Why Career Advice That Ignores Identity Will Always Fail You
Clarity without context isn’t clarity—it’s erasure.
I used to think I had a “clarity problem.”
But looking back, I realize I was never really confused. I was just being coached out of context. Every time I tried to explore a new path, I was met with the same advice:
“Just follow your passion.”
“Update your résumé.”
“Network more.”
“Pick a niche.”
None of it accounted for my real life.
My culture.
My caregiving.
My trauma.
My neurodivergence.
My faith.
None of it made room for the complexity of who I actually was.
Instead, I was told to be strategic.
To think like a brand.
To “put myself out there” even when I barely knew who I was anymore.
So I followed the steps.
Tried the templates.
Learned how to sound like someone people would hire—even if it wasn’t me.
And for a while, it worked.
Until it didn’t.
Because career advice that ignores your identity will always lead you back to misalignment.
It won’t ask the deeper questions.
It won’t help you reclaim what the world trained you to silence.
It won’t show you how to make choices that feel good on the inside—not just the outside.
Clarity without context isn’t clarity.
It’s erasure.
It’s the subtle violence of being told to shrink your story so someone else can feel comfortable offering you a seat at their table.
But you don’t have to contort yourself to be chosen. There’s a way to move forward that honors both your ambition and your truth.
But awareness isn’t the whole answer. The real shift comes when you start moving differently—and that’s what I’ll walk you through next.
How to Find Alignment Without Abandoning Yourself
Let’s be real: most career advice was never designed with you in mind.
It was designed for someone with fewer variables, fewer vulnerabilities, and fewer expectations placed on their silence.
That’s why the advice feels flat.
Why the options feel limited.
Why clarity feels so far away.
But you’re not lacking clarity.
You’re lacking space to tell the truth.
That’s where real alignment starts:
Not with a résumé update, but with radical honesty.
Honesty about what you don’t want to do anymore.
Honesty about what’s been hurting, hiding, or held in.
Honesty about the cost of keeping up appearances.
The Untrapped Decision Filter™
Use these questions to reclaim your voice and rebuild your clarity from the inside out:
Does this fuel or fracture my energy?
Where am I leaking energy just to maintain an identity that no longer fits?Does this honor my values?
What part of me have I been silencing to stay safe or seem strategic?Does this respect my capacity?
Am I trying to prove I belong instead of trusting that I do?Is this aligned with who I’m becoming—not just who I’ve been expected to be?
What truth have I been editing out of my career story—and what if I named it instead?
Reflective Prompt:
“What truth about my work, identity, or needs have I been avoiding—and what would shift if I named it without apology?”
TOOL: Identity-Aligned Career Audit
Download the Identity-Aligned Audit Worksheet to walk through:
What aspects of your identity are influencing your career decisions right now?
Where do you feel silenced, stereotyped, or unseen?
What advice have you internalized that feels misaligned with your lived experience?
You’ll end by writing 3 simple but powerful truths:
I’m allowed to want ________ even if ________.
My nervous system needs ________ to feel safe at work.
My story matters more than any external standard.
Want More Support?
Inside the Get Untrapped™ Accelerator, you’ll walk through six powerful shifts—including how to name your truth and stop shrinking your story just to stay employable.
You’ll learn how to:
Clarify what you want—even if it’s messy, inconvenient, or unconventional
Make decisions that reflect your lived experience, not someone else’s expectations
Reclaim your voice without guilt, fear, or apology
Upgrade now to get access to the full Accelerator and stop outsourcing your career clarity.
It’s time to build a path that actually fits.