I had an aunt that used to take "cuttings" from plants in our garden that she was especially excited about.
I would hear her say to my mom, "Oh this is lovely, may I have a cutting?" I never really understood what that meant but she was magical. She would turn something so small and seemingly insignificant into a beautiful addition to her flower bed.
She knew how to take a cutting and give it a life of its own. To repurpose and restart something - a sort of self-reliance and using what was already available.
I never gave it much thought then because this type of thinking was all around me.
I came from that time in our culture where we 'repurposed, upcycled, reimagined, and reused" items.
I recall those embarrassing jeans where the hems were "let-out" and had been worn by a sibling or someone else before I had ownership. Discarded dresses became part of a blanket or doll clothes, items would find a new life somewhere and no one thought it was wrong. It was a life skill.
My parents would first seek out a way to repair appliances, cars, etc. before they would be discarded. To this day, I count a good leather goods/shoe repairman as valuable as my hairstylist or dentist.
We purchased quality and expected longevity.
And like everything else, things change, and replacing old items became the typical action of choice when something broke or was deemed useless. It was more cost-effective.
This created a whole different perspective. Why bother repairing it when it can simply be discarded and replaced with something new?
Longevity became a thing of the past. Value took on a different role - emphasizing what is new as the only real value.
And, we clearly see this reflected in recent surveys and studies- as early as 42 years old in the workforce are experiencing ageism.
We now have generations who have not witnessed a lifestyle of upcycling, repurposing, and reimagining what we already have and creating something new, useful, and maybe meaningful.
Realizing that the value is in ourselves and exhausting those opportunities to reinvent again and again before we discard it.
Because I was raised in an environment that asked what can you create from what already is? I have made a life of finding ways to transform, reinvent, rethink and reimagine and share it with others. It isn't magic, it's simply being resourceful. Taking a beat and asking ourselves to innovate ourselves and our lives.
The challenge is contagious once we see where we could create something from what was considered useless or obsolete. And from that exercise, we gain confidence that we are able to repurpose, reimagine and recreate from what already exists.
And, isn't innovation one of the key traits for success in business, career, and life right now? A dynamic approach, flexible and nimble - able to create and act on it.
While we bemoan the culture of those counting 42+ as obsolete, we have contributed to it - unknowingly. And, if we accept it, then we are supporting it.
How about we change that perspective? Why don't we develop or revisit those habits from the past to help ourselves and our youth?
They need this.
We need this.
We, all of us have value to add. It may be we need to reinvent how we will continue to live and work going forward but it starts with a "clipping" and fostering our self-reliance to start anew.
We are all creative and can come up with solutions.
Why not challenge yourself to start practicing upcycling in life? Maybe you are in need of a life and work 'makeover'? Before you explore investing in learning more to help you get there...Think about what you have already accomplished, where you want to end up (results), and how you can implement all that you already have to create a new role, path, or journey.
The same goes for your business. Innovate what you already have(including valuable expertise in your team) to deliver even better products and services. This adds to the ability to remain nimble and effective.
Be an example and let go of the mentality that youth doesn't see our value. Don't accept that you are 'obsolete' or 'irrelevant'. And take some responsibility for it.
We adopted this behavior. Let's exemplify how to find it in ourselves to meet change and continue to leverage what we already have in order to continue to remain relevant.
My work is all about helping those 'starting out and those starting over' - be it personally or in business. Defining our goals and values, setting our GPS and revisiting what we are made of, continuing to innovate, meet change, and upcycle our life and work.
Find out more about the author, founder, podcast host: Elizabeth Ribons
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