December 24, 2024 • 12 mins
Remember the thrill of receiving that one special gift that changed everything? For me, it was the Ross Apollo three-speed bicycle on a Christmas morning. It wasn't just a bike; it was a ticket to freedom and endless joy. This episode invites you to revisit those powerful emotions of liberation and happiness and challenges you to inject them into your career as we edge towards 2025. What steps will you take to shift your professional path towards greater satisfaction? Let’s explore how setting boundaries and seizing opportunities can transform your work life, even in today's unpredictable job market.
As we tackle the theme of mid-career success, I stress the power of intention and purpose. Learn how to redefine your professional presence, and why it matters more than ever. Discover resources to construct your mid-career GPS and support your journey through workshops or speaking engagements. Stay connected on LinkedIn and follow my journey on social media at John Neral Coaching for ongoing motivation. This week's conversation is your gateway to a more fulfilling career, so don't miss out on insights that could redefine your path to success.
Thank you for listening to The Mid-Career GPS Podcast.
Please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts here.
Visit https://johnneral.com/resources to get The Mid-Career Job Search Jumpstart and join The Mid-Career GPS Membership Community.
Visit https://johnneral.com to join The Mid-Career GPS Newsletter, a free, twice-weekly career and leadership resource for mid-career professionals.
Connect with John on LinkedIn here.
Get John's New Mid-Career Journal on Amazon here.
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Subscribe to John's YouTube Channel here.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
John Neral (00:00):
Happy holidays and Merry Christmas.
In this episode and I promiseto keep it short I'm gonna share
with you one of my favoriteChristmas memories and how that
memory ties in very specificallyto something that I'm seeing
that's going on in our personaland professional lives here in
(00:21):
2024 and how we head into 2025.
So let's get started.
Hello, my friends, this is theMid-Career GPS Podcast, and I'm
(00:41):
your host, John Neral.
I help mid-career professionalslike you find a job they love,
or love the job they have, usingmy proven four-step formula.
Well, here we are.
It's Christmas Eve, we're a daybefore Hanukkah, kwanzaa is
fast approaching as well, and Iwanted just to share with you
this very fond memory I haveabout what was one of my
(01:06):
favorite Christmas gifts as akid.
So I grew up in central NewJersey and our television market
was, understandably, new YorkCity and there was a show and I
believe it may have gonenational for a while.
It was called Wonderama andthey would give away prizes to
(01:28):
kids that were on the show andone of the prizes they would
give away was a bicycle.
Now, it wasn't just any bicycle, see, it was a Ross Apollo,
three-speed, it was brown, itwas sleek.
I was like I wanted this bikeso badly and I will never forget
(01:52):
.
I came down the stairsChristmas morning and I didn't
see it and I felt like SantaClaus, like you know, forgot.
And I was like oh my gosh, ohmy gosh.
And I remember hanging outaround the tree with my parents
and everything.
And you know, my dad said to meand he's like John, I think
(02:13):
Santa left something for you inthe dining room and I I rounded
the corner and there, likehidden in the corner of the
dining room, was the mostmagnificent bicycle you could
ever imagine.
I remember feeling such joy andhappiness that I had this bike
(02:39):
and I had that bike for a longtime.
But here was the other piece.
Had that bike for a long time,but here was the other piece,
that bike.
While it was excitement and joy, it was freedom.
It was freedom.
And where it was freedom wasthat I could hop on that bicycle
and I could go for a ride and Icould go a block from my house,
(03:08):
or two blocks from my house, ora mile from my house.
I could take the bike into town.
And I remember I had a bicyclechain and a lock and my parents
were always like make sure youlock the bike and we don't want
anybody to steal it.
And you know that came with ownlittle little angst and worry
because I thought, oh my gosh,if somebody takes my bike,
(03:28):
what's gonna happen, right?
But but I remember like itallowed me to get together with
my friends and I had this bikeand I was so proud of it and
excited about it.
But what that bike did was that, as I I thought about it this
year, what it did for me was itgave me freedom and joy.
(03:55):
And admittedly, as we get older,we deal with a lot of stress,
we deal with a lot of crap,because adulting is hard, right.
And if you've had a worksituation this year whether it
be where you've lost your job,you've been unemployed for a
while, or maybe you are workingin a position right now but
(04:15):
you're not really loving it andyou're frustrated with it, or
you have a boss who is toxic andnon-supportive, and there's all
of the stresses and things thatcome like that as we get older
what I want to ask you iswhere's the freedom, where's the
(04:36):
joy?
