The Life Checkup
Schedule regular reviews of your career and life plans to escape tunnel vision and identity forec...
Grant argues that many people suffer from identity foreclosure: settling prematurely on a career or life identity without enough exploration, then clinging to it long after it stops fitting. The ten-year plan is the enemy because it assumes your future self will want the same things your current self wants. Research shows passions are developed, not just discovered, and your interests will change over time.
The Life Checkup framework involves scheduling regular reviews of your career and life plans, just as you schedule health checkups even when nothing seems wrong. Twice a year, you answer key questions: When did you form the aspirations you are currently pursuing? How have you changed since then? Have you reached a learning plateau? Is it time to consider a pivot?
Grant draws on research showing that grit, while generally positive, has a dark side. Gritty people are more likely to overplay losing hands and stay in failing endeavors. The fine line between heroic persistence and foolish stubbornness often becomes visible only in retrospect. Regular checkups prevent the escalation of commitment to paths that no longer serve you.
- Identity foreclosure happens when you settle on a career identity without enough exploration and then cling to it
- Passions are developed over time, not discovered in a single moment of clarity
- Grit has a dark side: persistence in the wrong direction is stubbornness, not virtue
- It is better to lose the past two years of progress than to waste the next twenty
- Treat careers as actions you take rather than identities you claim
- Schedule biannual checkupsPut a recurring reminder in your calendar every six months. Treat it with the same seriousness as a medical appointment. This removes the need to rely on a crisis to trigger reflection.
- Answer the diagnostic questionsAt each checkup, work through these questions: When did I form the aspirations I am currently pursuing, and how have I changed since then? Have I reached a learning plateau in my role or workplace? Do I still find this work meaningful, or am I running on momentum and sunk costs?
- Assess escalation of commitmentAsk whether you would start this path again if you were beginning today with no sunk costs. If the answer is no, that is important data. Consider whether you are staying because of genuine alignment or because the sacrifices of salary, status, skill, and time feel too great to abandon.
- Explore adjacent possibilitiesInstead of planning ten years ahead, plan one step ahead. Identify one small experiment you could run to test an alternative direction. This could be a side project, an informational interview, a class, or a volunteer role. Keep your options open by treating career exploration as ongoing, not one-time.
Grant's cousin Ryan decided at age five to become a neurosurgeon. Driven by family expectations and his own foreclosed identity, he pursued premed, medical school, and residency despite warning signs that the path drained his extroverted personality. He briefly considered economics in college but abandoned the idea to stay on track. In medical school, he asked about switching to business or consulting but was told it was too late.
Grant tells the story of his cousin Ryan, who decided at age five to become a neurosurgeon. Ryan checked every box through college, medical school, and residency, driven by family expectations and his own identity as a future doctor. But the work drained his extroverted personality. He spent sixteen years escalating his commitment before finally admitting the path was wrong. Grant argues Ryan suffered from identity foreclosure, and that regular life checkups could have helped him recognize the mismatch years earlier. Grant also challenges the question adults ask children, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?', noting that it encourages kids to foreclose on a single identity.