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What if the career you’ve built isn’t the one you want to keep?
Whether you’re a senior leader questioning the cost of success, or a professional at any stage sensing you’ve outgrown the path mapped, this book is your roadmap to Uptick what comes next.
A career pivot isn’t about throwing everything away; it’s about harnessing your transferrable skills, experience, knowledge and credibility to create an uptick, a new, planned direction built on what came before, one which aligns more with who you are today.
With practical exercises, honest stories, and strategies that take you from reflection to action, this book will help you find clarity, overcome fear, plan your finances, embrace change and build a confident future that balances fulfilment with freedom.
If you’ve ever wondered ‘Is this it?’ – here’s your answer: it doesn’t have to be!
Dr Claire Handby’s career journey spans more than 25 years, beginning in the construction industry where she managed trades on-site — hard hat on, steel-toe capped boots at the ready — before moving into senior leadership roles in Big Four management consulting with EY, Deloitte, and KPMG.
A chartered professional and now successful business owner, she has built a reputation as a trusted board-level adviser and executive coach. Today, she helps individuals realign their careers with clarity and confidence, drawing on her depth of personal experience within conversations.
Foreword & Endorsements
Note from the Author
Introduction: Redefining Your Success – When Your Professional Life No Longer Fits
- Why the traditional career model no longer fits
- Recognising when your professional life feels misaligned
- Redefining success on your own terms
Chapter 1: Needing to Uptick – First Define Your 'Why'
- Understanding your need for change
- Clarifying your purpose and values
- Building clarity and self-awareness before action
Chapter 2: Overcoming Fear and Imposter Syndrome
- Recognising and reframing fear
- Tackling imposter thoughts with evidence and courage
- Taking action before confidence arrives
Chapter 3: Do the Maths for a Dream Life
- Knowing your financial baseline
- Building a buffer and planning for freedom
- Using financial clarity to create confidence
Chapter 4: Leveraging Your Transferable Superpowers
- Identifying the skills and strengths you already have
- Translating experience across new roles or industries
- Rewriting your professional story with credibility
Chapter 5: Reframing Failure as Fuel
- Redefining failure as part of growth
- Learning from setbacks and using feedback
- Turning challenges into renewed motivation
Chapter 6: From ‘Stuck’ to ‘Strategic’
- Moving from reaction to intentional progress
- Cultivating curiosity and emotional resilience
- Embracing uncertainty as a driver for growth
Chapter 7: Crafting Your New Narrative and Personal Brand
- Rearticulating your professional story
- Aligning your behaviour, values and brand
- Building visibility with purpose and authenticity
Chapter 8: Networking Without the Ick Factor Shifting from transactional to genuine connection Creating meaningful conversations and relationships Building visibility through curiosity and reciprocity
Chapter 9: Taking Action Before You’re Ready
- Replacing readiness with small, consistent action
- Building belief through momentum and experimentation
- Accepting imperfection as part of progress
Chapter 10: Sustaining Success in a New Professional Arena
- Adapting to new environments and expectations
- Sustaining energy and focus through change
- Nurturing community and redefining long-term success
Conclusion: The Journey Continues – Understand Upticks are a Way of Life
- Embracing change as a continual process
- Recognising that success evolves over time
- Living and working with clarity, courage and confidence
About the Author
Author Contact Details
Acknowledgements and Thanks
References
Useful Resources - Websites
5 - 8 Foreword & Endorsements
9 - 10 Note from the Author
11 - 16 Introduction: Redefining Your Success – When Your Professional Life No Longer Fits
- Why the traditional career model no longer fits
- Recognising when your professional life feels misaligned
- Redefining success on your own terms
17 - 31 Chapter 1: Needing to Uptick – First Define Your ‘Why
- Understanding your need for change
- Clarifying your purpose and values
- Building clarity and self-awareness before action
32 - 51 Chapter 2: Overcoming Fear and Imposter Syndrome
- Recognising and reframing fear
- Tackling imposter thoughts with evidence and courage
- Taking action before confidence arrives
52 - 64 Chapter 3: Do the Maths for a Dream Life
- Knowing your financial baseline
- Building a buffer and planning for freedom
- Using financial clarity to create confidence
65 - 79 Chapter 4: Leveraging Your Transferable Superpowers
- Identifying the skills and strengths you already have
- Translating experience across new roles or industries
- Rewriting your professional story with credibility
80 - 91 Chapter 5: Reframing Failure as Fuel
- Redefining failure as part of growth
- Learning from setbacks and using feedback
- Turning challenges into renewed motivation
92 - 104 Chapter 6: From ‘Stuck’ to ‘Strategic’
- Moving from reaction to intentional progress
- Cultivating curiosity and emotional resilience
- Embracing uncertainty as a driver for growth
105 - 114 Chapter 7: Crafting Your New Narrative and Personal Brand
- Rearticulating your professional story
- Aligning your behaviour, values and brand
- Building visibility with purpose and authenticity
115 - 124 Chapter 8: Networking Without the Ick Factor
- Shifting from transactional to genuine connection
- Creating meaningful conversations and relationships
- Building visibility through curiosity and reciprocity
125 - 134 Chapter 9: Taking Action Before You’re Ready
- Replacing readiness with small, consistent action
- Building belief through momentum and experimentation
- Accepting imperfection as part of progress
135 - 144 Chapter 10: Sustaining Success in a New Professional Arena
- Adapting to new environments and expectations
- Sustaining energy and focus through change
Nurturing community and redefining long-term success
145 - 150 Conclusion: The Journey Continues – Understand Upticks are a Way of Life
- Embracing change as a continual process
- Recognising that success evolves over time
- Living and working with clarity, courage and confidence
151 About the Author
151 Author Contact Details
152 Acknowledgements and Thanks
152 References
152 Useful Resources - Websites