How To Let Go Of a Career Identity and Move On

It can be scary when you realize that it’s time to let go of a career path and dream that you’ve been building for years.

Maybe you wake up one day and decide you’ve outgrown your dead-end job, or realize this career path no longer serves your higher purpose, or physically you can’t do it any longer.

This is called a career identity crisis and can surface at any point in your career.

Lots of fears and questions surface.

Does that mean you have to start all over again from scratch? Let go of everything you’ve built so far? Will you have to create a whole new network? Will you have to go back to school? Will you need to learn a whole new set of skills?

Maybe. And maybe not. It depends.

When Nina came to us, she was having a career identity crisis. She realized it was no longer possible to pursue a career in acting and theatre because of some physical injuries and their toll on her mental well-being.

It was a scary realization for her because her identity was tied to “being an actor” since 11. She had never thought about doing anything else.

The thought of moving on was affecting her mentally, physically, and emotionally. In addition, she was experiencing guilt because of the money her parents had spent on her education, and making a career change into something completely different was overwhelming.

She was left with a big question mark: what do I want to do now for a career?

Nina had no idea what career would translate into something new, especially with her niche background, training, and a college degree.

Watch our video interview and learn how she got the clarity she needed to move forward confidently in a new direction and find out what she’s doing now.