282: Unlocking Career Success with Consistency, Courage, and Curiosity with Elena Agaragimova

How can shifting your mindset transform your mid-career success? In this episode, talent development specialist and entrepreneur Elena Agaragimova shares how embracing a generalist mindset has been her superpower in navigating diverse industries. We explore the impact of imposter syndrome, the value of practical skills over educational prestige, and strategies for positioning yourself effectively in the workplace.

Elena explains the complexities of corporate politics and offers practical advice on fostering collaboration, maintaining resilience, and turning challenges into opportunities. We also discuss managing one's nervous system for better decision-making, the evolving role of AI and no-code platforms, and building meaningful professional relationships.

Key Topics:

• The benefits of being a generalist in today’s job market
• Overcoming imposter syndrome and shifting career perspectives
• Navigating corporate politics and securing leadership roles
• Managing stress and making informed professional decisions
• The Three C’s: Consistency, Courage, and Curiosity
• How AI and no-code technology are reshaping career paths
• The power of networking and controlling internal self-talk

Connect with Elena Agaragimova

LinkedIn | Podcast - Listen to SHIFT with Elena Agar | YouTube

Chapters

• 0:00 Leveraging Mindset for Mid-Career Success
• 9:07 Navigating Corporate Politics and Seizing Opportunities
• 17:33 Navigating Career Uncertainty and Adaptability
• 28:26 Mastering Networking and Inner Chatter

Transcript

John Neral: 0:00

You probably heard that mindset is everything, and sometimes our mindset's indestructible and other times it's not as strong and it may beg the question how does that happen? Today, my guest will help you unlock how you can leverage your mindset as you build your mid-career GPS to whatever is next for you and your career. In a few moments, you will meet Elena Agaragimova, a talent development specialist, recruiter, entrepreneur, personal trainer, host of the podcast Shift. With Elena Agar, author and content creator, all united by a single mission, and that is to help people build fulfilling, successful careers. In this episode, elena will help you make your mindset shift the way your career is headed and where you want it to go. 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.

John Neral: 1:26

Elena Agaragimova's strength lies in being a generalist, a quality that has unlocked doors to remarkable experiences. From launching startups like Shift and Bloom Youth to mentoring young professionals and speaking at conferences across the globe, from New York to Dubai, Elena's journey has shaped her perspective and sharpened her ability to adapt, grow and deliver results. Currently, Elena is dedicating her time, knowledge and energy to helping Gen Z and millennials build thriving careers and even launch their own ventures. Gen Z and millennials build thriving careers and even launch their own ventures. Elena firmly believes that with curiosity, consistency and courage and she will talk with us more about that anyone can create a career or business that brings purpose, growth and success. So it is my pleasure to bring you my conversation with Elena Agaragimova. Elena, welcome to the show. It's great to have you here today.

Elena Agaragimova: 2:30

John, I'm super excited.

John Neral: 2:31

I am too. We're going to have a great conversation. You've got a fascinating story and I alluded to a little bit of that in the interview, but where I want to begin is for you to share with everyone what was your mid-career moment is for you to share with everyone what was your mid-career moment?

Elena Agaragimova: 2:46

You know, my mid-career moment was probably realizing that I am an entrepreneur at heart and I'm a builder and a creator, and usually it's very difficult to build a big corporate career with that in mind. And what I mean by that is that it's I joke with my friends I'm like I'm kind of unemployable, although I am employed at the moment, but it's usually through like luck that I end up getting positions, because usually when people look at my profile they're like what did you do? What are you doing? Because I've worn so many hats. So my mid-career moment was like oh, I'm just not. Like my career is going to look very different from your traditional career path and it's ultimately me building and creating that career of my own, versus following some trajectory that exists supposedly.

John Neral: 3:35

When you realized that you were for the lack of a better word different, your career path was not going to be that traditional career path. What was the mindset or the thought work you had to do to get you there, to be not just comfortable but confident with that?

Elena Agaragimova: 3:54

Well, I grew up with having a lot of insecurities around the fact that I didn't go to some big shot school. I went to great university but it wasn't this big school. I don't have these big names on my resume and so on. So I think the the I had to accept the fact that my journey is just going to be different, and I had to. I used to be ashamed of my story because I've I've had 17 different jobs before the age of 25.

