Working Identity: Real Career Change Means Becoming Someone New

Suppose an 18-year-old student doesn't know what to do in the future.

Of course, they will also feel confused.

But their identity is still relatively open.

They say:

Maybe I will go into finance later.

No one would think it's strange.

A couple of months later:

I might want to study computer science.

That's fine too.

Half a year later:

Doing design seems pretty good too.

Still normal.

Because society allows young people:

Not to have become any particular type of person yet.

But when a 40-year-old lawyer suddenly says:

I want to go into the restaurant business.

The reaction of people around them is often completely different.

It might be:

Are you crazy?

You’ve been a lawyer for fifteen years.

What about your income?

Why throw away all the accumulations from before?

Do you really understand the restaurant business?

What’s more troublesome is:

You yourself will also question yourself this way.

This is where the deepest layer of resistance in career transformation appears:

Past successes begin to restrict future possibilities.

Suppose a person:

Joined a bank at 22.

Became a senior staff member at 25.

Entered management at 30.

Had a high income by 35.

His resume becomes more and more impressive.

From the perspective of traditional career views:

This is a good thing.

But at the same time, an invisible track is forming.

The people around him are increasingly likely to say:

The next step is of course to continue getting promoted.

The positions that headhunters offer him are also:

Higher-level finance positions.

The opportunities introduced by friends are also:

Finance-related.

The jobs he himself is most likely to get are also:

Finance-related.

Therefore, the more you accumulate in the past,

the easier it is to continue along the past path in the next step.

This is a paradox of career development:

Accumulation gives you ability, but also gives you inertia.

but:

They just cannot imagine a self that is not who they are now.

There is a big difference between the two.

For example, an accountant might say:

Besides accounting, what else can I do?

On the surface, this is a question of ability.

In reality, he may have:

• Data analysis skills;
• Risk assessment ability;
• Corporate financial knowledge;
• Communication skills with management;
• Project execution capability;
• Customer service capability.

These abilities can fully enter:

Consultation,

Corporate strategy,

Investment analysis,

Entrepreneurship,

SaaS sales,

Business operations.

The problem is not:

He can't do anything.

But he has already gotten used to it:

Explain all of your abilities using the identity of an 'accountant'.

"Working Identity" can be understood in two ways.

The first level, of course, is:

Professional identity.

But 'working' also has a very interesting meaning:

A temporary, still-developing version.

Just like:

working hypothesis — a provisional hypothesis.

working draft — a preliminary draft.

So a very useful understanding to borrow is:

Your professional identity is not necessarily a carved stone; it is more like a draft that is constantly being revised.

Today, you could be:

A corporate salesperson.

But that does not mean you can only define yourself this way for your entire life.

You might gradually become:

A business consultant.

Then gradually become:

An entrepreneur.

Even in the future:

An investor.

Professional identity can be constantly rewritten.

Many career advice suggests:

First understand yourself.

Find what you truly like.

Clarify your values.

Find the career that suits you best.

Then:

Take action.

This logic seems very reasonable:

Know → Decide → Act

First, know yourself.

Make the decision again.

The final action.

But when Ibarra studied career transitions, she found that major career changes often do not happen this way. She clearly stated that many times, 'knowing what you want to do' is not a prerequisite for action, but rather the result of action and experimentation.

A more realistic process is:

Act → Experience → Interpret → Know

Try first.

Generate experience.

Re-understand yourself.

Then gradually came to realize:

I might really want to take this path.

For example, if someone asks:

Am I suitable for starting a business?

The traditional idea is:

Take a personality test.

Analyze risk preference.

Read books on entrepreneurship.

Think about whether you have an entrepreneurial spirit.

But these things can never completely answer the question.

Truly effective information may come from:

Have you ever really tried to sell something?

Have you ever looked for clients on your own?

Have you ever independently taken charge of a project?

Have you ever experienced unstable income?

After encountering failure, how do you react?

When you truly go through these things,

your understanding of "what kind of person I am" will change.

So:

Identity is not the starting point of action.

Many times,

identity is the result left by action.

Suppose a person has been doing marketing in a large company for ten years.

He has always wondered:

Am I suitable for starting a business?

He thought about it for three years without an answer.

Later, he began using weekends to do marketing consulting for a few small companies.

The first company.

The second company.

The third company.

