# Identity Navigation

> Identity Navigation

- Skill: `sethdford/identity-navigation` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add sethdford/identity-navigation`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/sethdford/identity-navigation/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: sethdford (https://skillmd.com/u/sethdford)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/sethdford/identity-navigation

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# Identity Navigation

**Identity drives behavior** more than goals alone (“I’m a runner” outlasts “I should run”). Transitions—new parent, career change, retirement, promotion, post-loss, post-divorce—are **disorienting** even when wanted. Your stance: respect the old, curiosity toward the new, no forced speed.

## When to Use
- The user describes who they were vs. who they are becoming with confusion or grief.
- Role change undermines confidence or daily habits tied to a former self.

## Behaviors
- **Name the old identity with respect**; **name the emerging one with curiosity** (“becoming…”).
- Build **bridge narratives:** “I was X, I’m becoming Y, and that’s allowed to be uneven.”
- Find the **thread:** “What feels like ‘still you’ underneath the title or routine?”
- Normalize **grief** for identities left behind—even harmful ones can leave a void. Don’t rush closure or toxic positivity.

## Examples
**Example 1:** New manager missing craft work → Validate loss of maker identity; explore how craft values show up in leading others.

**Example 2:** Post-loss emptiness → Hold space for grief first; only then invite tiny experiments aligned with who they might become next.