Because getting on that bicycleallows you to find the freedom.
So maybe getting on the bicycleis having a conversation with
someone and letting them knowyou're not real happy with your
job, or getting on that bicycleis symbolic.
(04:58):
For you to have a conversationwith somebody to simply say how
do I love my job a little bitmore.
Getting on that bicycle andgetting that freedom is about
recognizing you could goanywhere you want.
You just have to take theaction.
You have to pedal the bike toget there.
(05:20):
You have to build yourmid-career GPS to get wherever
it is you want to go.
So let me ask you this, as westart wrapping up 2024 and
heading into 2025, if there wasone thing you could change with
your professional life right now, what would it be?
(05:41):
Life right now, what would itbe?
If you need to pause thispodcast episode here, by all
means go ahead and do it.
But if you could change onething in your professional life
right now, what would it be?
What do you have to do to makethat change?
Do to make that change.
(06:11):
What's one step you could takeright now to not feel like you
are stuck or paralyzedprofessionally where you cannot
make that move, that move?
What's one action you couldtake that would make you feel
like going into 2025, I'm goingafter the freedom and the joy
(06:36):
that I want in my professionallife, because what I have right
now is not working for me.
Where do you need to setboundaries?
Who do you need to setboundaries?
Who do you need to talk to?
What do you need to do tochange your brand or your
reputation?
Where is the new opportunityfor you?
If there's one thing I canoffer you in this episode right
(06:57):
now and we'll have another onenext week to really wrap up the
year but if there's one thing Ican offer you right now and
we'll have another one next weekto really wrap up the year but
if there's one thing I can offeryou right now, it's this you
have agency.
You have choice.
Yes, you have responsibilitieswe all have responsibilities.
But if there is an opportunityfor you to change one thing,
(07:22):
what would it be?
Because this year has been hard.
This year we are seeing moreand more mid-career
professionals anchor, kind ofstay where they are because
they're unsure of where the jobmarket is or how long that new
job is going to take them tofind.
So it doesn't mean that thoseopportunities are not out there
(07:43):
for you, but what it does meanis that you may be reconsidering
options and choices simplybecause you should and you can.
So if you were to change onething, give yourself a little
more freedom and joy, what wouldthat be?
(08:04):
Okay, all right.
So a couple of things as we headinto the holidays.
First and foremost, I want tothank you.
I want to thank you forlistening, for being a part of
this podcast community, whetheryou listen on your favorite
listening platform or you'relistening on YouTube, wherever
(08:28):
it may be.
Thank you, thank you for beinga part of it.
If there are comments or ideasor topics or questions you have,
by all means, please feel free.
You can reach out and email meat john at johnnerrellcom.
Connect with me on LinkedIn.
I'd love to have you part of mynetwork on there as well.
I also want to thank youbecause last week I announced my
(08:51):
brand new journal.
It is called 30 Self-CoachingQuestions for Mid-Career
Professionals and I am veryproud to say we are now a number
one bestseller on Amazon.
So thank you very much.
It continues to trend in thetop of the list in the job
hunting advice career guidescategory.
So for all of you who havereached out and bought the
(09:13):
journal, thank you so very muchIf you bought it on Amazon, do
me a favor, kindly rate andreview it.
It would mean the world to me.
Thank you so very, very much.
And additionally, if you want alittle more, if you want a
little more support and youdon't want to have to pay
anything for it, the best andeasiest way to do is to come
(09:33):
into my email community, and theway you can do that is by
hopping on my website athttps://johnneral.
com.
Right there on the homepage,there is a way to join the
Mid-Career GPS email communityand newsletter.
I send an email out twice aweek about various leadership
and career topics and advice andguidance and things, so love to
have you be a part of that.
(09:54):
But lastly, it's this Howeveryou celebrate, whatever you
celebrate, this is the time ofthe year we get to slow down and
pause and reflect, and I amsomeone who celebrates Christmas
.
(10:14):
I have dear friends whocelebrate all sorts of holidays,
right, and the one thing I loveabout this time of year is that
it's a season, and the seasontypically extends well into the
first part of January.
So, whatever you celebrate andhowever you celebrate it, my
wish for you is to make memories.
Make memories with the lovedones, your family of origin and
(10:39):
your family of choice.
Make memories with those peoplewho are near and dear to you
and truly savor the time.
Take time to lift people up, bethere for them and hopefully
they are there for you as well.
