As a society, I think we have a romantic view of reinvention.
We are enamored by stories of reinvention, almost as much as we love a good “rags to riches” story, because it shows us that we capable of changing ourselves if we truly wanted to.
But most reinventions are not sexy stories with catchy headlines. They’re borne out of necessity. They’re painful. They’re arduous processes by which people redefine who they are on their terms rather than what they think they should be.
Reinvention happens in a lot of different ways.
Today, I want to take that idea and see where it takes us, starting with a very honest, open, and vulnerable post from Melanie:
The Power of Reinvention: How Boxing Changed My Life [Melanie Lockert on Medium] – This article is not a personal finance one but it’s written by a personal finance blogger I’ve known for years. Melanie Lockert’s money blog is called Dear Debt and this Medium post is about how boxing changed her life after a series of big changes in her life. “The learning curve was steep and intimidating but also exciting. When you’re starting at 0 getting to 10 feels so good. Then 20. Then 30. Progress proved to be addictive and the antidote for my low self-esteem. Slowly but surely I was gaining a newfound confidence.”
I love learning new things, like a skill or sport, because of how quickly you can get from terrible to competent. Running up that learning curve is a lot of fun and can tell you a lot about yourself. I’ve never tried boxing but it sounds like it did a lot of great things for Melanie.
Next, I want to look towards reinventing our concepts around income:
Here’s an interesting interview discussion about universal basic income with Annie Lowrey. She is a contributing editor for The Atlantic magazine, a former economics writer for the New York Times, and author of the new book “Give People Money: How a Universal Basic Income Would End Poverty, Revolutionize Work, and Remake the World.”
Regardless of what you think about UBI, this interview can help give you a better understanding of it (and potential implementations):
‘Give People Money’? A long-read Q&A with Annie Lowrey on the case for a Universal Basic Income [American Enterprise Institute] – “Cutting every citizen a monthly check, regardless of whether they work, is no longer as radical an idea as it once seemed. Some form of government-ensured universal basic income — or UBI, as it is more commonly known — is now embraced by some libertarians, futurists, and (of course) socialists. But that’s not to say UBI has grown uncontroversial. It has, however, grown more politically feasible, as the Overton window continues to widen.”
Much like paying off all student loans, I understand there’s an inherent level of “unfairness” (less so with UBI if everyone gets it) but I think we should look at how it benefits society as a whole rather than who is getting what. I see these solutions as similar to what Malcolm Gladwell wrote about in Million Dollar Murray. Give it a read and you’ll see what I mean.
This last one has nothing to do with reinvention and will be fun for anyone who enjoys a good bagel. Or beigel. 🙂
How New York’s Bagel Union Fought — and Beat — a Mafia Takeover [Grub Street] – “In a thriving industry that by the mid-1960s was pumping out more than 2 million bagels per week to a market only just beginning to reach beyond New York City, they could afford it. With their industry grossing some $20 million per year, these men purchased homes on Long Island, drove fancy cars, and sent their children to prestigious colleges. It was a copacetic ecosystem, working out favorably for all involved.
Naturally, the Mafia wanted in.”
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