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If you’ve ever found yourself wanting to burn your whole life down and start over, you’re not alone. Life reinvention sounds glamorous until you’re actually living it—especially when you’re over 50 and have ADHD to spice things up.
But here’s what I’ve learned at 55: reinvention doesn’t have to mean starting from scratch or going through another life crisis. Your second act can actually be your best act yet.
The 5 Things Every ADHD Brain Needs to Know About Reinvention
1. Stop Waiting for Clarity (Seriously, Just Stop)
The hard truth: If you’re waiting for clarity before taking action, you’re wasting your life.
At 55, I still don’t have perfect clarity about what I want to be when I grow up. And that’s totally fine because clarity comes through messy action, not perfect planning.
I started this YouTube channel four years ago without knowing if it would work—and it’s been one of my most successful ventures.
Your action step: Pick one thing you’ve been “waiting to feel ready” for and try it this week.
2. Pivoting Isn’t Failing (Let That Sink In)
As ADHD brains, we tend to label every pivot as proof that we’re somehow broken. But every time something doesn’t work out, it’s not a failure—it’s data.
You can’t know if something will work until you actually try it. I’ve pivoted more times than I can count, and each one taught me something valuable.
Your mindset shift: Start calling them “experiments” instead of “failures.”
3. Structure Becomes Non-Negotiable
Just like kids need structure to thrive, the older we get, the more we need intentional systems to support us. Without structure, it’s too easy to default to the couch and Netflix.
Structure isn’t boring—it’s what gives us freedom to be creative and spontaneous.
Your action step: Pick one chaotic area of your life and create one simple structure around it. Start small.
4. It’s About Your Nervous System, Not Just Your Mindset
Here’s the missing piece that made all my earlier reinvention attempts fall flat: Reinvention isn’t just about doing things differently—it’s about adjusting your nervous system to handle the change.
When you pile on too many changes at once, your amygdala goes into threat mode and wants to revert to what feels safe and familiar.
Your approach: Take changes slowly, one small shift at a time. Let your nervous system catch up before adding the next change.
5. You Are NOT Broken (Read This Twice)
You are not broken. There is nothing wrong with you. You do not need to be fixed.
I spent my entire life trying to fit into molds, being told I was “too much.” But who gets to decide that I’m “too much”? Maybe they’re being “too little.”
The truth: If you constantly feel like you don’t fit, maybe you’re just in the wrong environments or around the wrong people.
Your reframe: Instead of changing yourself to accommodate others, find spaces that accommodate the best parts of you.
The Vision That Keeps Me Going
I have this vision of myself in my 60s, 70s, and 80s: a badass woman who does what she wants (without hurting anyone), is truly aligned with her values, stays fit, speaks her mind, and loves herself unconditionally (check out what Chatgpt made for me as I described her).
That woman is inside me right now. Like Michelangelo’s David, I just need to chip away the extraneous pieces until she appears.
Your action step: Spend 10 minutes visualizing who you want to become. What does that person do differently? How do they show up? What would they do today?
Reinvention Is an Evolution, Not a 90-Day Plan
Life reinvention isn’t a quick fix or a perfect transformation. It’s an ongoing evolution.
You don’t need to have it all figured out. You don’t need to wait for perfect clarity. You just need to start where you are, with what you have, and trust that taking messy action will show you the way forward.
Your next step: Pick one insight from this post and take one small action on it this week. Just one. See what happens.
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