Gradually, he discovered:

He really enjoyed:

• Finding clients;
• Solving practical problems;
• Arranging his own schedule;
• Negotiating prices;
• Seeing your own suggestions take effect directly.

Half a year later,

He just started to speak:

It seems like I can really do it by myself.

Pay attention to what is happening here.

No:

I confirmed that I am an entrepreneur, so I started a business.

but:

I started doing some things that entrepreneurs do, so I gradually began to see myself as an entrepreneur.

This is the extremely important idea of the entire book.

Many people do one thing when they are confused about their career:

Keep thinking.

Thoughts on Monday:

What exactly do I like?

Continue thinking on Tuesday.

One month later:

What am I truly suited for?

Half a year later still:

What exactly should I do?

The problem is:

If the input data has not changed,

The brain just repeatedly processes the same set of information.

Of course, it is difficult to get completely different answers.

but:

New evidence.

For example:

You have never really been involved in the consulting industry.

Then it's hard for you to know if you really like consulting.

You have never sold independently.

It's hard to truly know if you are suited for sales.

You have never managed a project.

It's hard to know if you enjoy entrepreneurship.

So the right question is not:

How can I figure everything out thoroughly?

but:

The next step is how do I obtain a new piece of evidence about myself?

This is a very practical question that can be extracted from 'Working Identity'.

Ibarra's early research has a very important concept:

Provisional Selves

It can be translated as:

Temporary self.

It can also be understood as:

Trial version of yourself.

When people enter a new role, they often observe certain role models, try out new ways of behaving, and then decide based on their own feelings and external feedback which parts to keep, which to modify, and which to abandon; the new identity is therefore often temporary and gradually stabilizes through repeated practice and adjustment.

Suppose you are now an engineer.

But you are interested in management.

You don't need to immediately announce:

I want to become a manager.

You can first try:

Managing a small project.

Then observe:

Do I enjoy coordinating others?

Do I enjoy solving people’s problems?

Or do I actually really dislike meetings and management?

If you like it,

continue to expand.

Lead 2 people.

Lead 5 people.

Take on larger projects.

Gradually, you may start to form:

I am not only an engineer, but also a manager.

Your identity has changed.

That’s fine too.

For example:

You used to be very envious of the management.

After actually leading a team for half a year, I realized:

What I like the most is still solving technical problems.

This is not a failure.

On the contrary:

You have received a very important piece of information:

What I might want is higher income and greater influence, rather than management itself.

Then in the future, you can look for:

• Expert route;
• Technical Director;
• Principal Engineer；
• Consultant;
• Senior professional position.

This is the true meaning of the experiment.

but:

At the same time, retain several possible versions of yourself.

For example, you are now running hotel operations.

Starting to get tired of the current job.

Don't force yourself to answer immediately:

What exactly is the next job?

Can explore simultaneously:

Possible Self A

Continue in the hotel industry, but move into headquarters strategy.

Possible Self B

Entering a travel technology company.

Possible self C

Doing B2B sales.

Possible self D

Running one's own travel website.

Possible self E

Entering the consulting industry.

At first, these identities were all just:

Assumptions.

Then gradually tested.

Traditional thinking:

100 choices

↓

Analysis

↓

Choose 1

↓

Start experiencing

Working Identity-style thinking is more like:

5 attractive directions

↓

Have some real contact with all

↓

Obtain information

↓

Eliminate 2

↓

Deeply test 3

↓

One gradually becomes the new self.

The benefit of this method is:

You don't need to make the biggest decisions at your most ignorant moments.

The biggest mistake many people make when changing careers is:

When information is at its lowest, do the most costly things.

For example:

I don't know if I like programming or not.

Resign first.

Then spend two years studying for a master's degree in computer science.

Found out I didn't like it after two years.

A better route might be:

Study for 50 hours first.

↓

Do a project.

↓

Participate in a Hackathon.

↓

Get to know a few programmers.

↓

Do some real tasks.

↓

If you still like it, then decide whether to make a large-scale investment.

This is a very deep layer in 'Working Identity'.

Suppose you have worked in a bank for fifteen years.

Your colleague:

Banker.

Your friend:

A large number come from the financial sector.

Your clients:

The financial industry.

Your boss:

The financial industry.

Your headhunter:

Introduces you to financial positions.

So all the information around you is telling you:

The next step is still finance.

Relationships continuously reinforce your identity.

