I read a recent article about how career transitions affect identity, and I thought it was worth sharing. The article, “Who You Are Without The Job Title: The Identity Shift Behind Major Career Transitions,” on Forbes.com, Mizerak, L. (2026, April 23), talks about the experience of people beginning a career change process, who have worked in, and built an identity around, a previous career for decades.
The author shares how, even if the change was welcome, it can feel like grief and a sense of disorientation. Any major transition in life can bring up these feelings when you have decided to leave the “old way” but don’t yet know what the “new way” will look like. It’s a challenging and important part of the process, and I encourage people to have self-compassion and seek support at these times. Here’s an excerpt from the article that speaks to this:
“The grief piece matters. Researchers studying the psychological effects of career transition have noted that many professionals experience feelings like depression, anxiety and fear during this period. This may even happen when the transition itself is positive and voluntary. This is not weakness; it is a natural human response to losing something that genuinely mattered…
Herminia Ibarra, author and professor of organizational behavior at London Business School, has written extensively on working identity and career change. Her research suggests that identity transitions do not begin with a clear vision of the future. They begin with a growing awareness that the old identity no longer fits, which is uncomfortable precisely because the new one has not yet formed. That gap is where the disorientation lives.”