So Merry Christmas, happyHolidays and until next time my
friends, remember this you willbuild your mid-career GPS one
(11:03):
mile or one step at a time, andhow you show up matters, make it
a great holiday season.
Talk soon.
Thank you for listening to theMid-Career GPS Podcast.
Make sure to follow on yourfavorite listening platform and,
if you have a moment, I'd loveto hear your comments on Apple
(11:25):
Podcasts.
Visit johnnarrellcom for moreinformation about how I can help
you build your mid-career gpsor how I can help you and your
organization with your nextworkshop or public speaking
event.
Don't forget to connect with meon linkedin and follow me on
social at john narrow coaching.
I look forward to being backwith you next week.
(11:46):
Until then, take care andremember how we show up matters.
Thank you.
Happy holidays and Merry Christmas.
In this episode and I promiseto keep it short I'm gonna share
with you one of my favoriteChristmas memories and how that
memory ties in very specificallyto something that I'm seeing
that's going on in our personaland professional lives here in
(00:21):
2024 and how we head into 2025.
So let's get started.
Hello, my friends, this is theMid-Career GPS Podcast, and I'm
(00:41):
your host, John Neral.
I help mid-career professionalslike you find a job they love,
or love the job they have, usingmy proven four-step formula.
Well, here we are.
It's Christmas Eve, we're a daybefore Hanukkah, kwanzaa is
fast approaching as well, and Iwanted just to share with you
this very fond memory I haveabout what was one of my
(01:06):
favorite Christmas gifts as akid.
So I grew up in central NewJersey and our television market
was, understandably, new YorkCity and there was a show and I
believe it may have gonenational for a while.
It was called Wonderama andthey would give away prizes to
(01:28):
kids that were on the show andone of the prizes they would
give away was a bicycle.
Now, it wasn't just any bicycle, see, it was a Ross Apollo,
three-speed, it was brown, itwas sleek.
I was like I wanted this bikeso badly and I will never forget
(01:52):
.
I came down the stairsChristmas morning and I didn't
see it and I felt like SantaClaus, like you know, forgot.
And I was like oh my gosh, ohmy gosh.
And I remember hanging outaround the tree with my parents
and everything.
And you know, my dad said to meand he's like John, I think
(02:13):
Santa left something for you inthe dining room and I I rounded
the corner and there, likehidden in the corner of the
dining room, was the mostmagnificent bicycle you could
ever imagine.
I remember feeling such joy andhappiness that I had this bike
(02:39):
and I had that bike for a longtime.
But here was the other piece.
Had that bike for a long time,but here was the other piece,
that bike.
While it was excitement and joy, it was freedom.
It was freedom.
And where it was freedom wasthat I could hop on that bicycle
and I could go for a ride and Icould go a block from my house,
(03:08):
or two blocks from my house, ora mile from my house.
I could take the bike into town.
And I remember I had a bicyclechain and a lock and my parents
were always like make sure youlock the bike and we don't want
anybody to steal it.
And you know that came with ownlittle little angst and worry
because I thought, oh my gosh,if somebody takes my bike,
(03:28):
what's gonna happen, right?
But but I remember like itallowed me to get together with
my friends and I had this bikeand I was so proud of it and
excited about it.
But what that bike did was that, as I I thought about it this
year, what it did for me was itgave me freedom and joy.
(03:55):
And admittedly, as we get older,we deal with a lot of stress,
we deal with a lot of crap,because adulting is hard, right.
And if you've had a worksituation this year whether it
be where you've lost your job,you've been unemployed for a
while, or maybe you are workingin a position right now but
(04:15):
you're not really loving it andyou're frustrated with it, or
you have a boss who is toxic andnon-supportive, and there's all
of the stresses and things thatcome like that as we get older
what I want to ask you iswhere's the freedom, where's the
(04:36):
joy?
Because getting on that bicycleallows you to find the freedom.
So maybe getting on the bicycleis having a conversation with
someone and letting them knowyou're not real happy with your
job, or getting on that bicycleis symbolic.
(04:58):
For you to have a conversationwith somebody to simply say how
do I love my job a little bitmore.
Getting on that bicycle andgetting that freedom is about
recognizing you could goanywhere you want.
You just have to take theaction.
You have to pedal the bike toget there.
(05:20):
You have to build yourmid-career GPS to get wherever
it is you want to go.
So let me ask you this, as westart wrapping up 2024 and
heading into 2025, if there wasone thing you could change with
your professional life right now, what would it be?