Someone asks an old colleague:

I want to work in the gaming industry, what do you think?

The old colleague is very likely to answer:

You are doing so well in finance, why would you switch?

This is not necessarily malicious.

It may instead be genuine concern for you.

But the way they see you is still:

You are a person in the financial industry.

So naturally, they will think from the perspective of:

How to protect your current self

When considering the issue.

Later, Ibarra also specifically emphasized that during career transitions, the people most familiar to you can sometimes unintentionally reinforce your old identity because they want to protect your stability and responsibilities; therefore, it is necessary to expand your reference group and connect with people who allow you to see different futures.

Many people before changing industries find that:

I don’t know anyone in that industry at all.

This is actually not a small problem.

It means that:

You haven’t entered that world.

The new jobs you see can only come from:

• The news;
• YouTube；
• Job websites;
• Imagination.

But when you start meeting people who actually do this work,

A completely different world unfolds.

Suppose a finance professional wants to enter the entrepreneurial circle.

At the beginning, when attending entrepreneurial events:

They feel that they are:

An outsider.

A few months later:

They meet a few entrepreneurs.

Start helping them with finance.

Attend more gatherings.

Meet investors.

Start discussing business models.

A year later,

when others introduce him, they might say:

He is working on several entrepreneurial projects.

This sentence is very important.

Because the outside world has already begun:

to define him in a new way.

Gradually,

he will start to define himself this way.

Many people understand networking as:

Who can introduce me into a company?

This is a very narrow understanding.

In a career transition,

a new network provides at least four things:

First: Information

What is the real situation in this industry?

Second: Opportunities

Are there projects to participate in?

Third: Role models

How do people in this industry actually live?

Fourth: Identity confirmation

Others begin to treat you as a member of this world.

The fourth point is very easy to overlook.

Because of an abstract profession:

Entrepreneur

Actually, it doesn't have much significance.

An entrepreneur may be:

• Aggressively expansionary;
• Small and beautiful style;
• Technical
• Sales-oriented;
• Freelance type;
• Serial entrepreneur;
• Local small business owner.

What you really need to see is:

Specific person.

Then ask:

Do I want to become someone like him?

This is very important.

If there is only one role model,

You are prone to:

If you want to be in this industry, you have to become like him.

But in reality, different parts can be taken from different people.

For example:

A's expressive ability.

B's business mindset.

C's lifestyle.

D's management style.

Finally formed:

Your own version.

but:

Borrow parts from others and slowly assemble a new self.

This point is very realistic.

People who are just starting to work in sales,

Might imitate the speaking style of excellent salespeople.

Later found:

Certain ways suit oneself.

Some ways are very pretentious.

So adjust.

Finally formed:

One's own sales style.

Management, entrepreneurship, consulting, public speaking,

Almost the same.

This is underestimated by many people.

For example, a lawyer is already very certain:

I don't want to be a lawyer anymore.

However:

I still don't know what the next step is.

This condition may persist:

Half a year.

One year.

Even several years.

You will experience a very uncomfortable feeling:

Who exactly am I?

When others asked:

What do you do?

You said:

Lawyer.

End.

Now when others ask:

What do you do?

You may need to explain:

I used to be a lawyer, now researching the education industry, also doing some consulting, and maybe I...

Even you feel:

Very confused.

But this is actually a normal intermediate state in career transformation.

The old continent has been left.

The new continent has not arrived.

Many people here retreat due to anxiety.

Because the old identity, though disliked,

At least has:

• Certainty;
• Status;
• Income;
• Social recognition;
• Sense of proficiency.

And the new identity is only:

Not sure.

Suppose a financial manager has an annual salary of about $91,000.

Preparing to enter a new industry,

The first year may only have about $54,000.

Apparent loss:

About $37,000.

But the psychological losses might be greater:

Before:

I am the manager.

Now:

I am a newcomer.

Before:

Others ask you questions.

Now:

You ask others questions.

Before:

You know the rules.

Now:

You know nothing.

This kind:

Decline in social status

It may be more painful than a decrease in income.

This is a very important ability.

Many successful people fail when they change careers.

It's not because of a lack of learning ability.

but:

I can't bear to appear clumsy again.

For example:

A minister of a large company went to start a business.

Past:

The secretary arranges the meeting.

Dozens of people listened to his decision.

After starting a business:

Find clients by yourself.

