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CHAPTER 11

Agile Identity

YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY to shape your identity, which in turn influences your trajectory. My work has shown that careers are contingent on identity and can expand or contract depending on how you define yourself. Limited views of self can heighten risk aversion and in turn stunt career growth. Expansive, flexible, and evolving views of self can positively influence your appetite for risk, as well as create expansive and exciting careers. In essence: the view you have of yourself has the power to define your career and life. Carol Dweck, the renowned psychologist and Stanford professor, said: “For twenty years, my research has shown that the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life. ...