Your Mid-Career GPS: Four Steps to Figuring Out What's Next

Advance Praise for

Your Mid-Career GPS

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This book is for those of you who feel like you know everything and nothing about what's next, you can't fathom writing yet another cover letter, and you wonder why bother" when it comes to updating your résumé. If you are feeling alone on this journey, bring this book, and all of the insight and tools it contains, along with you. You will have John's company along the path and you will be one step closer to finding your way!"

Natalie Siston

Best-selling author of Let Her Out:

Reclaim Who You Have Always Been

Founder, Small Town Leadership

John lays out a perfect roadmap to help you find your way to career satisfaction! Whether you're not sure if you should stay straight on the road you're on or look for the next turn onto a different path, he will give you simple techniques to understand what you truly want and how to make it happen. You will begin to fall in love with your journey!

Jennifer Miller

Project Director | Health Coach

John expertly guides readers through the trials, tribulations, and common pitfalls of mid-career professionals and managers. He also provides information on the effective career strategies and mindset needed to be successful. This book is a must read if you are looking for professional support and could use a career GPS!

Porschia Parker Griffin

Founder and CEO of Fly-High Coaching Millennial Coaching Institute

LinkedIn is the most powerful tool to help you network, build professional relationships, learn, search for jobs, and much more. I always say if you are not on LinkedIn you might be left out. Your Mid-Career GPS provides valuable tips and guidance to help you navigate LinkedIn and start growing your network and create your next advancement opportunity. 

Rhonda L. Sher

LinkedIn Specialist, Author, Speaker

When driving somewhere unfamiliar, I rely on navigation apps for guidance. This book provides that type of assistance for stepping into the unknown with your career. John shares his personal anecdotes throughout and brings to life the tools and techniques he is introducing. How I made it through several detours in my career without this kind of guidance, I will never know. Wherever you are in your career, John has helpful tools and ideas to support your plan!

Dean Cox

Leadership and Team Effectiveness Coach

Strongest Link Coaching and Consulting, LLC 

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John brings to his readers a great combination of personal and professional insight to the awkward journey of navigating career change. John takes what is often found to be daunting and overwhelming into a Mid-Career GPS outlined journey that is manageable for all. 

Brian Hedlund

Strategic Partner | PrideStaff

"Maybe you're feeling stuck in your career. Maybe you actually love your job and career but there's still that nagging feeling in the back of your head telling you there is something more out there, or maybe you're somewhere in between. Regardless of where you are in your career, the strategies outlined in Your Mid-Career GPS: Four Steps to Figuring Our What’s Next provides you with thought-provoking questions to help you navigate, but most importantly, tangible actions to take that will help land you in your right next step."

Jessi Shuraleff

Podcast Host – This Is My Truth

Because of the pandemic, more and more companies have shifted to using virtual platforms for meetings and interviews. How you SHOW UP virtually is important to making that professional connection. John provides relevant, easy, and useful tips to help you navigate this virtual space. 

Robert Rinkewich

Founder and Owner, Vision Photo and Video, LLC

I am not impressed easily... but John Neral impresses me. If you are serious about your evolution as a professional, then allow him to impress upon you his wisdom and guidance. Not only in this well-thought-out book but also with him as a coach. John genuinely cares, is real, is tough, and will get you results. His growth and expertise in this space over the past many years has been mind-blowing.  Read the book, listen to John, and your future will never be the same!

Jeffrey St. Laurent

Author, Entrepreneur, Athlete, Dad

I entrusted the start of my entrepreneurial journey to John because of his unique and qualified experiences that gave me great guidance. This book is a must-read because it captures his invaluable wisdom that will benefit every reader. It's so comforting to have clear and accurate directions as you embark on your professional journey!!!

D'Ivonne Holman

Fundraising Consultant

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"For anyone going through a career slump or looking for something new, this book is definitely for you. John Neral’s latest book is a guide for someone like you. It gives simplistic methods to help anyone who has recently lost their job in the pandemic or simply looking to refresh their résumé and skills. John highlights key areas that many neglect when even using social media to better highlight their skills and abilities. He also uses acronyms and personal reflections to grasp the reader and encourage them in the sometimes daunting process when advancing one’s career. If you are that person needing a change or just a refresher for job hunting, then this book is for you!"

Alethea Felton

Holistic Health Coach

John uses his experience and expertise to guide you in business, but what matters to me is the fact that he has an incredible heart for service and a desire to help others succeed in life. His passion is evident in his coaching, his podcast, and his writings. I have had the opportunity to be one of John's mentors in bowling, but I was always inspired by his passion for connecting and leading those around him, which has in many ways made him a mentor to me.

Heather Bassham Sumlin

Director of Performance Programs

Master Level Instructor

Mental Management Systems

Your Mid-Career GPS –

Four Steps to Figuring Out What’s Next

––––––––

John Neral

Copyright © 2021 by John Neral Coaching, LLC

All rights reserved.

Published and Distributed in Canada by LLH Publishing Inc. www.andreaseydel.com1

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonograph recording: Nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise be copied for public or private use- other than for fair use as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews without prior written permission of the publisher. If you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Neral, John

Your Mid-Career GPS - Four Steps to Figuring Out What’s Next

\ John Neral

1. Nonfiction > Business & Economics > Careers > Job Hunting

2. Nonfiction > Business & Economics > Mentoring & Coaching

978-1-990461-01-9

LLH Publishing House

1st Printing: July 2021. Printed in USA

Cover Photo Credit: Bruno Bergher

Editor: Richard Lucey, Jr.

