Growing up, most of us assume that midlife crises only happen at 40 or 50 when you buy an “out of your price range” sports car, but it turns out, they can happen much earlier if you have an unhealthy relationship with your job and it messes with your “sense of self.”
I also used to struggle with my identity in and outside of work. It was significant enough that I felt the need to create a separate persona (complete with a separate name) to help me cope. But eventually, I just started caring less and fused the two personalities. It was very freeing! If I want to express how I feel about best practices for LinkedIn outreach, I’m not worried about how I’ll be perceived at my place of employment. It’s just part of who I am.