Feeling stuck? Or fired? Or inspired?

Today’s “best of times, worst of times” economy offers the perfect opportunity to take stock of your life and your business. One thing is certain… maintaining the status quo is not an option.

You may be one of the millions who were forced out of a comfortable (but perhaps, unfulfilling) career. If so, your best option and only real choice may be to reinvent yourself.

Or it could be you feel compelled to reinvent yourself or your business in order to seize an unexpected opportunity. Either way, the August issue of SUCCESS will prove invaluable.

August issue of SUCCESS is on newsstands today! Magic Johnson on the cover. Timing? Yes, we knew Lakers would win the Championship, ya sure. Incredible reinvention story–inspiring, enlightening and tons-o-takeaway value. Great feature! Grap your copy off the newsstands before they are hoarded. Better yet: SUBSCRIBE. You are a subscriber, right?! Geez.

Reinvention has resulted in some of the world’s greatest business success stories. Companies that launch with the intention to do one thing often end up finding their grand opportunity lies in a completely different direction. Taking advantage of the opportunity requires a reinvention of thought and strategy—and the effort pays off. For instance, as a startup, Flickr was an online game project and chat room. When its founders realized how much fun players had using the game’s photo-sharing tools, they scrapped the game and reinvented their project into a wildly popular site that currently hosts more than 4 billion photographs from users around the world.

Reinvention doesn’t have to mean doing something wildly different than you started out to do. It can be a process of evolution. For example, Nike continually reinvents itself—and for that reason it is formidable in a very competitive market. The company has morphed from a successful athletic shoe provider into a powerful sportswear brand, and then into a lifestyle company with a surprisingly wide product offering. In addition to the numerous brands under the Nike label, the company also owns Cole Haan, Hurley International, Umbro, Bauer and Converse. Nike’s leaders have recently reinvented the company once more with the addition of Nike Plus—a product that effectively combines athletic activity, mobile technology and social networking. The result of all this reinvention? Despite global economic slumps, Nike continues to dominate the market with almost 50 percent of all running shoes sales in the United States.

But reinvention isn’t only about business—it’s personal. In this issue, we provide you with a few key strategies for making a successful transition. Magic Johnson shares that it isn’t easy to change others’ perceptions or expectations, but with the right mentors and mission—and the willingness to learn—it’s possible to create the success you crave. Gerontologist Ken Dychtwald explains how to determine when you’re living off-track, and how to define your purpose and align your actions with your mission.

And on the CD enclosed with the magazine is awesome. Our legend this issue is Brian Tracy and he confesses to having been through more than one reinvention in his lifetime, many of which he initiated himself. As he aptly says, “Whatever got you where you are today won’t get you any further.” Reinvention is the key to taking that next step to greatness.

Life is never stagnant. You’re either growing or dying, ripening or rotting. The earth continues to hurl around the sun at 16,000 miles an hour every minute of the hour, every hour of the day. If you don’t continually advance you will be crushed by the wave of progress and forward motion.

We hope the inspiration and strategies you find in this issue will help you pursue growth in your market and take you to the next level of opportunity.

Looking to reinvent yourself? Here are: 5 Keys to Reinventing Yourself

What to do when: You Get Knocked Down

A new way to look at reality: Life Isn’t All Great

And finally, sometimes you just need to stop bitchin’: Enough Already!

Let’s keep the masterminding going… when you have needed to, what have you done to reinvent yourself? What are you doing now to keep yourself relevant and on the top of your game? Share your insights with everyone in the comments below.

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Tags: brian tracy, Ken Dychtwald, Magazine, publishers letter, reinvention, SUCCESS Magazine

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 6th, 2010 at 10:00 am and is filed under SUCCESS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.