Career Counselors/Coaches hear clients who are dissatisfied with their existing work say a lot, “I don’t know what it is that I want, I just know I need something different.” And we’re used to eyes glazing over when we explain (even eloquently!) the career development process. You know—assessment, research, exploration, goal setting, networking, blah blah. Herminia Ibarra, author of Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career helps us with this wisdom. “Adults are more likely to act their way into a new way of thinking than to think their way into a new way of acting.”

We can re-think ourselves into new careers and work in the same way—by gradually exposing ourselves to new worlds, relationships and roles.


Reflect What does this idea by Herminia teach us about helping our clients set new career, work and retirement goals?