Elena Agaragimova: 4:19

I took me six years to graduate from my bachelor's degree. I was a hot mess in my twenties. I didn't know what I was doing. So I think, just like realizing that, that that the generalist in me was, is and you know, was and is my superpower, and that I had to go through that generalist mindset where I've just learned a lot of different skill sets and part of it was because I've started businesses, I've built things, I've created things, I'm a, I'm a creator at heart, and I think, understanding that that's my superpower essentially, and learning how to work with that, versus saying, oh, I don't have these big names, I don't have this big experience, you know, and so on. The job market, for example, externally, was showing me like, oh well, you don't have you know X number of years experience in this big name or doing this big things, and it was almost like discredited all the other wonderful things that I've done that actually make me great in a lot of things that I do.

John Neral: 5:12

I really appreciate how you bring up that point, because we know how powerful imposter syndrome can be and not every one of us gets to attend that big name university. And I'm like you, I'm in the same boat with that. I went to a good school. I didn't go to a quote unquote Ivy Top Eight kind of school type thing. And I remember being on a job and I was walking with a colleague who had gone to one of these really big, prestigious universities and and admittedly there was that part of thinking, oh, she's so much smarter than I am or she's better than I am in everything, and we were lamenting about something at work and and she shared with me and she said I feel so disrespected because I went to insert name of Big Eight Ivy League University. And I looked at her and I said, oh my God, I feel the same way about getting my master's degree at Monmouth University.

John Neral: 6:13

And she looked at me and I said we're not going to play this game. We're here because we're talented, we are skilled and we are here to do a job. You went somewhere, I went somewhere. Just because you went somewhere different than me doesn't make you better than me. And I said if we can find some commonality in this. We can get down and do the work, and I remember that part of the conversation because it actually helped our working relationship, because I said look, I respect where you went, but we're here in this job right now. We're here with the same title, the same role. We're doing the same work. Let's get to work, you know, and when you think about how, especially for mid-career professionals, who might be actively job seeking or they're actively navigating those internal politics and we'll talk about how we play the corporate game momentarily what advice do you have for them in terms of positioning themselves more strategically, despite or in honor of all of the thoughts they have about how they got there?

Elena Agaragimova: 7:27

I mean, that's a tough one. Imposter syndrome is so spot on. I think that when you look at positioning yourself in a company, I think just focusing on the value that you bring right, what's that saying? It's like numbers scream, words talk, numbers scream, or something like that. So, focusing on the results that you bring, focusing on like metrics and for some people they love to see metrics they're like okay, I need to see a metric of that. I've done X, y and Z, so maybe just even like looking at what you've done so far in your career.

Elena Agaragimova: 7:56

And also, I think, an important one, john, here is to understand that you would not be in that position unless you have earned it, deserved it. And somebody thought that you're deemed good enough to be in that position. Because, especially that mid-level and senior up, those are usually sensitive roles, meaning that you have some level of influence in the company, maybe you're managing people and so on, and the likelihood of you being in that position is because somebody more senior to you felt that you could do the job, so that alone should be a. You felt that you could do the job, so that alone should be a, you know, and what's the word? Like a mark that you deserve to be there, right. So you've gotten there because of your skill set, but then as you're managing those relationships, I think, just being empathetic and kind to people around you, and what I mean by that is that we look at other people, that they're just on their own kind of hero's journey. They're on their own, they have their own agenda and if you're able to align yourself in a way that's not threatening to them because that's the reality some people will be threatened by you, regardless of the school that you went to and all of that good jazz. I think if you bring in value, you have those results and they show for themselves and you're growing in that career.

Elena Agaragimova: 9:07

The more senior you grow in a company, the more competitive and political it gets for better or for worse, it's just the corporate world and the more it's about making sure that other people are not as you know, are not threatened by you. And so how do you align yourself with people to make sure that you show them like, hey, I'm here to play ball, I'm here to play game, I'm here for you to win, for us to win, for everybody to kind of grow. And I think, if you're able to I don't know, I mean for lack of a better play that game right. I think that's how you can position yourself strategically to get along with people that might be from different backgrounds and different levels than you. And I think, internally, just reminding yourself again like just, you know, you're there because you've earned to be there.

Elena Agaragimova: 9:43

And even if you, you know, and if you're, if you're like myself who was like, well, maybe you know it's still, you know that voice is still there. That's a motivator for me, that's a that's for me, it's a voice that tells me you know, how do I become better today and the next week and the next week? So it's almost like to push myself each time. So I think there's two things One is like talking to yourself and the other one is like aligning yourself strategically in a way that helps other people achieve their goals in the company.