The client refused.

Make the PPT yourself.

Chase the payment yourself.

Solve small problems by yourself.

If he cannot accept:

I am temporarily no longer that very important person.

It is very difficult to complete the identity transformation.

What your old profession gave you:

Ability.

Income.

Resources.

At the same time, a shell was also formed.

You are already very used to people saying:

You are this kind of person.

True transformation requires you to temporarily accept:

I still don’t know what my next version will be.

This is a very rare ability.

We usually say:

Because:

Money.

Of course, this is an important reason.

But very often there is a deeper reason:

If I don’t do this, then who am I?

A doctor may already be tired of the life of being a doctor.

But if they leave:

What about the past decades of studying?

What would the parents think?

What would friends think?

How would others see me?

What else can I do?

So:

Leaving a job

Psychologically may equal:

Leaving oneself.

This is why changing careers is far more complicated than changing offices.

The more a profession fails,

Leaving is easier.

The real difficulty is:

A life in which you did well, but no longer want to continue.

For example:

The salary is very good.

The position is good.

Colleagues can also.

No serious problems.

Just:

I increasingly feel that this is not the life I wanted.

This situation is actually the most difficult.

Because you don't have a reasonable:

Reason for running away.

You have already been so successful, why are you still not satisfied?

So I also felt a sense of guilt:

Am I asking for too much?

This is why many mid-career transitions take many years.

Because rationally:

There is nothing that must be changed.

But in the heart:

I increasingly want to change.

But rather enter a long-term semi-withdrawn state

A person is at the company.

But their heart has already left.

Every day:

Fulfill the minimum requirements.

On weekends:

Imagine another life.

On Monday:

Continue working.

One year.

Three years.

Five years.

In the end, it’s not that you choose to stay actively,

but:

but that you stay because you haven't made a decision.

This is exactly where this method shows its maturity.

A truly good transition is not:

Endure the unbearable → Resign → Find yourself.

but:

It’s to start growing a new life alongside the old one.

This idea is extremely important.

The most dangerous method:

I will write seriously after I resign.

A better way:

Phase one:

Write two pieces per week.

Phase Two:

Publishing.

Phase Three:

Gaining readers.

Phase Four:

Receiving commissions.

Phase Five:

Starting to earn income.

At this point:

"Writer" is no longer just an imagination.

but:

It is an identity in the making.

Don't just have:

Employee

→ Resign

→ Entrepreneur.

It can become:

Employee

↓

Employee + Weekend project

↓

Employee + First client

↓

Employee + Small business

↓

Part-time entrepreneur

↓

Full-time entrepreneur.

You will find:

Identity is not a switch.

It is more like:

A dimmer.

Change little by little.

Because you don't need to:

Only after blowing up the old bridge did they build the new one.

Can:

Building a new bridge while standing on the old one.

Until the new bridge is able to bear your weight.

Go further.

This is the career transition mindset that ordinary people should most learn.

Part of professional identity also comes from:

How do you explain your past?

For example, a person has worked in an advertising company for ten years,

Later, [he/she] went into education.

If he says:

I completely wasted the past ten years, and now I'm starting over.

His career story is:

Fracture.

But if reinterpreted:

Over the past ten years, I have been studying how to help people understand information and change their cognition, and now I hope to apply this ability to education.

The same experience,

Sudden formation:

Continuity.

but:

Looking for the real connection between past experiences and future identity.

For example:

Nurse → Medical technology product manager.

Can be connected:

What I am truly familiar with is patient needs and the medical scene.

Teacher → Corporate training.

Can be connected:

In the past, I have been studying how to help others learn complex knowledge.

Sales → Entrepreneurship.

Can be connected:

What I have accumulated in the past is the ability to identify needs, build trust, and close deals.

Engineer → Consulting.

Can be connected:

What I am truly good at is breaking down complex problems and proposing solutions.

Because when others decide whether to accept your new identity,

they will ask:

Why you?

You yourself will also ask.

A good career story can answer:

I did not suddenly change direction randomly.

but:

Many clues from the past have ultimately converged here.

but establishing:

Identity continuity.

For example, two completely different statements:

The first type:

Worked in hotels for five years, then switched to sales, and now want to work in SaaS.

Listen to:

Random.

