Re-inventing Yourself – will be a necessity for many after COVID, especially for those over 50 who have been made redundant, but it’s vital for others, too.

For many people facing job-cuts and company reorganization or going bankrupt, reinvention is key for continuing in the work force.  Unemployment is the catalyst for many changes.

It just may not be possible, especially if you are at the top, to  do exactly what you have been doing at same level of seniority (and pay, at least in Switzerland).  

You will have to reinvent yourself.  This kind of change is possible, but also can be difficult.

Yes, we ALL can change- it may be hard, but it’s possible 

Based on research, I believe every person is able to change until their life on this earth ends.  So, my answer would be a qualified yes.  I will tell you a story about myself that illustrates this qualified yes.  

An example from my teenage years

When I was about 14 years old, I was a typically shy teen: bookish, reserved, pretty good at school and pretty uninterested in (most) sports.  But I wanted to be more “popular”, to “have more fun” the way I saw others enjoying themselves.  So, first, for a while I observed those who I considered more popular that were having fun, and thought about what they did differently than I.  I came to a simple conclusion:

They put themselves forward and volunteered more, for one thing.  They offered to do things.

As of that day of personal realization I began to volunteer to do things for others, starting with easy things and then gradually getting bolder so that, now at this point some five decades later, I volunteer to do the hard things, like pitching at startup weekends (last weekend).   This change simply began by raising my hand and offering my opinion, my time, my voice, my energy, and my creativity.  

But not every attempt was successful, of course.  Yet, when I tell most people who know me socially that I am an introvert, they are surprised because I have learned to “act extroverted,” I have learned to put myself forward and the risk involved has become less difficult for me.  I really do enjoy parties and being with people nowadays, but I still love time alone and books more. It took time to learn how to deal with the energy output, to coach myself on how to “do” these kinds of relatively unnatural activities. 

The qualification to the “yes, you can”

You can re-invent yourself with a qualified yes.  We all have our general personality traits and we work from a starting point of where we are at.  Yet, we need to challenge ourselves and not use the excuse, “I am introverted and can’t do parties or “I am extroverted and can’t work/be alone.”  We are all able to do a lot of activities we don’t think we can, if we try and learn new skills, and try again and keep trying until we make it.  

But those activities may very well be out of our “normal arena of comfort”.  These new activities may drain us more than other more typical to our personality activities do.  

Change is hard.  Change will not be easy for you, that is true, but if you want to keep working after being made redundant (especially after he age of 50 in Switzerland), change will be necessary for your success. 

COVID and change and being (more) productive

Don’t push yourself if you are in a difficult place, either because you are recovering (I know someone like this, who is frustrated at her tiredness and inability to work) or because this whole thing is way too overwhelming.  For many of us, just getting through the day is worth a pat on the back, so be very kind to yourself A new dawn is coming.

Have a good and healthy rest of the week! 

Patricia Jehle                      patricia@jehle-coaching.com