John Neral: 10:13

So let's stay with that for a moment, because we're recording this at the end of January and I'm here in the US. We know we've had a change in political administrations. We have a new president. A lot of things have happened this week, and one of the things that I had shared with you before we started recording this podcast was that I had heard from a lot of people on my email list and listeners that last week was really heavy and it was making people question what their next move was going to be, whether it be they were going to stay where they are within their organization or it was time for them to pick up and move and go find a new job. And this isn't necessarily. This is mostly corporate professionals. I have worked with people within public service. But in terms of how we're playing this game right now, in 2025, what advice would you give someone to help them play this game very tactically and strategically if they're looking to level up their career, especially in this first quarter or first half of 2025?

Elena Agaragimova: 11:36

I would break this into a couple of areas. One I think mindset probably is the biggest thing we can talk about here, because I think that's a lot. I mean, you see a lot of people definitely being impacted by this and it's, you know, you have to accept the fact that it's uncertainty, it's change, it's all these scary things to our brain and our brains are meant to protect us, and change to our brain is a threat, so automatically, like, our nervous system is just a defense mode because so much change and uncertainty is taking place and we almost feel attacked. So, I think, understanding that that's just a human state that we're in and it's just what it is and it's okay, and just accept the fact that that's where you are. So I think step number one is calm your nervous system down. I think that's the biggest thing. I mean, you know, let's work on calming our nervous system down.

Elena Agaragimova: 12:20

It works for different people in different ways. For myself, what really works for me and again, I don't want to give advice because I think everybody kind of knows what works for them so I'll just share what works for me and maybe it will inspire people to say what works for themselves. So for me, what works is staying active. For me, what works is being around people that are focused on solutions versus on the problems, versus on 2024 versus on the past, Focus on how are we going to manage this change moving forward. What are you doing? What positive things you're trying to incorporate into your life to get past this and kind of again keep your nervous system at bay, right, so that for some people, meditation works, For some people it's going for a walk, you know when the weather is better in the DMV area, but at least when it's a little bit warmer. It's a little cold right now.

John Neral: 13:04

It's so cold here.

Elena Agaragimova: 13:06

So I think just focusing on you know nervous system like getting that sleep, you know maybe disconnecting from the news I think that's another big thing I've heard people say last couple of weeks is like I cannot watch any media news. Well, you don't have to Like it's truly a choice you're making. So I think maybe making better choices to stay away things that add to that anxiety, that add to that uncertainty, and focus your mindset on you know, shift your mindset towards what is it that I can control? I can't control how I treat my nervous system. I can't control of being curious. Where could I take this?

Elena Agaragimova: 13:40

I can't see this as an opportunity to say you know what, honestly, my job could have been obsolete anyway in a year or two. So this is just a speed up version of it and, frankly speaking, as professionals we tend to wait and react to career happening to us versus being proactive about our career and career growth. So I would look at this as an opportunity. I always feel like the bigger part of mindset is seeing obstacles and challenges as opportunities, versus something to get stuck in and just kind of let it bring you down Because that adds nothing to you or anybody around you. So I think, focusing on opportunity in this and being curious of where can you take this, because it could be potentially a really interesting career change for somebody.

Elena Agaragimova: 14:21

I know it's scary, I get it. I work with career change professionals as well. All the time it is scary, it's scary for me, I go through anxieties and so on, but ultimately I really think that there's a lot of opportunity here for many people, if only we're able to see those and expand that mindset and expand our vision. And this is where working with coaches like yourself, for example, john, really helps, because we don't know what we don't know and we get so stuck in a tunnel vision. We've been doing this job for 10, 15 years, right, and that's all I can do. But guess what? It's not all you can do. You just need a little bit more, you know, maybe a little different perspective, a little bit of coaching, a little bit of conversation to help you see that actually you bring a lot more to the table. So I would start with those two calm your nervous system down and then focus on the mindset of seeing opportunity in this versus obstacles.

John Neral: 15:09

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John Neral: 16:06

Now let's dive back into the episode. Elena, one of the things that you just shared was especially for mid-career professionals, that we can get kind of I'm going to paraphrase here but a little complacent, or feel like we're being safe in a role and when things change, be it through, say, a reorganization or an acquisition, or we hear that a company we know how much the tech industry has been hit lately that there's going to be a change or a downsizing, whatever it might be. How have you yourself, or how have you helped people in your career, recognize that the goal or the desire to be more proactive about your career path is what ultimately leads to you staying ahead of things and being more successful?

Elena Agaragimova: 17:06

Well, let's just look at the reality of how fast the world of work and technology is moving. It's almost like I don't mean. The only thing I can really say is that you just don't have a choice. You either make it, because it's almost like you're going to be left behind if you don't get proactive about your career. The days where we can just stay in one job, john, for 10, 15 years and be comfortable and be complacent are just gone, and I think it's going to speed up even more.

