Reading: How to Open Yourself Up To Reinvention

One of the keys to reinvention? Being open to ideas that literally happen all the time. You have to be open to when a reinvention jumps in front of you!On this episode of the Reinvent Yourself podcast, Jana Brown talks with CoveyClub founder Lesley Jane Seymour about a chance encounter during an interview that led to a screenplay and an award-winning film.

1. The biggest thing is to listen to yourself.
I spent a long time not listening to myself. I wanted to write a novel, for example. I wanted to be more creative, I wanted to do some different things. But I kept thinking, ‘well that’s not what I do.’ You get a little bit pigeon-holed into what you’re doing. And so listening to myself, believing that I could create my own stories and follow my own vision, that was really important.

2. Keep writing.
I look at it like this: writing is like a muscle. If you stop going to the gym, you’re not going to be in very good shape. And if you stop writing, then it’s going to be harder to get back into it. So if you feel like you’re a writer, you have to continue doing that.

3. Go through the open doors.
I think there are a lot of people who feel doubt, and it’s legitimate — is following my dream going to sink my family financially? But, my instinct was that this was a really good opportunity. When we started doing this, we didn’t know that we’d end up with this film that people were going to respond to and we were going to win awards and it was going to be something that people were taking very seriously. It just seemed like a legitimate opportunity to step outside that comfort zone.

RELATED:
I Cheated on My Husband with F. Scott Fitzgerald (TheCovey, October 2018 issue)

5 Secrets to Reinventing Yourself as a Writer

4 Weird Sleep Tricks that Work

If you enjoy this content, JOIN NEST WITH COVEY and receive 12 FREE ISSUES of The Covey magazine delivered straight to your inbox each month! Our magazine features in-depth reporting, first-person stories, and special offers. All just for you.