This study examined the structural relationship between teachers' career adaptability, emotional intelligence, striving for goals, and setting life goals. We hypothesized that emotional intelligence would predict career adaptability, and that this relationship would be mediated by striving for goals and setting life goals. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 263 teachers, whose ages ranged from 21 to 69, with SEM and bootstrapping procedures employed. The results indicated that teachers' striving for goals and setting life goals directly predicted their career adaptability and fully mediated the effect of emotional intelligence on career adaptability. We address the possible explanations and study limitations.