top of page

Why You Need To Dip Your Toe In The Water

ree


Why You Need To Dip Your Toe In The Water


One of the biggest myths about mid-career change is the belief that clarity must come first—that you need a neatly defined destination before you’re able to move. In reality, it’s the opposite, clarity is not a pre-requisite for action. Clarity is a result of action.


This matters especially for people in their 50s and 60s who are feeling the uncomfortable weight of identity shock—the moment when the story you’ve lived no longer fits the person you’re becoming. 


For many high-achievers, identity is built through decades of competence, recognition, status and expertise. This is an identity shared amongst our network. That identity is coherent… until suddenly when we might have retired or been made redundant, it isn't.


This is “identity shock”. It's when the old narrative is too small for you, but the new one hasn’t arrived yet. It’s disorientating—and if we’re honest—frightening.


We’re used to being experts. Reinvention can require us becoming a beginner again.


Herminia Ibarra, academic and expert on transitions, uses a powerful idea: “identity play”. In her research, successful transitions don’t start with a plan. They start with experiments: trying new roles, meeting different types of people, learning adjacent skills, testing interests in the real world.


These experiments create data. The data shapes identity. In short: we do, we learn, then we can become.


This approach can be profoundly liberating. You don’t need a master plan to progress. You need small, low-risk experiments that show you who you might be next.


Here are five low-pressure experiments anyone can do:



1. Join a different circle

Spend time with people outside your industry.


2. Test a skill in a new context

Mentor. Teach. Volunteer. Try your expertise somewhere unexpected.


3. Add a micro-project

A short project creates momentum and evidence: Can I do this? Do I like this?


4. Shadow someone doing something you admire

Not to copy them—but to learn what attracts you.


5. Public curiosity

Write, post, speak about what you’re exploring. Your interests become signals, and signals attract opportunities.


We’re all living longer, working longer, and redefining what midlife even means. If the old model was linear: education → work → retirement—the new model is cyclical and creative.


Stay Curious Coaching


I coach people navigating this exact moment—the messy middle between “what I’ve done” and “who I want to become next”. If you’re exploring your next chapter, I’d love to connect. https://lnkd.in/eQ4FthhV





 
 
bottom of page