SHAKERS & MOVERS n ENTREPRENEURSHIP
The Art of Reinvention
By Dr. Rollan Roberts II
C
elebrities, athletes, companies,
executives, entrepreneurs,
politicians, and leaders from
most every walk of life must
reinvent themselves every so often to
continue their creativity. It’s the natural
progression in the pursuit of excellence
in their craft. If you are growing and
highly successful, there will be 2-3
major reinventions of yourself during
your career. We all know those people
that are reinventing themselves every
other week, which is just laughable
and not what I’m referring to. Highly
successful people have stuck with and
honed their craft and brands for years.
And then it’s time to go to the next level
or a different phase — and that requires
reinvention.
The difference between just going off
the deep end crazy (like we see with
some train-wreck celebrity lives) and
transformation into something that
elevates the level you play at is a very
thin line. Many of the same variables are
in play.
It is not enough to change your hair-
style, clothes, and where you make
appearances; it requires a mental trans-
formation. It’s owning who you want to
be. It’s becoming who you are.
When you’re dealing with trans-
formation, people’s lives are at stake.
Their families, fortunes (or lack thereof),
health, self-worth, and reputation are at
stake. That’s why it’s so important that
you are in a place that you desperately
want change and transformation in an
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area of your life.
It’s time you give yourself permission
to be everything you were meant to be.
Allow yourself to be transformed into
your most powerful self.
To successfully reinvent yourself or your
brand, heed these admonitions or risk
being the buffoon:
1. Do it Fast.
Success likes speed. If you’re going to
rebrand, you can’t tip-toe through
it. You must be all-in and go all-out
or you look silly and people won’t
(and shouldn’t) take you seriously.
The main reason people drag it
out is because they are reinventing
themselves as a marketing strategy,
not out of authentically moving
towards their truest self. As a
marketing strategy, everything is
debated and incongruent or comes
off as inauthentic. When reinvention
comes from deep inside you, there is
a bursting forth and a natural
intuition of what must be said and
done. You naturally dress a certain
way, go certain places, carry yourself
a certain way, communicate a certain
way, and behave a certain way. You
don’t