Get “Identity Capital”

Have you ever felt unmoored in your career life? Bored with what you’re doing? Are you trying to find a new career identity?

Meg Jay, a clinical psychologist who has worked with 20-somethings and wrote “The Defining Decade,” offers some great advice for young people in their 20’s that can be applied to anyone at any age. For people in the first decade of their career, Jay advises to make good use of the decade and not let it slip away, thinking they have time to find or establish themselves. She champions instead to get into action and get “Identity Capital.” What is that? Jay says: “Do something that adds value to who you are. Do something that is an investment in who you want to be next.”

You can apply this tool in a couple of stages of the career journey:

• If you are trying to identify alternative futures that are motivating to you, identify a path by considering the questions: Who do I want to be next? In what area would I invest time and energy to build identity capital?
• If you are in action and building towards that next role you seek, where might you have gaps in your skillset or know that you need to build some Identity Capital to position yourself for that role?

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The Insight: The concept of Identity Capital can be a powerful tool to either identify a possible path for further exploration or help you prepare yourself to confidently step into the next role you seek. For the latter, get into action and by doing so become who you want to be..