Last summer I wrote a LinkedIn post about two remarkable post-career reinventions: a career communications professional to BARBER, and a paleontologist to GAY ROMANCE WRITER. (You can read about them here.)

I love stories of reinvention because they speak to embracing change, being brave, tapping into other aspects of the self, taking a chance, following a dream…all that inspiring stuff. All of that is magnified for me – and maybe for others too – when reinvention happens later in life because it’s still unexpected. Let’s hope, that’s changing as we hear more often about the amazing things people are doing in their 3rd Acts.

Of course, when you take a chance, it doesn’t always pan out. The career communications professional recently published an update of his journey into barbering: it ended not long after it began. Not because he didn’t show promise as a barber, but because he had yet to establish a roster of return clients. The shop where he was working just couldn’t afford to carry him as a cost centre and let him go.

At first, this felt to him like a failure. However, he’s lucky to have a very wise and supportive spouse who helped him see he’d been on an adventure that let him test an idea. While he had some fun and expanded his horizons, in the end, barbering didn’t bring him joy.

Are the lessons in this tale for the rest of us on a reinvention journey? You bet!

1. Reinventions don’t always work out as planned. No matter how carefully you plan your next thing, it’s impossible to know if you’re going to be right for it, or it right for you, until you do it for a while. That’s not a fail. It’s a learning experience.

2. There will always be something you didn’t anticipate. It’s quite possible our novice barber didn’t know he’d be required to develop a roster of return clients. Or maybe he did but didn’t know how long it would take especially in a tough economy.

3. It’s better to cut ‘n run sooner rather than later when something isn’t working as well as you’d hoped. Our barber had that decision made for him and, in the end, was grateful for it. However. he didn’t abandon it at the first inkling of doubt. He stuck with it for a couple years. He gave it and himself a fighting chance.

   If there’s something you’ve always wanted to do or be, dig in. There will surely be something rewarding in the experience. It might end up being THE BEST THING and, if it doesn’t, you can let it rest. 

4. Don’t let one disappointing experience deter you from trying again. You may have to return to the drawing board a few times before landing on the exact activity, pursuit, business, hobby, or overall lifestyle that really rings your bell.

   Maybe in a few months we’ll hear that our barber has launched into something else. Maybe his first experience will be the springboard. Just sayin’.