Chapter 43: How To Reinvent Yourself

Most people will never live up to their potential.

Because to do it, you’ll have to burn it all down.

That’s the scary part.

Looking in the mirror.

Getting brutally honest about what you want.

And deciding to chart an entirely new course.

To bury the old version of yourself.

And commit to a period of reinvention.

It won’t feel comfortable.

It’ll feel like stepping into the wilderness without a map.

But learning how to reinvent yourself is one of the greatest meta-skills you can develop.

Because change is the only constant in life.

And the more comfortable you get with it, the more unstoppable you become.

Alan Watts said it best:

And the proof is everywhere:

Netflix

They killed a billion-dollar DVD business to go all-in on streaming.

Most companies cling to the past until it kills them.

Netflix killed the past before it killed them.

The Rock

Ex-football player.

WWE wrestler.

Then he left it all behind to become the biggest action movie star in the world.

And launched a tequila brand worth over a billion dollars.

If he stayed the same guy, you’d have no idea who he is.

Martha Stewart

She started as a Wall Street stockbroker.

Then reinvented herself as a homemaker and media mogul.

Prison could’ve ended it all.

Instead, she reinvented again — emerging as a cultural icon and doing collabs with Snoop Dogg.

Reinvention is her superpower.

My Story

I built a career in tech as a sales/biz dev guy.

And it worked. Made good money. Looked good on paper.

But inside, I felt stuck.

Like I was playing a role in someone else’s movie.

The longer I stayed, the more I could see exactly where it ended — and it wasn’t where I wanted to go.

I wanted to write, create, and build online.

To flex my creativity and do it from anywhere in the world.

The hardest part wasn’t starting new.

It was letting go of the identity that felt safe.

The identity of the “start-up tech guy.”

But if I kept playing that role, I’d never become the man I wanted to be.

So I burned it all down.

Got clear on who I wanted to be.

And started moving like that new version.

Learning. Writing. Publishing.

Day after day.

It feels like cosplay in the beginning.

But if you stack enough days — the identity becomes real.

You’re no longer “trying.” You just are.

The Playbook

1. Be real with yourself — is the path you’re on taking you where you want to go?

2. If not, you need to decide who the “new you” is — and bury the old version so the new one can rise

3. Start moving like that new version today. If you want to write, write. If you want to run, run. Whatever your thing is — just start doing it.

4. Stack enough days until the new identity becomes undeniable. Prove it to yourself first, then to the world.

Simple? Yes.

Easy? No.

Reinvention is f*cking hard.

But committing to the process will unlock doors you didn’t even know existed.

There will never be a perfect time to do it.

But if you know the path you’re on won’t take you where you want to go…

You don’t really have a choice.

You need to rip the bandaid off and go all in.

Because if you do — you’ll look back on that decision and realize it was the moment everything changed.

Rooting for ya.
—Dodds