The Art Of Starting Over: Rethink, Redefine & Redesign Your Life

Rethink, redefine and redesign; 2020 was a year that forced us to reimagine so many aspects of our lives, whether we wanted to or not.

2020 started off like so many other years. It was a new decade to explore, expand and take on new challenges that would help me be the best version of myself. I was fully employed in a job I loved, working with professional speakers and doing my part to bring a little inspiration and magic to the event industry. I was awarded the Supplier Member of the Year Award for MPI Toronto, and everything looked like a bright and shiny colorful painting.

And then … COVID-19 hit and, like so many others, it changed my world forever. It was not exactly the kind of challenge I was looking for, but perhaps the one I needed and was just not aware of at the time.

I found myself without a job, and it was like a large splatter of black paint blurred my vision and, with it, every expectation, path and prediction I had for my life. Scared, unknown and unpredictable.

It is funny how out of hardship often comes great opportunity. It took me a while to realize this for myself. This new crisis forced me to rethink, redefine and redesign my life and, in doing so, I decided to venture out on my own, taking on a new entrepreneurial path. And I am not looking back.

THE ART OF STARTING OVER

There is a true art to starting down a new and unknown path. If you think about art, it is creative, fun, challenging and vulnerable. You are sharing a part of yourself with others and often do not know how it will be perceived or if anyone will like it.

All the elements are there for what it takes to reinvent your life and see a new path form in front of you that was never seen before.

How does one start over? The answer (at least for me) was opportunity, passion, willingness to take a risk and support networks.

OPPORTUNITY

While the world is "on pause," take this time to think about what you can do now that will better your life for the future? This does not need to look like starting your own business; this could be taking a course you’ve wanted to take, finally doing something with that awesome idea in your head, taking the steps to push your current business forward or trying a whole new industry altogether.

PASSION

What are you truly passionate about? What makes you get up in the morning and think, "This is what I want to be doing"? How can you turn that from a passion project into a real job? For me, it is bringing people together for shared experiences to create magic; so what is yours? As the famous Simon Sinek says, "Start with why." What is your WHY?

RISK

Life is not without risk. If we stay comfortable in one space, we risk missing the opportunity to be great in another. It may be scary, but we will lose so much more if we do not act. As the famous saying goes:

"Do one thing every day that scares you." — Eleanor Roosevelt

Get out there and show the world what you are capable of and make the impact you are meant to make on this world.

SUPPORT NETWORKS

I cannot speak more highly of the value of support networks in one’s life. Having people around you that genuinely care about your success is key. These are the people that will be there when you are scared, uncertain or simply need a shoulder to cry on. They are the ones that pick you up when you are down, remind you of the great and wonderful person you are and tell you that you can do it! Who is that for you?

I hope this article inspires you to look at how you can rethink, redefine and redesign your life. I hope you see this time as an opportunity to come out on top of this crazy, unknown and strange point in history where we all find ourselves. Take that COVID-19!