I’m not sure what prompted me to wake in the middle of the night, stumble down the hall to my office and begin jotting down ideas on my note pad by my computer.  In fact, I don’t really remember much except I woke briefly to do it, then promptly padded back to bed and fell immediately back to sleep.

I guess something had been playing over and over in my mind, unfinished business if you will…

I initially created my first podcast series “Reinvention – creating the life you want” in early 2016 and after four episodes’ other priorities took over and I never quite seemed to get back to writing the scripts and recording new episodes for the series.

A friend of mine said that she’d listened to them while traveling in Europe with her daughter and enjoyed them, another friend said that listened to them on their commute and played them over a few times to let the messages sink in.

To my surprise when I looked at the series it’s been downloaded 1,000 times.  Who knew that the topic of Reinvention would resonate so strongly with people.  As I said in my first series reinvention is not for everybody but was pleasantly surprised with the resonance.

Some people might say that by social media standards a 1,000 is a paltry number of downloads, but as I like to think if I can influence just ONE person then the series has been well worth my time and energy to create it and tell my story so as to prompt people to begin thinking more about where they are in their lives.

Reinvention isn’t a fast fix, nor is it something that happens overnight.  Nope it’s a long-term state of mind which continues to evolve as you grow and change.  Remember our lives are in a constant state of flux whether we like it or not.  As an example, I began my reinvention in 2011 and its been an ongoing process or discovery and learnings…

Part of my process has been to constantly evaluate where I am with relation to my personal goals and objectives.

In my case I have very simple objectives – First and most important is my need for flexibility in my life so that I can be the parent I’ve always wanted to be to Zach and Sami.  Since I began this journey my relationship with them has deepened considerably, through spending quality time together, traveling and exploring our collective lives.  Yes, this includes deep and sometimes meaningful conversations…

My second objective is to live my life on my terms and to travel and explore the world as often as I can.  And finally I’m going to do the things in my life that made me passionate, whether it be writing, photography, speaking, coaching or consulting.

My core focus has been centered around these three core tenets.  Simple really!

I listened to a lot of “experts” talk about happiness and reinvention but not one of them spoke to me on a conscious or personal level.  I heard a lot of buzz words being bandied about but didn’t find anything of real substance that I could use on my journey, including some of the most renowned speakers of our time.

What struck me is there is no recipe for reinvention because each person’s circumstances and path leading up to this point is so varied and different.

Trust me it would be easier if there was simple recipe, but then, where would the fun be???

The tricky part is figuring out where to start… I guess one of the main lesson for me was around the realization that reinvention is really about creating the best possible you, one that you can look into the mirror at everyday and be content with both who you are and where you are in your life.

I often get asked “how long did it take?”  One thing I’ve realized is that the moment you stop evolving and growing personally is the day you inevitably begin moving backwards.

For me, once the dust had settled on all the big events that were transpiring around me it became easier to chart a path forward, admittedly that took the best part of 18 months. Trust me I’d never wish the death of a parent, the dissolution of your marriage and leaving your job within months of each on anyone.

It all came together into this giant maelstrom of events that I had to just be patient with and go along with the ride.  Don’t get me wrong I’d never wish these traumatic events on anyone, either individually or all at one time.  These were trying times no question!

However, one lesson I’ve learned is that it’s not always the event that brings you undone, but how you react to them that tends to be the defining moment, and often long remembered long after the events.

There were days when I barely survived emotionally, but like most of us I survived.  Best of all this crucible of pain provided me with the foundation to become a better me.  I feel as though I definitely came out the other end a more enlightened and positive self, and with some real learning and imperatives that I could share as I continue to evolve into my life.

My conclusion is that building a better you starts from within…an inside job if you will.

My night time foray to the office, the jotting down of notes in the dark and the reflection time over the past few days has gotten me busy on my next podcast series script, with the working title of “building a better you”.

Stay tuned, although to set your expectations the script will take a couple of weeks to finish and edit, then the recording and publishing will take another couple…

You know me – I just love to share!!!