Publisher’s Note & Author DISCLAIMER

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information concerning the subject matter covered. It is sold to understand that the publisher and author are not engaging in or rendering any psychological, medical or other professional services. If expert assistance or counselling is needed, seek the services of a competent medical professional. For immediate support, call your local crisis line. Be Well.  

Dedication

To Richard,

For being my greatest cheerleader and advocate on our incredible personal and professional journey

To My Dearest and Closest Friends,

For supporting me on this fantastic adventure

To the Job Seekers,

For never giving up on your dreams

because you are more than enough

To the Leaders,

For SHOWing UP each day at your best

so you can make the impact you want

Contents

Foreword 

Introduction   

Chapter 1:        

Prepare

Let's Get Ready for Your Journey 

Chapter 2:  

Position

Let's Strategically Plan How to Get There 

Chapter 3:  

Promote

Let's Tell Everyone Where You Are Going

Chapter 4:

SHOW UP

Let's Put This to Work

My Closing Letter to You

Acknowledgments 

About John    

Foreword

You'll get mixed up, of course,

as you already know.

You'll get mixed up

with many strange birds as you go.

So be sure when you step.

Step with great care and great tact

and remember that Life's

a Great Balancing Act.

Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.

And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?

Yes! You will, indeed!

(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS! 

from Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss

As you begin, or continue, your mid-career journey, I can't help but think of the words of Dr. Seuss. Oh, the Places You'll Go! is commonly gifted at graduation, but I believe it can also serve you as you face any next step in your life and career. That's what you are about to do as you venture on this journey with my colleague and dear friend John Neral. Here's a bit on how he has shaped my journey so you can see how he will help you on the following pages.

It was the winter of 2018 and I was in Texas sitting in the most tricked-out Starbucks I have ever seen. I was with John and our dear friend Tracy. We were each talking about our next chapter. Mine was full of ideas and action and excitement and fear and doubt. And John looked at me and said, You aren't building a business, you are building a movement. At that moment, I don't think I knew that John was helping me create my Mid-Career GPS (he likely didn't either). From that powerful coaching statement blossomed my mid-career pivot, one that has taken me into a corporate dream job, start-up experiences, and a self-employed journey. 

I founded Small Town Leadership while working a director-level job at a Fortune 100 Company. In the wee hours of the mornings and nights, I would work on my passion project.  Eventually, that passion project led to a full itinerary of speaking engagements, coaching portfolio, and thousands of words written across blogs and social media platforms. I was so busy that I had to use vacation days to do more work. 

I was planning to leave my corporate job to pursue my passion full time, but a dream job became available at the company. The job description included things like: Speak and write about coaching to large audiences. Help company leaders develop coaching skills. Modernize curriculum for adult learners. Motivate a team of professional coaches. I was in. My passion project was paying off in my day job in an unexpected and exciting way. 

I loved the job, but the work I continued to do outside of my role was pulling me in a different direction and the time came for me to take the most important exit on my mid-career journey. It happened to collide directly with the Covid-19 pandemic. I thought about holding off on taking the leap, but one night, I had an aha moment. I asked myself Who quits her job in the middle of a global pandemic? Then the answer hit me: Someone whose dreams are bigger than her fears. 

I got off on that exit and there was no turning back. 

At every pivot on this path, John was my first call on speed dial. My favorite time to make a call was from the company parking garage before I began my commute home. (This is one of the only things I miss about commuting). John helped me see around corners, prepare for blind spots, and even encouraged me to put the pedal to the metal on several occasions so I could get to my destination sooner. 

We talked about the inevitable bad boss moments. We chatted about getting psyched up and mentally prepared for interviews and networking meetings. We talked about failure, setback, and disappointment. Most of all, we talked about what was possible when you set a goal and put in the necessary work to move toward it, and eventually reach the destination. 

That's exactly what John will talk to you about on the following pages. I know he wants each of you to also be able to call him on speed dial, but this is his way to be of service to you as you continue your career journey.  

Mid-career, especially mid-career mid- and post-pandemic, is tough. You feel like you know everything and nothing about what's next. You can't fathom writing yet another cover letter. You wonder why bother when it comes to updating your résumé. And you might even feel completely alone - like you are stranded in the middle of an open road - as you ponder which way to turn next. 

Consider Your Mid-Career GPS the water in the oasis that will help you continue on your path in a purposeful and powerful way. Dig in. Do the work. SHOW UP. Your life, and those you love and serve, will be better for it. 

Natalie Siston

Bestselling author of Let Her Out: Reclaim Who You Have Always Been

Founder, Small Town Leadership

Introduction

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My career path has been messy. It’s had its share of ups, downs, spirals, and turns. There were incredible moments of joy, along with sheer frustration, pain, and stress. I've worked with some of the most memorable and incredibly talented people you could imagine. I've also worked with a few people who weren't my favorites, but I have learned a ton from them and will always be grateful. And I've learned this is very common.

In Herminia Ibarra's Harvard Business Review article, Reinventing Your Career in the Time of Coronavirus, Ibarra states, Even in happier times, career change is never a perfectly linear process. It's a necessarily messy journey of exploration – and to do it right, you have to experiment with, test, and learn about a range of possible selves.

Reinventing your career isn't new. We've been doing this as long as there has been work. But the pandemic