The second type:

Five years in hotels allowed me to deal with corporate clients and on-site operational issues over the long term. Later, sales work further trained me in identifying needs and business communication, so now I hope to enter SaaS sales targeting the hotel industry.

Suddenly became:

Very reasonable.

The experience hasn't changed.

The story has changed.

Career possibilities also change.

This point is very important.

Many people when they start changing careers:

I have no idea what my own story is.

This is normal.

First:

Do something new.

Meet some new people.

Get some results.

Then look back:

So this past experience is connected to the present in this way.

So professional stories are usually not:

Planned out.

but:

Understood again after going through it.

Many successful people, when talking about their career stories:

I have since childhood...

Later I realized...

So I decided...

Sounds like a perfect straight line.

The reality is often:

A

→confused

→Test B

→Getting to know C

→Failure

→Accidentally enter D

→Found something I like

→Continue

Looking back ten years later,

Only then can it be said:

A complete story.

If you are in the process of transforming,

Your story is most likely:

Incomplete.

This is normal.

Because what you really need to change are three systems:

① What you do

Activities.

② Who you interact with

Relationships / Networks.

③ How you understand yourself

Narrative / Identity.

In its official description, Ibarra summarizes career reinvention as a threefold interacting process of new activities, new networks, and reinterpreting what is happening.

For example:

A banker moves into a tech company.

The job has changed.

However:

Friends are all still people from banking.

Every day, they still focus on banking topics.

In their heart, they still think:

I am actually a finance person, just temporarily here.

In that case, the new identity is hard to stabilize.

In the end, it is very likely:

To return to the original industry.

Start doing tech projects.

↓

Meet people in the tech industry.

↓

Begin to understand how tech companies operate.

↓

Others are starting to see you as someone in the tech industry.

↓

You are also gradually relearning your past abilities.

↓

The new professional identity has stabilized.

So the real career change is:

The entire life ecosystem is slowly shifting.

For example:

I want to switch to data analysis.

So the courses were in the first half of the year.

The class is over.

But:

There are no real projects.

I don't have friends in the data industry.

No works.

There is no industry communication.

There are no real customers.

So:

Knowledge has increased.

There has been no change in status.

You still feel:

I am an accountant who has studied data analysis.

Instead of:

I am a data analyst.

Usually a few signals appear.

You start:

Doing what people in this field do every day.

You start:

Getting to know people in this field.

Others start:

Come to you because of problems in this field.

You start:

Achieve some results in this field.

Eventually one day:

When others asked:

What do you do?

You no longer hesitate.

Natural answer:

I do data analysis.

The identity has undergone a migration.

We often think:

Who I am is decided by myself.

In fact, professional identity has a very strong social attribute.

If you say:

I am a writer.

But never write anything,

Have no works,

No one has read them,

This identity is hard to stabilize.

But if:

You keep writing.

Someone reads.

Someone comments.

Someone pays.

Someone introduces you:

This is a writer.

So:

‘Writer’ gradually becomes reality.

So identity formation is:

Internal recognition + external feedback

Completed together.

because it means:

Don’t wait until:

I am fully qualified later

to enter a new identity.

The correct sequence is often:

Do a little first.

↓

Get a little feedback from others.

↓

Gain a little confidence yourself.

↓

Then do more.

↓

Receive stronger feedback.

↓

Identity gradually strengthens.

At first:

Do I have the qualification to be a consultant?

But you can first:

Help a friend's company solve problems.

↓

Get results.

↓

Second client.

↓

Start charging fees.

↓

Form cases.

↓

Client referrals.

↓

One day you realize:

You are already working as a consultant.

Professional identity often is like this:

First it happens, then it is named.

Here Working Identity can also be used to explain.

For example:

Ten years in automotive industry procurement.

Ready to enter IT.

The hiring manager sees your resume:

Automotive procurement.

So naturally they categorize you as:

Someone from the automotive industry.

And you say:

But I really want to enter the tech industry.

This is just:

Willingness.

What companies need is:

Evidence.

For example:

Participate in technology projects.

Learn the necessary skills.

Serving technology clients.

Participate in industry events.

Write a related analysis.

Get to know industry insiders.

Complete the side project.

These things slowly form:

The evidence chain of the new identity.

Until a certain time:

What the hiring manager sees is no longer:

People in the automotive industry suddenly want to work in technology.

but:

A person with experience in the automotive industry who has also started entering the tech ecosystem.

