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An informal, stream-of-consciousness reflection on business ideas, events and issues in modern business, modern life and with some specifics to the web-software industry by Paul Tomori, Internet Entrepreneur

A Willingness To Re-Invent Oneself By Paul Tomori Wednesday, June 03, 2009 at 10:08:45 (EDT) A Soothing McWaterfall At The Re-Invented McDonalds In Welland Makes Drive-Thru Wait Times More Pleasant Popeye said "I am what I am". Sorry Popeye. You were dead wrong. In fact, that kind of statement is only for losers. Let's face it - life is complicated. We live in a dynamic world where opportunities and obstacles swirl together in a constant ebb and flow all around us. Armed with a solid foundation of guiding philosophical principles, we must enter the world each day with a willingness to try new things, adjust our purposes and goals, visit strange places, entertain new hobbies, make new acquaintances... and then integrate these experiences to have a broader, wiser view of how this world works. It all comes down to this: are you willing to re-invent yourself? Or are you still stuck in 1999... or 1989... or 1979...? The world has changed a lot since then. How do you "define" yourself? As a student? musician? business person? chef? salesperson? etc...? Are you fulfilled with that? If not, remain open to other possibilities. Had I stuck with a Popeye approach to life, I would have stayed at my "perfectly ok" position at the local school board, with making music as my main hobby. And, I may have stumbled upon and married the wrong person. I may have turned the wrong acquaintances into friends. Needless to say, I would never have discovered a much more purposeful and rewarding life. That would have been tragic. Yet, I am not out of the woods yet... and no one is. I still have not completely arrived. I am always in a process of arriving. This is Nietsche, right? The overman. This is how Neil Peart has re-invented himself repeatedly... first as a musician, then as a family man, then as a world traveller, and then at the loss of his family which composed a huge part of his personal identity, he re-invented himself as a writer... a world-class, bestseller at that. What next Mr. Peart? No doubt, he also is still in a process of "arriving". It's very inspiring. Nathaniel Branden had to completely re-invent himself when he was "excommunicated" from the Objectivist movement after having founded it with Ayn Rand. What an enormous pedestal to fall from. Yet, his best work came AFTER the work he did directly for Objectivism. In the very first two years of his departure, he moved from the East Coast to the West, settled into a new more fulfilling romantic relationship, and wrote the definitive book of his new career and perhaps of his entire life. Impressive. To re-invent oneself, there is the presumption that one has even "invented" himself/herself in the first place. There can be no re-invention if there hasn't first been invention. Every person dies, but not every person truly lives. Invent today. Re-invent tomorrow.... and let the process continue. Here's what Popeye should have said: "I am what I am... becoming" Return To Blog Index