You know your career no longer fits, but you’re not ready to make a reckless leap. Where do you begin?

In this episode, Jools shares a grounded way to explore a career change in your 40s using three steps: Awareness, Anchor and Action. You’ll reflect on what you want more and less of in work, check whether a possible direction fits your life now, and choose a small experiment that gives you useful evidence.

You’ll hear:

• Why confidence can grow through experience, rather than needing to come first

• Three questions to help you notice what fits the woman you are now

• How to check whether an idea supports your strengths, choice and connections

• A prompt to picture a believable working week that fits your real life

• Small, lower-risk experiments to test a possible direction

• Why you don’t need the whole route mapped out before you begin

Next week: The different routes you can take when your career no longer fits.

Source note: Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2026 report says 12% of employees in Europe were engaged at work in 2025. The UK figure was 10%.

Timestamps00:00 - Starting the conversation on career change in your 40s
01:01 - Why this episode is for successful women who feel stuck
01:30 - The three steps: Awareness, Anchor, Action
02:16 - Bold Moves and the podcast’s mission
02:45 - Where to begin after identifying your career “cage”
03:42 - Why career pivots are both practical and personal
04:11 - Introducing the AAA method
05:07 - The trap of waiting to feel confident first
06:33 - Confidence grows through experience
07:26 - Step one: Awareness
08:15 - Questions to clarify what you want more or less of
08:44 - Step two: Anchor
10:11 - Using AI to picture a believable working week
11:11 - What AI can—and can’t—help you explore
11:40 - Step three: Action through small experiments
12:10 - Examples of low-risk career experiments
12:38 - Why career change is easier with support
13:08 - How to choose a qualified coach
13:34 - Learning from experiments, whether they work or not
14:03 - The full Awareness, Anchor, Action cycle
14:33 - You don’t need the whole route mapped out before beginning
15:16 - Free AAA starter guide and what’s coming next week

You can be grateful for what you have and still want more.

In this episode, I’m sharing how an old diary, a long-held dream of bringing travel and work together, and a summer spent watching sunsets with Hugo helped me see what I’d been pushing aside. A career change in your 40s can feel risky, especially when financial security matters. But you don’t have to wait for burnout or redundancy before exploring what could fit better.

You’ll hear about:

• The travel-and-work dream I found in an old diary

• Why I kept choosing the sensible option, even when I wanted more freedom and creativity

• How becoming a mum and turning 40 changed the size of the career “pot”

• What a small summer experiment showed me about the life I want

• Why your experience is intelligence, not baggage

If you haven’t heard the previous episode on the CAGES that can shrink what feels possible, go back and listen. Follow Bold Moves so you don’t miss next week’s episode on where to start with a career change.

Jools Raye explores the psychological barriers that keep women in unfulfilling careers and shares practical insights on how to make bold moves towards a more aligned and joyful professional life.

Why do we stay in careers we know we’ve outgrown?

Especially when part of us already knows something needs to change.

In this episode of Bold Moves, I’m breaking down five research-informed behavioural patterns or CAGES that can shrink our field of possibility and keep us stuck in careers that no longer fit.

If you’re considering a career change at 40, navigating a midlife career change, questioning your professional identity or wondering why you can’t seem to make a career pivot even though you know you want one, this episode is for you.

Join Beyond the Bold Move and receive your Sunday mindset shift.

www.joolsraye.com

Chapters

00:00 Introduction: Why We Stay in Unfulfilling Careers

02:05 The Five Cages That Limit Career Possibilities

03:55 Understanding the Role of Identity in Career Change

06:02 The Safety of Familiarity and the Fear of the Unknown

08:03 The Gap Between Where You Are and Where You Want to Be

09:24 Building Confidence Through Evidence and Action

11:09 Suppressing Desires and the Cost of Staying Small

12:42 Changing Your Narrative and Identity for Bold Moves

13:56 Practical Steps to Start Your Career Pivot

15:17 The Power of Small, Bold Moves and Next Steps