How to adapt to change by redefining your identity and building transferable value

Executive overview

Most people experience change as loss — and when their identity is anchored to a job title or output, any shift threatens who they are. Jason Feifer, editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur Magazine, argues adaptability is a learnable skill, not an innate trait.

The fix starts with defining yourself in terms that survive any change. Pair that with a habit of pursuing unrequested opportunities, and you stop being reactive and start accumulating transferable value.

The thing that does not change in times of change is your real core value — and everything else is just a vehicle for it.

Redefining identity around what can't be taken away

• Most people define themselves by job title or work output — both are easily changed or eliminated.
• When identity is anchored to something fragile, change feels like identity loss, not just a career shift.
• Loss aversion means we focus on what we're losing rather than what we might gain.
• The exercise: write one sentence describing yourself where no word is anchored to something easily changed.
• Feifer's version — "I tell stories in my own voice" — survives a firing, a platform shutdown, or an industry collapse.
• "Stories" isn't magazines or podcasts; it's the transferable core that unlocks any new medium.
• The CEO of Foodsters: "We bring joy to people with upgraded sweet baked goods." Joy has permanent demand; the delivery method can shift.

Working your next job

• At any moment, two opportunity sets exist: A (what's asked of you) and B (what's available but unrequested).
• Opportunity set B — taking on projects nobody assigned — is where growth actually happens.
• Doing only set A qualifies you for only your current role; set B opens doors into an unknown future.
• Feifer volunteered as an on-air host at Fast Company with no idea how it would pay off. Years later it made him the right hire for Entrepreneur.
• Two questions to ask yourself in any role: "What do I need to learn?" and "Have I learned it?"
• When the answer is yes, it's time to move — staying only to cling to comfort is a trap.

The four phases of change

• Panic: disorientation, sense of loss, feeling out of control.
• Adaptation: beginning to build, experimenting with new options.
• New normal: regaining familiarity and solid footing — but not the goal.
• Wouldn't go back: realising the new state is better than what came before.
• Everyone moves through all four phases; the only variable is speed and efficiency.
• Panic and adaptation overlap — constructive panic channels fear into action rather than clinging to the past.
• Self-determination theory explains panic: change strips autonomy, connection, and competency simultaneously.
• Regaining a sense of control — even just having a problem to think about — is the first step out of panic.

Using panic productively

• Megan Asha (Founder Made trade shows) faced pandemic shutdown of her entire business model.
• She was panicking — but had already been generating ideas for new revenue streams she'd never had time to pursue.
• Her panic drove her to seek control rather than cling to the familiar.
• The contrast: others sat back and said "there's nothing I can do" — panic that drives nowhere.
• Having a plan-for-a-plan (a thesis, not a roadmap) is enough to enter adaptation.

Why staying in "new normal" is dangerous

• Companies start by innovating, then over time shift all resources toward efficiency.
• Efficiency is not wrong, but exclusive focus on doing the same thing faster leaves you exposed to disruption.
• Kodak didn't die because digital cameras were better — early digital cameras were poor quality.
• Facebook killed Kodak by creating the first real use case for digital photos: easy sharing and storage.
• If Kodak had defined itself as being in the memory business rather than the camera film business, it could have invested in early social platforms.
• Individuals face the same risk: specialising only in what you already do closes off future options.
• New normal is where you stop feeling disrupted — it's also where the next disruption finds you unprepared.

Reaching "wouldn't go back"

• Stacey London (What Not to Wear) lost TV work as she turned 50; her TV-personality identity became a liability.
• When offered the chance to buy State of Menopause, she initially refused — "I'm a TV personality, not a company owner."
• Reframing her core value: she had always helped people with self-esteem and sense of self. TV was just one vehicle.
• Buying the company was a natural extension of that core — and she took it.
• Lena's Wigs (Baltimore): forced into appointment-only by pandemic lockdowns.
• Walk-in browsers rarely bought; appointment customers (shopping for health or religious reasons) converted reliably.
• Removing walk-in access increased both customer satisfaction and revenue.
• Lena then built a digital presence and virtual fittings — more revenue, less work, more customers served.
• Neither Stacey nor Lena sought disruption; both discovered better models only because they were forced to look.