The success rate is completely different.

Don't just tell others what you want to become; first, accumulate some evidence that proves what you are becoming.

For example:

Want to be a product manager?

Don't just have:

I am very interested in the product.

Preferably has:

• Products designed by oneself;
• User interviews;
• Product analysis;
• Project experience;
• Data;
• Prototype.

Want to do investment?

Don't just have:

I am very interested in stocks.

Can include:

• Industry research;
• Company analysis;
• Investment memorandum;
• Project experience;
• Financial modeling.

Want to do sales?

It’s best if you have already:

Actually sold something.

We usually talk about:

Human Capital.

Education.

Skills.

Experience.

But during transformation, there is also another thing:

Identity Capital.

That is:

Why would others believe:

You belong to this field?

projects.

works.

clients.

partners.

recommendations.

industry friends.

industry language.

expertise.

real results.

These things constantly signal to the outside world:

This person has already started to belong here.

but:

Accumulating enough small changes eventually makes the big change appear natural.

Outsiders finally see:

He resigned from a consulting firm to start his own business.

It looks:

sudden.

In reality, over the past two years,

he has been working on projects,

getting to know entrepreneurs,

studying the industry,

testing products,

looking for partners.

So finally he resigns:

It's just the most obvious step.

Real transformation:

It started a long time ago.

Inspirational stories like to emphasize:

The day of the decision.

For example:

One day I finally mustered up the courage to quit my job.

But what is truly important in a career transition is often not:

That day.

But before:

Hundreds of very small actions.

When should I resign?

But should ask:

What can I start changing now without resigning?

For example:

Get to know someone from a target industry every week.

Do a project every month.

Study five hours every week.

Participate in industry events.

Looking for an internal transfer.

Try a side job.

Write industry content.

Make a portfolio.

These actions:

It looks very small.

But in fact, it is:

Building a new professional identity.

Assumptions:

35 years old.

12 years in manufacturing.

Currently thinking:

AI has great future opportunities, I want to switch to AI.

Wrong approach:

Quit the job.

↓

Learn programming.

↓

Apply to AI companies.

This risk is very high.

First stage: build possible identities

Don't say yet:

I want to become an AI engineer.

There could be many versions:

AI sales.

AI product.

AI consulting.

AI solutions.

AI industry operations.

AI Entrepreneurship.

AI combined with manufacturing.

Phase Two: Experiment

Do several AI projects.

Use various tools.

Learn the basics.

Help the current company make AI improvements.

Phase Three: Change Network

Meet:

AI entrepreneurs.

AI product managers.

AI sales.

Engineers.

An investor.

Phase Four: Look for Intersection

Finally, you may discover:

Your real advantage is not:

Competing with 25-year-old engineers at coding.

but:

12 years of manufacturing knowledge + AI.

Thus forming a stronger new identity:

Manufacturing AI Solutions Consultant.

You did not abandon the past.

but:

Recombine the past.

Young people can:

Start from scratch.

The ways adults become smarter are usually:

Combination.

Old Experience A

*

New Ability B

=

Scarce identity C.

Finance + AI

→ Financial Automation Consultant.

Doctor + Product

→ Medical Product Manager.

Hotel + SaaS

→ Hotel technology sales.

Sales + Data

→ Revenue Operations.

Law + Technology

→ LegalTech.

Teacher + AI

→ AI education products.

Supply Chain + E-commerce

→ E-commerce supply chain expert.

The past is not a burden.

The key lies in:

How to recombine.

A 40-year-old person said:

I want to wipe everything from the past clean.

This approach should actually be very cautious.

Because of the past ten or so years:

• Industry knowledge;
• Trust;
• Connections;
• Judgment
• Professional experience;

They are all very expensive assets.

Truly excellent career reinvention is often not:

Delete the past.

but:

Reinterpret the past and connect it to a new future.

It does not require you to:

Find a mysterious destiny.

But allow:

Change while walking.

Maybe at first you were just:

I don't want to continue my current job.

It's okay.

No need to know immediately:

What is the true mission of life.

For example:

I am completely tired of administrative work now.

But found:

I feel more energetic every time I communicate with clients.

Then there is no need to ask immediately:

What is my ultimate career?

You can first:

Do more client-related work.

This step provides new information.

Then decide the next step.

GPS Thinking:

I am at A now.

My destination is Z.