Elena Agaragimova: 17:33

I work with a lot of software developers, as you know, and we started as coders used to be the hot thing. Remember coders when you go, you do computer science, you do software development. You are going to be it. I'm in software development now. Development now, let me tell you, now there's a lot of local, no code platforms that people can use. So now you don't have to have hardcore coding skills to be a software developer. You can have. You can come from any background and become a software developer because the technology is speeding up so fast. So even those hot and trendy jobs data analysis, same thing. Data analyst is a hot, trendy job right now. I don't know what it's going to look like, a year from now, are we going to need as many data analysts? And these are hot and trendy jobs. So these are the jobs that actually usually have a growth projector. And now, if you look at business or marketing or any of the kind of administrative job or support jobs or operations jobs, those are even more on the way to extinction than some of the other, some of the more technical skills. That's just the reality, because technology is picking up so fast. I mean, just in the world of podcasting, as you know, there's so many tools that is now replacing whole teams of people. It's just what.

Elena Agaragimova: 18:39

So the point is that we don't have a choice. I think you have to accept the fact. I think acceptance is part of it, because it's like, what's the definition of unhappiness is when your reality doesn't meet your expectations. So, I think, change your expectations about what the world of work should be like, what your career should look like, because it's not going to look like that any longer. I mean I think it was the CEO of Google, I believe, or Microsoft. I'm so sorry, I think Microsoft, but Satya. I forgot his last name, nadella. I don't know how to pronounce it, but I should know this. I'm sorry. He came out and he said you know, saas companies are done, you know like there's just too many, there's AI agents coming in, so we're living in a very uncertain time. So I think number one again, just accepting that things are just different. You don't have a choice but to be proactive, and then the proactiveness looks very different for everybody and it just looks at again. I would just look at three Cs Consistency, courage, curiosity.

Elena Agaragimova: 19:35

Consistency is looking at what are you doing consistently, how are you in your career development? So that could look like, for example, are you consistently building relationships? Or, better yet, are you consistently growing your skill set and knowledge and expertise to become a person that people want to network with? So that's consistency, right and everything. Consistency is the key. Are you courageous enough to know that sometimes you're going to take a step backwards in order to jump forward, or are you courageous enough to make a shift? Are you courageous enough to let go of what you thought you knew? And then the curiosity is again going back to being curious of what else can I do? What haven't I tried? What can I try? What do people tell me I'm good at that I haven't explored? Do I know what people think I'm good at. Have I surveyed my network? Have I surveyed people around me? You know being curious enough about your own skill set and knowledge and expertise that you probably didn't even tap into yet.

John Neral: 20:38

With those three C's. Can you walk us through, or would you be kind enough to share with us where those three C's are applying to your life and career right now?

Elena Agaragimova: 20:50

Yeah, so we'll start with the consistency. So consistency is something I've gotten better at over the years. So one of the things is, right now I'll tell you what I'm focusing on. Maybe that will help. So, of course, I have my career that I focus on, which is, you know, being consistent in delivering and exceeding expectations, delivering what I say I'm going to do, delivering with higher quality and so on, making sure that people who come and train with me through Horizon, through the company I'm working with, like right now I have a group of interns. So my aim is to just and this is like third cohort that I'm doing and my aim is to produce, continue to help these young individuals graduate from the internship program consistently at a higher level of performance and so on. So I think, just delivering on what I do today.

Elena Agaragimova: 21:37

The other part is growing my podcast. So I've been consistent with my podcast over 200 episodes last four years, every week, consistently done, consistently growing in quality, my health, consistently showing up with myself and calming my nervous system down on daily basis, right Starting my day with a calm nervous system. So that's consistency. And I'm consistently learning because I get to talk to individuals like yourself and many others who come as guests on my podcast or through other conversations in my world. So, and then I'm building a couple of things as well. So consistency is a big part of what I do, because I don't have the space or the time to make big jumps or big dents, but what I can do is do small things consistently every day, in bits and pieces that add to larger results. So that's number one Courage.

Elena Agaragimova: 22:26

I feel like all I do is just stay courageous, you know. So I have the quote that I go by. It's on my whiteboard, I'll read it. It says have fear but don't have doubt. And so friends that have observed me, what they've said to me and this is where it came from I was like well, I guess I do move through fears. They say what they know about me is that, no matter what change and the ups and downs that entrepreneurship and just my career path might have had, I've always was able to move forward.

