Happen To Your Career - Meaningful Work, Career Change, Career Design, & Job Search You Are Not Your Job Title: How Career Identity Traps Mid-Career Professionals
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Jan 29, 2026 A conversation about how success can trap mid-career professionals when identity gets tied to a job title. Stories of stepping away from high-status roles to prioritize health, family, and fitting work to life. Practical life design ideas like the Ideal Career Profile and redefining what work should fulfill.
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Job Title Shapes Identity
- Introducing yourself as "I am a [job]" can lock you into an identity tied to a role.
- That identity language often keeps people trapped in careers that no longer fit their lives.
Karen's Career Crossroads
- Karen built a 30-year, outwardly successful career across admissions, the Peace Corps, and dean roles.
- A life upheaval forced her to question career ascension and reconsider what she truly needed.
The Identity Trap Explained
- Defining yourself by role rather than characteristics creates an "identity trap" when life changes.
- To change careers sustainably you must shift how work fits into the whole of your life.