Please give me the shortest route.

But real career changes are more like:

Climbing the mountain in heavy fog.

You can't see the top of the mountain.

Can only see:

50 meters ahead.

So first walk 50 meters.

Arrived there:

Expanded vision.

Then decide on the next section.

This is a kind of:

Progressive determination.

During career transition:

Confused.

Swing.

Repeated.

Doubt.

Sometimes I like my old job again.

Sometimes I want to leave again.

These look like:

Lacking determination.

But to some extent:

It precisely indicates that the two identities are competing.

The old me:

Familiar, safe, capable.

The new me:

Attractive, unfamiliar, uncertain.

Career change is:

The two gradually transition.

This isn't necessarily just cowardice.

but:

The old identity still has a lot of value.

You might:

Dislike the work content.

But likes income.

Likes status.

Like a colleague.

Likes professional skills.

Likes stability.

So you can't simply ask:

Stay or go?

Instead, it should be separated:

What things from my old identity do I want to take with me? What things do I want to leave behind?

Don't ask:

Should I abandon my current life?

And asks:

Which parts of the current me are worth carrying into the next me?

For example, a lawyer transitioning to entrepreneurship:

Leave:

Logical ability.

Negotiation skills.

Risk assessment.

Contract knowledge.

Customer communication.

Give up:

Law firm lifestyle.

Time-based charging model.

Promotion path.

So:

The old identity has not disappeared.

It becomes:

Material for a new identity.

but:

The past is reintegrated into the new me.

This is also why mature professional identities usually become richer.

A person may eventually not be:

I am in sales.

but:

I know technology, sales, the Japanese market, and have also done a startup.

His identity becomes:

Composite.

This generates very strong professional competitiveness.

If the whole book is converted into a practical operating system, it can be organized into the following steps.

First ask:

Why do I want to leave?

Break it down specifically:

Is it money?

The boss?

The industry?

The job content?

Growth?

Lifestyle?

Values?

Location?

Identity?

If it's just:

The boss is bad,

It doesn't necessarily require changing industries.

If what you are really tired of is:

The whole nature of the job,

Then you might need a major transformation.

Don't choose immediately.

For example:

In the next three years:

A: Continue upgrading in your current industry.

B: Enter an adjacent industry.

C: Enter a completely different industry.

D: Work independently.

E: Start your own business.

Treat each one first as:

Assumptions.

No:

Google this profession.

but:

Find 3 people who are really living this life.

Ask:

How do you spend your day?

What do you dislike the most?

What do you like the most?

What is the income structure like?

What is the career ceiling?

How high is the entry cost?

What do you regret?

Who is not suitable?

Participate in:

Industry events.

Conferences.

Communities.

Courses.

projects.

Meetups.

Don’t just collect information.

Start:

Engaging with that world.

For example:

If you want consulting:

Do a consulting project.

If you want sales:

Actually sell something.

If you want entrepreneurship:

Find your first client.

If you want writing:

Publish 20 articles.

If you want to make a product:

Create a product.

Want to manage:

Lead a team.

Don't simulate too abstractly.

As much as possible:

Be close to real work.

After each experiment, ask:

What do I like?

What do I hate?

How did I perform?

What was the feedback from others?

Would I be willing to do it again?

After finishing:

Is my energy increased or decreased?

Keep asking:

Which part exactly is suitable?

For example:

After experiencing sales, you realize:

You don’t like cold calling.

But you do like:

Getting a deep understanding of customer problems.

So:

It may not be that you are "unsuitable for sales."

But that you are more suitable for:

Consultative sales.

Customer success.

Solution Consultant.

Set a realistic goal for yourself:

In the next six months:

Get to know 20–30 people in your target field.

This is not for:

Seeking a job.

But for:

Changing your information environment.

projects.

works.

Courses.

Case studies.

clients.

Certificates.

Collaborations.

Public content.

Results.

Turn:

I want to do X

Gradually into:

I have already started doing X.

Answer three questions:

Past

What have I really accumulated?

Present

Why have I started to change?

Future

Why is the next step a reasonable extension?

Build gradually like this:

A new career narrative.

100 hours of learning.

↓

A small project.

↓

Real clients.

↓

Side job.

↓

Part-time job.

↓

Job transfer.

↓

Full-time career change.

As much as possible:

The more information you have, the bigger the bet.

