When Your Career Is Your Whole Identity, What Can Go Wrong?

What happens when your career becomes your whole identity?

Passion for our careers can drive us to achieve great things. But a laser focus on the job can become the only thing in our lives, edging out the personal goals, hobbies, and relationships that make us well-rounded human beings. 

My guest today, psychologist Dr. Janna Koretz, founded Azimuth Psychological to help individuals in high-pressure positions who experience career enmeshment: the complete entrenchment of their identities in their work. Dr. Koretz and I discuss the potential pitfalls of living for work and how recognizing and aligning with our values serves as a compass to help us remain passionate and committed without losing ourselves to our careers.

Dive into Dr. Koretz’s insightful take on career enmeshment, including:

• When single-minded passion for your work becomes problematic;
• What happens to your identity when your one-and-only focus is forced to shift;
• The inextricable interplay between values alignment and a satisfying career;
• Free tools that will help you name your values and start applying them purposefully.

Related Links:

• Harvard Business Review, “What Happens When Your Career Becomes Your Whole Identity” by Dr. Janna Koretz - https://hbr.org/2019/12/what-happens-when-your-career-becomes-your-whole-identity
• Harvard Business Review, “New Mothers, Let’s Talk About Your Professional Identity Crisis” by Dr. Janna Koretz - https://hbr.org/2020/08/new-mothers-lets-talk-about-professional-identity-crisis
• OSHA, Workplace Stress - https://www.osha.gov/workplace-stress
• “Working Identity” by Herminia Ibarra - https://bookshop.org/p/books/working-identity-unconventional-strategies-for-reinventing-your-career-revised-herminia-ibarra/10709209
• Connect with Dr. Janna Koretz - https://www.linkedin.com/in/drkoretz/
• Connect with Azimuth on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/azimuth_psych
• Download Azimuth’s mindful journaling app - https://azimuthpsych.com/clearly
• Take Dr. Koretz’s Values Navigator quiz - https://azimuthpsych.com/values-navigator
• Take the Career Enmeshment Test - https://azimuthpsych.com/career-enmeshment-test
• LEVEL UP: a Leadership Accelerator for Women on the Rise - https://www.bossedup.org/levelup
• Bossed Up Courage Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/927776673968737/
• Bossed Up LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7071888/