Module 12 · Adapting to change · Lesson 6 of 6

Changing careers and new stages of life

Big changes rarely happen in one leap. They happen through small experiments.

8 min read · Free — no account needed to read

The idea

Some changes are bigger than a new plan: changing careers, becoming a parent, retiring, leaving education, moving to another country. These are moves to a new stage of life, and they rarely happen cleanly in one leap.

Research on people who changed careers found that most did not plan their way into the new life first. They tried things out in small ways: side projects, short courses, conversations, volunteering, temporary roles. Through these experiments they discovered which possible future selves fitted — and the new direction became clear through doing.

Starting again, at any age, is not going back to zero. You bring your skills, relationships, experience and self-knowledge into the new stage. The early part can feel humbling, because you are a beginner again. That is a normal part of change, not a sign you chose wrongly.

Why it matters

Treating a big change as a series of small experiments makes it less frightening and more likely to succeed. And seeing a new start as building on everything you have, rather than losing it, makes the beginner stage easier to bear.

See it happen

At forty-five, Harriet is tired of her office job and thinks about becoming a garden designer, but quitting to retrain feels far too risky.

The first read

Either she commits fully and risks everything, or she stays where she is and accepts it — there seems to be no middle way.

With this idea

She takes an evening course, designs gardens for two friends, and spends a week shadowing a designer during her holiday. The experiments confirm she loves it and teach her what the business involves. Two years later she moves into it, part-time first.

What changed

She tested the new stage through small experiments instead of one all-or-nothing leap.

Easy to get wrong

• Believing a big change must be one dramatic decision. Most successful changes are built up gradually.
• Feeling that being a beginner again erases your past. You bring far more with you than you think.

What this rests on

Well studied. Researchers have studied this a good deal. The core idea holds up, though details vary between people and settings.

• Herminia Ibarra — Working Identity (2003) — A study of people changing careers, finding they usually tried out new possibilities in small ways before committing, rather than planning first.
• Hazel Markus & Paula Nurius — possible selves (1986) — The idea that people carry images of who they might become, hope to become and fear becoming, and that these guide what they do.

Try it: Three small experiments

1. Write a big change you are considering.
2. Write three small ways to try it out without committing fully — a course, a conversation, a small project.
3. Choose one to start in the next month.

Reflect

• What skills and experience would you carry into a new stage of life?
• What small experiment could tell you more about a change you are considering?

Use it in the coming days

Start one small experiment toward a change you are considering this month, and add it to your Timeline when it begins.

Where to do it: My Timeline

Your Timeline shows a big change as a series of steps rather than a single leap.