Not the other way around.

Each target identity can be evaluated from the following aspects:

This will be better than simply asking:

Do you like it or not?

Much more realistic.

The two books are very similar.

But the focus is different.

‘Designing Your Life’ is more like:

When unsure about how to choose in the future, continue exploring through prototypes.

And Working Identity goes even further:

Once you have become a certain kind of person, how do you break free from the inertia of your old identity and gradually grow into a new self?

So the previous one is especially suitable:

Young people.

Career confusion.

Life exploration.

This book is especially suitable for:

After 30 years old.

Already have professional experience.

Thinking about changing careers.

Want to start a business.

I want to change my lifestyle.

Because you will gradually discover:

Career truly locks you in,

Sometimes not:

Education.

Skills.

Not even money.

but:

I've always been that kind of person.

For example:

I'm not good at sales.

I'm not an entrepreneur.

I've always worked in finance.

At my age, I can't start over.

I have no technical background.

On the surface, these words are describing the facts.

In fact, many are:

Identity Narratives.

People automatically seek evidence to prove:

This is just who I am.

For example:

I’m not good at socializing.

So:

I don’t participate in activities.

↓

I know fewer people.

↓

I have less social experience.

↓

I feel even more unskilled.

In the end, the identity proves itself.

Don’t start by declaring:

I’m not that kind of person anymore.

but:

Do things that different people would do.

For example:

Think you can’t sell?

Try selling once.

Think you can’t start a business?

Start a small business with about $150.

Think you can’t manage?

Lead a project first.

Think you can’t write?

Write 30 articles in a row.

Identity may gradually change:

So it turns out I can too.

Don't wait to become a new person before starting a new life; it is after you start living a new life that you gradually become that new person.

This may be the core logic of the entire Working Identity.

No:

Who am I

↓

So what should I do?

And often:

What am I trying to do

↓

Who do I know?

↓

What feedback do I get?

↓

How do I start explaining myself

↓

Who I am gradually becoming

This is a completely different outlook on life.

That is:

Sit there and wait until 100% sure.

Because the new identity requires:

New experience.

And new experiences require:

Action.

No action:

No new information.

No new information:

No new self-awareness.

So the more you think, the more stuck you feel.

Therefore, the most reasonable transformation strategy is actually somewhere between two extremes.

Extreme one:

Never move.

Extreme two:

Quit tomorrow and start over.

A more mature approach is:

Consciously cultivate a new identity while the old identity can still provide security.

This might last:

Half a year.

One year.

Two years.

Completely normal.

If you want to change careers now,

do not first ask:

What should the next job be?

First ask:

"In the next six months, what can I do to get closer to being another kind of person?"

For example:

Meet 10 industry professionals.

Do 2 projects.

Gain 1 client.

Attend 5 events.

Complete a portfolio.

Try an internal job transfer once.

These don’t seem like:

Major life decisions.

But in reality,

Professional identity changes little by little in this way.

First

Professional identity is not fixed.

Who you are today,

does not mean that it is the only way you can be in ten years.

Second

Don’t wait until you figure everything out to take action.

Many truly important answers:

You only know after you’ve done it.

Third

Try several possible versions of yourself at the same time.

Don’t bet your whole life on the first answer too early.

Fourth

Changing careers must involve changing part of your environment.

New jobs, new activities, new connections, and new stories will together shape a new identity.

Fifth

A real career shift is not just changing companies, but gradually gaining internal and external evidence that “I am this kind of person.”

This is the true sign that professional reshaping is complete.

It discusses a deeper issue:

How a person can break free from the definitions of themselves from the past.

When we were young,

The future is relatively open.

But as one gets older:

Educational background,

work,

Income,

Connections,

Family,

Others expect,

A clearer and clearer story will gradually take shape:

This is you.

This story will bring a sense of security.

It may also become a limitation.

True career reinvention does not require you to suddenly overturn everything from the past.

More like:

Next to the old story,

First, write a few new stories.

Do something new.

Get to know some different people.

Try a new role.

Get some new feedback.

Gradually,

The original one:

This doesn't feel like me.

Will become:

It seems I can do this too.

Later:

I am doing this.

Finally, one day:

This is my work.

By that time,

Outsiders might think:

You have completed a career change.

But in reality,

What really changes is not the job title on your resume.

but:

You have started answering in another way — "Who am I?"