The final quarter of the year is one of my favourite times. I <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/lifestyle/things-to-do/2023/10/29/beginners-guide-camping-uae/" target="_blank">enjoy the cool weather </a>and the opportunity to plan for the year ahead. This often involves a review of <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/comment/2023/09/04/why-entrepreneurs-should-take-time-to-reflect-on-their-achievements/" target="_blank">what I have accomplished </a>over the past year and also provides an opportunity to shed unnecessary business weight that I don’t wish to carry with me for the next year. I have <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/comment/2023/10/02/what-uae-entrepreneurs-need-to-know-to-become-a-future-100-start-up/" target="_blank">been an entrepreneur </a>for more than a decade, but the past two years were the most transformative. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/2023/10/16/how-the-power-of-pivoting-can-help-entrepreneurs-grow-their-start-ups/" target="_blank">I pivoted and expanded some services</a> of my business but have also been in stressful situations that taught me some of <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/money/2023/10/20/how-bootstrapping-your-business-helps-promote-fiscal-discipline/" target="_blank">life’s greatest lessons</a>. Throughout all the changes I went through as my business grew, what has remained constant as an entrepreneur is reinventing myself. The more my business grows, the more I appreciate the process of reinventing myself and the benefits it brings to my company. When I first ventured into entrepreneurship, I had a different vision of where I thought I would end up in a decade. When I look at my early business plans, I realise how much my vision has altered and how I ended up in places I couldn’t have imagined. As important as it is to have short-term and long-term plans for our careers or businesses, it is equally important to keep in mind that your plan could completely change – and you need to embrace that. Does reinventing yourself mean scratching out everything and starting over? Not necessarily. For me, it was a process of yearly, quarterly and monthly reviews of how I conduct my business, how my company has grown and analysing what is hindering my personal and professional growth. It’s a continued process of editing and improving. It’s a process of quickly analysing where my business is heading, where it’s not performing well and what can I change to realise my goals faster. Two things have been helpful for me: Keeping a daily journal and having a mentor or business coach to speak with for advice. When I was younger, a relative advised me that if I wanted to see something clearly, I have to write it down and read it and that this process would allow me to look at things from a fresh perspective. I incorporate this step into my business daily. I write down my goals, my notes for the day and then make a diary entry of everything that went well and what needed to be improved. I review my journal entries constantly, looking for patterns and spotting small issues before they become something bigger. These journal entries have helped me to realise what I was doing wrong and where I needed to reassess matters. Whenever I faced an issue, what helped me is writing about the issue, assessing it and jotting down possible solutions. Although my journaling process helped me tremendously, having a mentor who I constantly spoke with and consulted helped me see where my shortcomings were. The mentor advised me on what I can do to improve my skills and become the entrepreneur and woman I aspire to be. Entrepreneurship is a dynamic journey. It drives us, challenges us and makes us completely uncomfortable. To ensure that our journey leads us to where we desire, reinventing ourselves is key to our success. <i>Manar Al Hinai is an award-winning Emirati writer and communications adviser based in Abu Dhabi.</i>