Finding the words online this morning took me all of about 8 seconds.

“The partnership helps to extend this strategic repositioning by partnering with Destiny Solutions, which specializes in helping educators reimagine the way they do business, providing the industry’s first integrated business system for lifelong education”

“One Word That Will Reinvent How You Serve Clients”

“The eighth annual Reinvention Symposium will examine new practice models innovative architects can use to survive these tough times and to position yourselves to thrive in the upturn”

“Department store chain seeks way to reinvent itself”

The sentences I grabbed were from articles about an education consultancy, a lawyer group, an architect lobbying organization and  JC Penney.

Reimagining the future of a park, a business, or a law office are as common and ordinary as people like you and I wondering how we can do a little bit better in our personal lives and our careers.

 

 

When we talk about reinvention, we aren’t  always talking about a transformative, major upheaval- that sounds large, lumbering, clumsy and scary.

Reinvention can be a series of tweaks, a short list of two or three goals, or one solitary mission.

In the throes of my 2010 unemployment, I promised myself to make one phone call, or send one message to someone. If I spent the remainder of the day watching 4 movies with the shades drawn, or taking a three-hour lunch to watch the World Cup with a couple of friends, I did do one thing- one little thing to get me closer to escaping.

I didn’t feel so guilty if I made that one phone call.

In the mess of our everyday lives, with kids and partners and taxes and “work”, it seems overwhelming, this act of reinvention.

One thing. One phone call. One message. It takes seconds/minutes, and then we resume the mess.

That one act of reimagining our future means we are committed, we are focused, and we’re not taking our eye off of the immediate, the urgent and the necessary.

JC Penney’s suits didn’t just change their stores with a wave of a magic wand  in one weekend. They conducted research, met with teams, made a road map, and accomplished incremental goals on their way to the global, big picture mission of  reinvention.

Performing that humble, single act is profound. It’s important to remember and respect what you did.

Most people say, “I’ll do it tomorrow.”

You did it today.  Good for you.