In the blog post, Four Principles of Reinvention, I introduced the following principles:
1. Reinvention is the focus, but it’s not the main event.
2. There’s no map.
3. Your first priority work in any reinvention is to stay tuned into your true self.
4. Your emotions are your personalized, customized, internal navigation system.

This blog post explores Principle #3 in more detail.

I’ve made a case in Reinvention Principles # 1 and 2 that what you really want in a reinvention is the feeling of being authentically you, and that your reinvention journey is unique to you.

Reinvention Principle #3 is about making a priority of staying in tune with the authentic you. I recommend that you make it your first priority. Tune in first, then take action from there.

What’s in it for you to do that?

When you stay tuned in with the true you, you will enjoy your reinvention journey, and you will have access to essential inner resources to guide you along your path.

In the next blog post, Reinvention Principle #4, we’ll talk about how to navigate your reinvention journey, i.e., how to set your direction and make decisions that are true to you. (This is essential too, because, have you noticed that when you are reinventing, everyone has an opinion about what is right for you? It can be crazy-making. And they may have the best intentions for you, but they can’t know what is best for you; only you can know what is right for you. The answers are inside of you.)

But for now, back to staying tuned in with the authentic you.

Often, when my life coaching clients first come to me, they know that they aren’t living authentically. And they want to fix it.

The first step in ‘fixing it’, however, is not to start redesigning and reconstructing the outer elements of your life, such as work and relationships.

Reinvention is an inner journey first, so you start with the ‘inner.’ You tune into the true you.

How do you know that you are tuned into the true you?

Think of those times in your life when you felt like everything was flowing and you were feeling really on top of your game. You felt inspired. You were clear, focused and full of energy. You were moving through life feeling fully engaged.

We tend to think that we were ‘in flow’ because everything was going our way. Actually, it’s the reverse. Everything was going our way because we were in tune with our authentic selves, and we were living ‘in the flow’ and inspiration of our true selves.

When you are in alignment, i.e., in tune, with your true self, you feel a sense of authentic empowerment. You have easy access to all of your inner resources. Clarity and inspiration flow. You feel like you have effortless momentum. You know where you are headed. You make decisions easily because it’s clear that they feel right to you. You really feel like you are ‘firing on all cylinders.’

Conversely, when you are out of alignment, or out of tune, with your true self, you feel out of sorts. You may feel scattered, chaotic. You’re confused rather than clear. The path ahead isn’t clear. When you try to sort for a direction forward, it may feel like a lot of things are conflicting with each other.

I’m sure that you know the difference between when you’re in tune with your true self and when you aren’t.

The question now becomes “How do I stay in tune with my authentic self?”

The first thing to know about staying tuned into the ‘real you’ is that it is not a ‘getting there’ kind of a thing.

It’s a paying-attention-24/7 kind of a thing. When you sense that you are out of alignment, you readjust your attunement. And, this attunement is a skill and a practice. It’s learnable.

The simple answer to “How?” is that you become quiet enough to hear the truth of your inner guidance clearly.

This is a huge challenge for most of us because of the pace of our lives, the magnitude of our outer commitments and demands, and the sheer ‘noise’ and distractions that are nearly constant in our lives.

For most of us, we need to set aside time and space to bring ourselves into a slower and quieter rhythm, for a bit of time each day. And it’s almost as if we need to learn a different language, because our inner guidance usually comes in images or metaphors or gut feelings.

If you’re expecting a burning bush or a flash of a life-altering epiphany, you’ll probably be disappointed.

However, as you develop some skill and practice in tuning into the ‘voice’ of your inner guidance, you will more and more be able to sense it ‘on the run’, in the real-time course of everyday activity.

For most of us, a simple and fantastically effective skill (and practice) is meditation. Meditation quiets the mind, and with some practice, you can experience snatches of no-thought through the practice of meditation. The practice of meditation prepares a fertile ground for the insights and inspirations of your true self to ‘land’ and take hold.

Heartfelt appreciation is another practice that is incredibly effective for tuning into your true self. Developing the habit of looking for something that you can truly appreciate about every person and every circumstance in every day will ‘line you up with you’ faster than anything else.

I’ve done a lot of writing on this blog-site about changing perspective, the practice of finding a perspective, in any situation, that more closely aligns with who you truly are. This is another way to align with your authentic self.

For now, I’ll leave it to you to explore the ways in which you can develop a deeper connection with your authentic, or ‘true’, self. I’ll be writing more about this in the future also.

When you stay aligned with your true self, you will be inspired to take the next action in your reinvention. And it will feel right to you. You’ll have more confidence that you are on your ‘right path.’ And you will certainly enjoy your reinvention more, because you will be more often in a state of powerful, authentic flow.

Filed under: Four Principles of Reinvention on November 15th, 2007