How to Change Yourself (Completely) for the Better

Ever had the feeling you could be doing something more, differently or better? It’s not unusual to feel the urge to change at some point in your life. But how exactly do you do it? In this guide, you’ll learn what it means to reinvent yourself, why people do it and how to change yourself completely, so you can find renewed purpose in life. 

What Does It Mean to Change Yourself?

There are several questions that come to mind when you think about how to change yourself for the better? First of all, what exactly is reinvention and why would you choose to do it? 

There are lots of different reasons why you might get to a point in your life where you feel it’s time for a change. Perhaps you’re feeling stuck, or that something isn’t working in your personal life or your current career.

Or maybe something happened in your past. You’ve ended up on a different path from the one you had initially dreamed of. Those are solid reasons to consider how to change yourself for the better.

Choosing to reinvent yourself or change yourself completely could also be a way to follow your dreams or simply fix something that isn’t working in your life. It could even be seen as unlocking your potential. Indeed, there are lots of reasons why this can make sense. 

We used to live in a world where people would leave school, go into a career and stay there until they retired. We haven’t lived in that world for quite some time.

Today, it’s not unusual for people to take different paths into adulthood and then to take different paths when they reach it. Plus, people may have many careers in the course of their lives. (Personally, I’m on my third.) Changing yourself and your circumstances is a natural part of this.

Why Change Yourself Completely?

So why change yourself? Again, as implied earlier, there are several possible reasons for this. For example:

• You might feel like you’re in a rut – stuck in your life or in your career.
• Maybe what you’ve chosen to do in the past isn’t making you happy anymore. 
• It could be that the relationship you’re in isn’t making you happy anymore. 

Other reasons why you might think about how to change yourself completely include:

• a personal crisis of some kind
• recovering from a major life event such as moving, bereavement or divorce, all of which count among the most stressful things that you can do in your life. 
• feeling there are better options out there, whether that turns out to be true or not 
• retiring from one career and seeking purpose or fulfillment

All these are good reasons why you might think about how to change yourself for the better. 

Ways to Change Yourself For the Better

Before we get into the steps of how to change yourself completely, let’s take an overview of some of the ways you could choose to change. These include:

• Breaking or changing bad habits. There might be things that you’re doing today that you really feel you ought to stop or do differently.
• Learning a new skill. With information always at our fingertips, a lot of us have become lifelong learners. This can be another way to make change in your life because everything that you learn adds to your knowledge base and enables you to take new approaches to things that you might have tackled differently in the past. 
• Improving yourself to help your business or career. You might decide that in your business role, you want to work on certain qualities, such as emotional intelligence, leadership, project planning or another business skill. 

However you choose to change yourself, there are several steps that you can take to make this happen. We’ll look at those in the next section. 

How to Change Yourself Completely Step by Step

Ready to change yourself for the better? Here are some steps to follow as you begin the process of reinventing yourself:

1. Assess Where You Are

The first step is to figure out where you are now. How would you describe yourself? What are the things that you like about yourself? And what are the areas where you think there’s room for improvement? This kind of self-assessment is a necessary precursor for change, as it’ll help you figure out what you want to work on. 

2. Find Your Core Values 

What do you really care about? What’s most important to you? Identifying this gives you some grounding in what needs to stay the same in your life. It’s also a foundation for determining a starting point for the things that you want to change. If you know what matters to you and where there’s a gap, it’ll help with the process of change. 

3. Identify What You Want to Change

Step three is to figure out the specific necessary changes. This may mean identifying a bad habit and deciding what you want to replace it with. Or figuring out the new skills that you’re hoping to acquire.

Either way, you should end up with either something that you’re going to use as a starting point, or a list of planned changes that you want to work through. 

4. Set a Goal and Deadline 

Once you’ve got your list, then get even more specific. Decide on your goal and the steps you’ll need to take to achieve it. Then set deadlines for each step.

Here’s how that could work in practice. If you want to reduce your sugar intake, you might decide to cut out different types of snacks at different points during the coming weeks. 

Or, if you want to develop emotional intelligence, you might plan to work your way through a list of the different qualities needed and find training courses that help you to acquire this new skill.

5. Start a New Habit 

If you’re thinking about the most effective way to change yourself completely, forming a new habit is one of the most important things you can do. 

One approach to this is habit stacking, which means combining small changes into a single routine. The idea is that when you do the first task, the others will naturally follow. 

6. Commit to Daily Practice

Along with that, self-discipline is an essential step when thinking about how to change yourself completely. Practice really does make perfect, so commit to working on the change in your life daily. The more you do that, the more likely it is that any changes will stick and become part of the new better reinvented you. 

7. Get Inspiration From Others

Often, you won’t be the first to make this particular kind of change, so seek the wisdom of the crowds and learn from others who have made the same kind of change. Follow them on social media, listen to their podcasts, watch their videos, read their articles, and attend their events. A little inspiration goes a long way in helping you stay on track.

8. Find a Mentor

For even more direct support, find a mentor. You may be able to connect with someone in your circle who has already been successful in making the change you’re planning.

It’s useful to have a source of support if you ever have trouble sticking with the change you’re planning. Knowing that someone has done it before you and is able to help you through the pitfalls is a good way to make sure that you keep going. 

9. Reflect and Improve 

Finally, take some time to reflect on the process. Consider whether the change you’re making is working out the way you want and if you’re still committed to it. Maybe there’s a way to do it better.

Or perhaps everything is going well. You feel even more committed to the change. A mental check-in will help you stay on track, or tweak the process if needed, so you can continue to change your life for the better. 

Benefits of Changing Yourself

Once you’ve changed or started to make changes, you’ll find that there are many benefits in your life. 

For example, you’ll be able to learn what you truly value just by the process of making changes and seeing whether they stick. You’ll also learn and grow by continually doing new things and improving. That’s also another way to develop resilience, which is a great way to ride out any challenges that you might face in life (there are always challenges). 

And of course, coming back full circle, one of the reasons to making change you can develop a sense of purpose. All these benefits can keep you on track as you continue to change yourself for the better.

Help Others Make Change

Once you’ve figured out how to change yourself for the better and have made a successful change, you can also be a source of support and mentorship for others. 

One way to talk them through your process and help inspire them is to create a document or presentation that tells them about the pros, cons, pitfalls, successes and so on. 

If you’re looking for a great way to do this, Envato Elements has a great offer for you. Download as many document and presentation templates as you want for one low price. Envato offers a wide range of templates for every situation. You’re sure to find the perfect one to inspire others looking to change their lives too.

Ready to Change Your Life?

We’ve looked at what it means to reinvent yourself, the benefits of changing yourself completely and how to change yourself for the better. And you’ve seen how you can use that process to inspire others who are also looking to make change. So, are you ready to change yourself and improve your life? Good luck!