275: Happy Holidays and Rediscovering Your Career Freedom

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.

Chapters

• 0:00 Finding Freedom and Joy in 2025
• 11:15 Navigating Mid-Career Success

Transcript

John Neral: 0:00

Happy holidays and Merry Christmas. In this episode and I promise to keep it short I'm gonna share with you one of my favorite Christmas memories and how that memory ties in very specifically to something that I'm seeing that's going on in our personal and professional lives here in 2024 and how we head into 2025. So let's get started. Hello, my friends, this is the Mid-Career GPS Podcast, and I'm your host, John Neral. I help mid-career professionals like you find a job they love, or love the job they have, using my proven four-step formula. Well, here we are. It's Christmas Eve, we're a day before Hanukkah, kwanzaa is fast approaching as well, and I wanted just to share with you this very fond memory I have about what was one of my favorite Christmas gifts as a kid.

John Neral: 1:09

So I grew up in central New Jersey and our television market was, understandably, new York City and there was a show and I believe it may have gone national for a while. It was called Wonderama and they would give away prizes to kids that were on the show and one 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, it was sleek. I was like I wanted this bike so badly and I will never forget. I came down the stairs Christmas morning and I didn't see it and I felt like Santa Claus, like you know, forgot. And I was like oh my gosh, oh my gosh. And I remember hanging out around the tree with my parents and everything. And you know, my dad said to me and he's like John, I think Santa left something for you in the dining room and I I rounded the corner and there, like hidden in the corner of the dining room, was the most magnificent bicycle you could ever imagine. I remember feeling such joy and happiness that I had this bike and I had that bike for a long time. 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 was that I could hop on that bicycle and I could go for a ride and I could go a block from my house, or two blocks from my house, or a mile from my house. I could take the bike into town. And I remember I had a bicycle chain and a lock and my parents were always like make sure you lock the bike and we don't want anybody to steal it. And you know that came with own little little angst and worry because I thought, oh my gosh, if somebody takes my bike, what's gonna happen, right? But but I remember like it allowed me to get together with my friends and I had this bike and 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 it gave me freedom and joy.

John Neral: 3:55

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 work situation this year whether it be where you've lost your job, you've been unemployed for a while, or maybe you are working in a position right now but you're not really loving it and you're frustrated with it, or you have a boss who is toxic and non-supportive, and there's all of the stresses and things that come like that as we get older what I want to ask you is where's the freedom, where's the joy? Because getting on that bicycle allows you to find the freedom. So maybe getting on the bicycle is having a conversation with someone and letting them know you're not real happy with your job, or getting on that bicycle is symbolic. For you to have a conversation with somebody to simply say how do I love my job a little bit more. Getting on that bicycle and getting that freedom is about recognizing you could go anywhere you want. You just have to take the action. You have to pedal the bike to get there. You have to build your mid-career GPS to get wherever it is you want to go.

John Neral: 5:27

So let me ask you this, as we start wrapping up 2024 and heading into 2025, if there was one thing you could change with your professional life right now, what would it be? Life right now, what would it be? If you need to pause this podcast episode here, by all means go ahead and do it. But if you could change one thing in your professional life right now, what would it be? What do you have to do to make that change? Do to make that change. What's one step you could take right now to not feel like you are stuck or paralyzed professionally where you cannot make that move, that move? What's one action you could take that would make you feel like going into 2025, I'm going after the freedom and the joy that I want in my professional life, because what I have right now is not working for me.

John Neral: 6:39

Where do you need to set boundaries? Who do you need to set boundaries? Who do you need to talk to? What do you need to do to change your brand or your reputation? Where is the new opportunity for you? If there's one thing I can offer you in this episode right now and we'll have another one next week to really wrap up the year but if there's one thing I can offer you right now and we'll have another one next week to really wrap up the year but if there's one thing I can offer you right now, it's this you have agency. You have choice. Yes, you have responsibilities we all have responsibilities. But if there is an opportunity for you to change one thing, what would it be? Because this year has been hard. This year we are seeing more and more mid-career professionals anchor, kind of stay where they are because they're unsure of where the job market is or how long that new job is going to take them to find. So it doesn't mean that those opportunities are not out there for you, but what it does mean is that you may be reconsidering options and choices simply because you should and you can. So if you were to change one thing, give yourself a little more freedom and joy, what would that be? Okay, all right.

John Neral: 8:11

So a couple of things as we head into the holidays. First and foremost, I want to thank you. I want to thank you for listening, for being a part of this podcast community, whether you listen on your favorite listening platform or you're listening on YouTube, wherever it may be. Thank you, thank you for being a part of it. If there are comments or ideas or topics or questions you have, by all means, please feel free. You can reach out and email me at john at johnnerrellcom. Connect with me on LinkedIn. I'd love to have you part of my network on there as well. I also want to thank you because last week I announced my brand new journal. It is called 30 Self-Coaching Questions for Mid-Career Professionals and I am very proud to say we are now a number one bestseller on Amazon. So thank you very much. It continues to trend in the top of the list in the job hunting advice career guides category. So for all of you who have reached out and bought the journal, thank you so very much If you bought it on Amazon, do me a favor, kindly rate and review it. It would mean the world to me. Thank you so very, very much. And additionally, if you want a little more, if you want a little more support and you don't want to have to pay anything for it, the best and easiest way to do is to come into my email community, and the way you can do that is by hopping on my website at https://johnneral. com. Right there on the homepage, there is a way to join the Mid-Career GPS email community and newsletter. I send an email out twice a week about various leadership and career topics and advice and guidance and things, so love to have you be a part of that. But lastly, it's this However you celebrate, whatever you celebrate, this is the time of the year we get to slow down and pause and reflect, and I am someone who celebrates Christmas.

John Neral: 10:14

I have dear friends who celebrate all sorts of holidays, right, and the one thing I love about this time of year is that it's a season, and the season typically extends well into the first part of January. So, whatever you celebrate and however you celebrate it, my wish for you is to make memories. Make memories with the loved ones, your family of origin and your family of choice. Make memories with those people who are near and dear to you and truly savor the time. Take time to lift people up, be there for them and hopefully they are there for you as well. So Merry Christmas, happy Holidays and until next time my friends, remember this you will build your mid-career GPS one mile or one step at a time, and how you show up matters, make it a great holiday season. Talk soon.

John Neral: 11:15

Thank you for listening to the Mid-Career GPS Podcast. Make sure to follow on your favorite listening platform and, if you have a moment, I'd love to hear your comments on Apple Podcasts. Visit johnnarrellcom for more information about how I can help you build your mid-career gps or how I can help you and your organization with your next workshop or public speaking event. Don't forget to connect with me on linkedin and follow me on social at john narrow coaching. I look forward to being back with you next week. Until then, take care and remember how we show up matters. Thank you.