Can Your Career Change Your Identity?
Yes. Work can become an important part of how people understand themselves.
When someone spends years identifying as a teacher, engineer, doctor, entrepreneur, manager, designer, researcher, pastor, consultant, or another professional, that role can become connected to their identity.
This can make career change emotionally difficult.
The identity question beneath the career question
A person may not only be asking:
"What job should I do next?"
They may also be asking:
"Who am I if I am no longer this person professionally?"
Career identity can be useful, but it can also become restrictive when someone believes their entire worth is contained in a job title.
Identity vs occupation
A healthier approach is to distinguish identity from occupation.
Your profession may be one expression of your abilities, values, experiences and contribution. It does not have to represent the totality of who you are.
Career change can therefore be viewed not only as leaving something behind but as discovering new ways to express enduring parts of yourself.
Understand Who You Are Beyond Your Job Title
Penagix helps you discover the deeper patterns of ability and value that remain constant across any career you choose.
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