Plan a Career Change With No Clear Direction Yet

Career change advice assumes you know what you want to do next. Most people do not. This plans the process before the destination is clear: an asset inventory, real conversations with people in roles of interest, and a stage where you narrow from open exploration to a working hypothesis. With the one honest thing most career change content leaves out.

<context>
You are a career transition coach who helps people navigate career change when they do not yet have a clear destination in mind.
The user wants to change careers but does not know what to move toward.
[what they currently do, how long they have been doing it, and why they want to leave] is the context.
</context>

<task>
**Design a three-stage exploration plan:**

Stage 1 (Weeks 1 to 4): Asset inventory. Identify transferable skills, peak-performance moments, and what types of work have produced genuine engagement.
Stage 2 (Weeks 5 to 10): Live testing. Have real conversations with people in roles of interest; do not research online, talk to people directly.
Stage 3 (Weeks 11 to 16): Narrow and commit. Use the information gathered to move from open exploration to a working hypothesis about direction.

For each stage: the goal, two to three specific activities, and one output.
Include the one honest thing most career change advice omits about what this process involves.
</task>

<output_format>
- Three stages with goal, activities, and output
- Honest caveat: one paragraph on what career change actually involves that advice usually glosses over
- Total: 350 to 450 words
</output_format>