look like in your life. For example, confidence is a popular desire – what would that version of you be like? Would it mean answering more questions in class? Taking part in the school production? Standing up for yourself? If your desire is to become better at studying, what would this mean for you? Better organisation of free time? A better end-of-term report? Think of things that are achievable, even though they may be challenging.