(05:41):
Life right now, what would itbe?
If you need to pause thispodcast episode here, by all
means go ahead and do it.
But if you could change onething in your professional life
right now, what would it be?
What do you have to do to makethat change?
Do to make that change.
(06:11):
What's one step you could takeright now to not feel like you
are stuck or paralyzedprofessionally where you cannot
make that move, that move?
What's one action you couldtake that would make you feel
like going into 2025, I'm goingafter the freedom and the joy
(06:36):
that I want in my professionallife, because what I have right
now is not working for me.
Where do you need to setboundaries?
Who do you need to setboundaries?
Who do you need to talk to?
What do you need to do tochange your brand or your
reputation?
Where is the new opportunityfor you?
If there's one thing I canoffer you in this episode right
(06:57):
now and we'll have another onenext week to really wrap up the
year but if there's one thing Ican offer you right now and
we'll have another one next weekto really wrap up the year but
if there's one thing I can offeryou right now, it's this you
have agency.
You have choice.
Yes, you have responsibilitieswe all have responsibilities.
But if there is an opportunityfor you to change one thing,
(07:22):
what would it be?
Because this year has been hard.
This year we are seeing moreand more mid-career
professionals anchor, kind ofstay where they are because
they're unsure of where the jobmarket is or how long that new
job is going to take them tofind.
So it doesn't mean that thoseopportunities are not out there
(07:43):
for you, but what it does meanis that you may be reconsidering
options and choices simplybecause you should and you can.
So if you were to change onething, give yourself a little
more freedom and joy, what wouldthat be?
(08:04):
Okay, all right.
So a couple of things as we headinto the holidays.
First and foremost, I want tothank you.
I want to thank you forlistening, for being a part of
this podcast community, whetheryou listen on your favorite
listening platform or you'relistening on YouTube, wherever
(08:28):
it may be.
Thank you, thank you for beinga part of it.
If there are comments or ideasor topics or questions you have,
by all means, please feel free.
You can reach out and email meat john at johnnerrellcom.
Connect with me on LinkedIn.
I'd love to have you part of mynetwork on there as well.
I also want to thank youbecause last week I announced my
(08:51):
brand new journal.
It is called 30 Self-CoachingQuestions for Mid-Career
Professionals and I am veryproud to say we are now a number
one bestseller on Amazon.
So thank you very much.
It continues to trend in thetop of the list in the job
hunting advice career guidescategory.
So for all of you who havereached out and bought the
(09:13):
journal, thank you so very muchIf you bought it on Amazon, do
me a favor, kindly rate andreview it.
It would mean the world to me.
Thank you so very, very much.
And additionally, if you want alittle more, if you want a
little more support and youdon't want to have to pay
anything for it, the best andeasiest way to do is to come
(09:33):
into my email community, and theway you can do that is by
hopping on my website athttps://johnneral.
com.
Right there on the homepage,there is a way to join the
Mid-Career GPS email communityand newsletter.
I send an email out twice aweek about various leadership
and career topics and advice andguidance and things, so love to
have you be a part of that.
(09:54):
But lastly, it's this Howeveryou celebrate, whatever you
celebrate, this is the time ofthe year we get to slow down and
pause and reflect, and I amsomeone who celebrates Christmas
.
(10:14):
I have dear friends whocelebrate all sorts of holidays,
right, and the one thing I loveabout this time of year is that
it's a season, and the seasontypically extends well into the
first part of January.
So, whatever you celebrate andhowever you celebrate it, my
wish for you is to make memories.
Make memories with the lovedones, your family of origin and
(10:39):
your family of choice.
Make memories with those peoplewho are near and dear to you
and truly savor the time.
Take time to lift people up, bethere for them and hopefully
they are there for you as well.
So Merry Christmas, happyHolidays and until next time my
friends, remember this you willbuild your mid-career GPS one
(11:03):
mile or one step at a time, andhow you show up matters, make it
a great holiday season.
Talk soon.
Thank you for listening to theMid-Career GPS Podcast.
Make sure to follow on yourfavorite listening platform and,
if you have a moment, I'd loveto hear your comments on Apple
(11:25):
Podcasts.
Visit johnnarrellcom for moreinformation about how I can help
you build your mid-career gpsor how I can help you and your
organization with your nextworkshop or public speaking
event.
Don't forget to connect with meon linkedin and follow me on
social at john narrow coaching.
I look forward to being backwith you next week.
(11:46):
Until then, take care andremember how we show up matters.
Thank you.
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