“Why should I reinvent myself as a 50Plus Entrepreneur?” Why not? The beauty of being a 50Plusser is that you can do the hell what you want. Or at least that is what we say while the Chardonnay is flowing! The challenge comes when the wine has stopped flowing and you wake up the next morning thinking: “Shit! I have f*cked up again!”
OK, maybe that was a little melodramatic, but hopefully, you are catching my drift! Reinventing myself as an entrepreneur is almost always a very good idea.
Sometimes you need a little reminder
One of the amazing features of being a little older is that you can always blame your forgetfulness on your age. Sometimes it works pretty well and sometimes you have another oh-shit I forgot moment! I had one of those recently when I interviewed Rael Levitt on my Expedition Business Podcast. Rael was talking about how he had to reinvent himself after his seemingly picture-perfect life fell to pieces right before his eyes and with it the option to fall from the 20th floor.
Not everyone is blessed with such a massive have-to-reinvent-at-all-cost story, but reinvention is almost always a requirement to ensure that your life is not turning stale and you grow a boep quicker than Joel Stransky could place a ball. Reinventing yourself equals growing as an entrepreneur and as a person as a whole – something we constantly have to remind ourselves of.
Finding My Why
Finding your “Why” you do what you do is one of the best ways to start redefining yourself as an entrepreneur. The reality is that if you want to do work that is meaningful, fulfilling, and purposeful, you have to figure out what is YOUR WHY. And let’s face it, you do have a deadline that you are working against. So you might want to step on it!
The concept of “finding your why” became popular with Simon Sinek’s book and Ted Talk, “Start With Why.” In a nutshell, your why is your purpose or the reason behind what you do. Being able to articulate your “why” or your purpose is important for two reasons:
- It grounds you:
Your “why” serves as the foundation for all that you do. - It inspires you:
Your “why” serves as a guiding light that connects you to your vision and where you want to go.
You can find more details on how to find your ‘Why’ as an Over 50 Entrepreneur in our “5 Steps to Find Your WHY as a 50Plus Entrepreneur“, but in short, it is important to take time out to reflect on where you are and where you want to be. For yourself as an individual and for your business.
You might even still be working full-time for an employer while you have secretly been fantasizing on becoming an entrepreneur one day. Or at least just have a project of your own on the side. Who knows. But that is the beauty of being in the Over 50 stage of your life. Anything can be possible. It is all a matter of how badly you want it.
The One Day Excuse
The beauty of being in the phase of reinventing yourself as an Over 50 Entrepreneur is that you sort of have a deadline. No, don’t get me wrong on this one. I am a very big believer that retirement is for the birds. My own father, Flip Rosslee worked till way into his 80’s. Not because he had to, but because he wanted to. And that kept him mentally young right till the end of his life!
The reality is however that if you are in your twenties or thirties, it is so much easier to use the One-Day-excuse. I’ll start my business one day. I’ll do a photography course one day. One day when the kids are independent. One day when I have money. One day. And more often than not that ‘one day’ never comes unless you get your butt into gear! When deciding to do something in your 50Plus phase, you have a little bit less opportunity to use the one-day excuse.
Time to Get Cracking
If you want to make a difference for yourself and the world around you, you better get cracking. And yes, you have got so much more experience than the poor soles that are just starting out in life. Your kids have probably left the nest and you have an abundance of time on your hands. But let’s keep all the benefits of reinventing yourself as a 50Plus Entrepreneur for another day!
Remember that we do have a business coaching division where we could work through all your questions, plans, hopes, and dreams of reinventing yourself as a 50Plus Entrepreneur.
After all, we are here to support each other.
