Sally Anne Carroll - Reinvent Your Reality

To your next chapter, and everything that becomes

possible on the journey from here to there.

As I stood barefoot in the snow watching my home in flames, the resistance fell away. Id been clinging to a job and a lifestyle that was no longer working, and I knew it.

There was no more hiding. This was the final straw in a series of changes that life had thrown at me. The message was clear: It was time to take back control and create the changes I craved. There was (literally) nothing left of the life that I had built, except for my job that, while it had once felt like a great fit, was now stressing me out and keeping me stuck. Sitting in the fire of reinvention in all areas of my life at once, I realized Id been clinging to any pieces that felt safe, even though I knew that there was more and better out there for me. The time had come to take back power and start making choices instead of reacting to the choices that were being made for me.

This book is one I wish I had when I was deciding what was next for me, personally and professionally. I sensed that I had been holding myself back, keeping myself safe, and shrinking my life for too long, but I didnt know how to solve the problem. On that day, I decided to find out and intended to grow myself through the process.

You dont have to wait for a crisis to throw you into reinvention. In most cases, reinvention comes in the shape of a career pivot or plateau, a geographic move, starting a new business, a wellness journey, or totally redesigning your lifestyle. I opted to tackle all of these areas at once, but I dont necessarily recommend this route. You may instead want to make the changes you most desire step by step and allow your reinvention to evolve and open new doors as you close the old onesone by one.

Whichever route you choose, I want to make it easier for you.

Are you ready to reinvent your reality?

I have coached many clients standing at the edge of reinventing their careers and lifestyles. This book is the foundation of what I know to be true about the process and the internal and external growth required to make significant changes at work and at home. Over time, I have identified six distinct phases that are essential to successfully reinventing any area of your life.

I blend life coaching and career coaching in my work intentionally because we do not live separate personal lives and professional lives. We live one life, one that requires us to show up in many areas (not just those two). Integrating the pieces effectively and authentically takes a unique combination of practice, art, and science. This balance creates sustainable success to live your best life.

This road may not always be easy, but it is not complicated, and it is attainable. It will challenge you and grow youand your results will always be worth the investment. This book is in your hands because I want you to know that you can have what you want without having to figure it out all on your own. If your inner dialogue sounds anything like this, then youre in the right place:

I know I have to leave this soul-sucking job, but hey, Im lucky to have it. Ill manage. And besides, what would I do anyway?

Ive always dreamed of working for myself, but I never seem to have enough courage to launch that dream.

I would love to work from home and be in complete control of my schedule; it must be great to take a yoga class in the middle of the day (it is, by the way). I dont think I could ever do that.

I wish I had [insert whomever you secretly stalk online here] life. Shes always going places and having fun adventures, and she and her partner seem so in love.

I feel like theres more to life. I just know that I am meant to make a bigger contributionbut how do I even figure out what that is and where to start?

This economy is the worst possible time to be looking for a new job, moving to a new city, or upending the status quo. But now I have no choice.

You do have a choice! You can think differently about whats possible for you. You can reimagine, realign, and restructure, inviting in more of what you truly want, what energizes you, and what pulls you forward.

If its a new career you want, you can have that. If you want to work from home, theres never been a better time. You can have a better work-life balance, a higher income, more purpose in your days, get that dream project off the ground, spend more time traveling, or just enjoying the success youre building. All of this is possible.

How to get the most out of this book

Let this book guide and coach you. Use a handwritten journal or create a folder on your desktop and do all of the exercises. Give each one time and space, and carefully digest each section. You may want to revisit sections of this book as you progress toward your new reality; I encourage you to work through these steps the first time in the order they are presented. After much experience and experimentation in my own life and in coaching my clients through this process, I have found this order to be the most effective.

You can download exercise worksheets at www.wholelifestrategies.com/ryrworkbook or scan the QR code on page 176.

You may find that you come back to this book again and again. I want it to be an inspiring and continual companion as you shed old stories, imagine new possibilities, and get busy with creating your new reality.

The desire to reinvent even the smallest piece of your lifestyle or your workday can be transformative. Imagine feeling clear about who you are and what matters most to you in this next chapter. Imagine uncovering the new story for what is possible for you. Imagine that you have let go of the self-doubt and the stuckness, and have a vision for whats next. Imagine that you are confident in your plan of action.

On my journey of reinventing nearly everything in my life, Ive learned that we are never truly done. The process is a journey; there is no destination. You will come back to what you learn in this book, again and again, evolving with each season in your life.

I guarantee that you will have moments of doubt and moments when clarity and confidence suddenly feel out of reach. Thats all part of stepping into the unknown and creating something new. This book offers the process for walking through those mini reinventions with grit, grace, and a deep sense of who you are and what matters most to you.

My goal is to inspire and encourage you. So, create space to exhale, breathe deeply, and just be you. If youre not sure who you are right now, relax; this is your chance to find out. I provide a clear path to follow and practical tools to help you navigate effectively through change.

Here is your opportunity to create whats next for you holistically and expansively. It also welcomes and offers tools for working through fear, uncertainty, and doubt (were not getting rid of our brainswe will learn to work with them).