Barbara Corcorans 10 lessons for career reinvention By Valerie

New York real estate legend Barbara Corcoran's 10 rules for a career reinvention she discovered the hard way and by knowing herself:

1. There's no such thing as part time: "If I was going to succeed I knew I had to work 40-60 hours a week with that fire in the belly."

2. You can't change your wiring: When Corcoran's copy machine broke down, she hired someone to fix it, instead of attempting to do it herself. She had to treat herself as a business leader and not get bogged down in tasks she hated. So she spent money hiring someone, and spending money is something she loves to do and is good at.

3. Good things come out of insecurities: Corcoran's "D-student" past only fuels her to work harder.

4. Girlie traits that once worked for you when you were younger can't be relied on anymore: The charm she counted on when she was younger, especially when working with men, changed. She couldn't play naive anymore -- she wasn't. "The intuitive stuff got in the way," she said. So she presented herself as a realist, someone who takes their passion seriously.

5. The greater the success in a previous career the bigger the insult when you're not taken seriously: Producers only called her back to get real estate advice.

6. Reinvent yourself in stages: "You have to reinvent yourself in chunks, little chunks, even if you like a nice neat picture."

7. Contacts in your old field are totally useless: "Once you leave your business you're old news." Yes you have to start all over in making contacts -- don't forget the "thank you" follow-up e-mails.

8. In building new contacts, focus on young people: They're the ones who are moving up, becoming the bosses.

9. Have a sense of belonging in online social networking: She missed her community at work the most but found a source of encouragement online. "Tweeting gives you a quick sense of belonging -- an opportunity to build a community with people...It's not a substitute but it's nice," Corcoran says of watching her Twitter followers grow and respond positively to her attempts to "make it" again.

10. Talents in your old business are useless in the new one: It was a whole new jungle.