I hear people talk all the time about reinventing themselves, about what their lives would be like and what all they would do. And I’ve known people who have done it quickly and drastically. A girl I went to school with completely morphed into a new person over one summer break.

When it comes to reinventing oneself I think most people try and do it to quickly, they jump at it and try to change every aspect of their lives, then are disappointed because it doesn’t work quite like they planned. You can’t change most of your life in a split instant, it takes time to add friends and clothes, to find a new job, to create new habits, and a lot of people get so impatient that they give up and say “I would reinvent myself if I had the time or the money.” Things turn into dreams quickly and who we want to be fades into a figment of our own imagination.

The fact is, we are all constantly reinventing ourselves even if we aren’t trying to. You can see the proof when you look back four years at who you were then. When you aren’t trying change comes a lot slower but it tends to last.

I’m not saying that we should all sit back and wait for us to magically become who we’ve always dreamed we could be. I’m saying that the changes we make have to be small. We have to make steps. Maybe the person you want to be is super organized. You could try starting with keeping a planner or cleaning out your room. Make one habit then add another, take the steps instead of dreaming about an elevator.

People talk a lot about this when it comes to their style, their aesthetic. They wish they had a certain vibe but they can’t afford to redo their whole wardrobe, so instead of slowly buying one piece at a time they just look at pictures on the internet and comment #goals.

We live in a society that likes instant gratification, and we’re given it constantly thanks to technology. You can order a pizza and have it in thirty minutes. You can buy a pair of shoes and have them in two days. You can look up a fact and know it in seconds. But one thing you will never be able to get instantly is a new and improved you. Changing habits is hard, and changing our mindsets is even harder.

A quote I love is by Chris Assaad and it reads “Close your eyes and imagine the best version of you possible. That’s who you really are, let go of any part of you that doesn’t believe it.” I love it because I really do believe our fantasy us is really who we are, we just have to fight to become them.

Now, stop tweeting about how you wish you were and start taking steps to become that person.