Elena Agaragimova: 22:52

Even if I'm terrified, I'm doing something. So it is something I practice and I preach because I live this on a weekly basis, which I don't know if it's healthy or not, but I'm always doing something scary. And then the other part is curiosity. I'm continuously curious around how AI is going to evolve. I'm learning a lot about AI. I'm using it a lot in my work with podcasting in particular, with content creation, with social media. It is something an area that I want to grow in a little bit more and getting myself out of my comfort zone and just kind of being curious, like how I show up in interviews, how I show up in conversations, online and social media presence and stuff like that, which requires its own level of courage as well. So I think these, for me, are probably solid examples today.

John Neral: 23:39

I really appreciate how you walked us through that because, for anybody who's listening, having some kind of guide, a compass I call it a GPS right, it's that thing that guides us to help us show up every single day. And your three Cs specifically about consistency, courage and curiosity are great models for people to think about where they're currently at in their career right now, but also where is it headed. And I really appreciate this point in this episode about how we've got to be thinking ahead, especially right now, because if we're not, we are missing out on a potential opportunity, and the last thing we want granted, it's a circumstance, but the last thing I think any of us want is to be unwillingly without a job and then trying to figure out how do I get back into the workforce in that, regard, yeah, and it's tough and we can't predict the future and we don't know I mean this whole, you know, ai agents and all those different things that are probably going to impact all that.

Elena Agaragimova: 24:47

We don't know when it's going to kick in. It could be six months, it could be two years from now, it could be a month from now, we don't know. But I think, just being curious and start paying attention to things you normally don't pay attention to. So as simple as like read the news and technological updates in your industry. How's your role being affected? I'll talk about my role, because this is what I'm literally going through right now. So, talent development right, you and I are coaches. Talent development BetterUp just released AI coaching.

Elena Agaragimova: 25:13

As much as you and I right might believe that coaching will never go out of style, gen Z is coming out today. Like the in-person, the human-to-human coaching. Gen Z is coming out today. They're so used to technology that it might be easier for them to pick up a phone type in a question as they're on the way to the interview. Ask the question for the AI and it's going to pop out a question, versus booking you and I for a coaching session.

Elena Agaragimova: 25:38

That's what I worry about, right, talent development, although it is one of the kind of still needed areas, right, like the coaching piece in organizations and talent development. But who is to say that, with all the different learning platforms, that something's not going to come out that's going to spit out exact career path for you? Actually, there's already tools that do that. So we're not going to need as many trainers, as many talent development professionals like myself, or even recruiters, right, necessarily, as much as I know that recruitment is much deeper than just looking at somebody's resume, screening that and giving them a percentage of how much they match to the job.

Elena Agaragimova: 26:15

The reality is is that the generations coming in now we have Generation Alpha, who are going to be 18 soon, or maybe are almost 18. They grow up in a very different world than you and Jai. So, john, our generations are very different from generations that are following us and they want something different from the services that they get. So what I'm thinking about is, like, how do I ride the train of AI and how do I use AI and coaching to help my clients, right, like how to without without losing that interpersonal touch with them? So these are the questions that I'm thinking about. So I think that all, all of these are are super valid to, to, to think about and consider whatever, whatever job you're in.

John Neral: 26:57

For the person who is hearing our conversation and they're perhaps maybe feeling a little nervous or anxious around all the things that AI is starting to penetrate and take over. What would you say to them, especially regarding the importance of building relationships, despite all of this AI technology that's moving faster than we ever expected?

Elena Agaragimova: 27:27

Well, I mean a quick note first, I think we should be excited. I think it's not to be nervous, I think if you just shift your mindset to being excited and being curious about, I think that's the key. I think that shift, that mindset shift, that small shift, moves away from fear, reactive mode to actually looking at it with some excitement. So I think that's number one. Number two, relationship building. I mean, as you can go as back in I don't know, roman Empire, right, it's like everything, as us as human beings, and we grew up in tribes and back in the day we grew up in villages, it was all about the community. That's how we rise, that's how we move forward is through community. So we forgot that along the way as human beings, especially with Internet and social media, and we feel like we're connected to others, but really not Nothing. Nothing substitutes having that one on one conversation better in person, even than on a virtual Right. So I think relationship building a key. But something that's even more important is and I've heard this the other day and I was like that is so spot on and I mentioned this early in this conversation is becoming the person that people want to actually network with.

Elena Agaragimova: 28:26

Networking has got a bad rap because we focus on take, take, take when it needs to be. Give, give, give Great book by, I think, adam Grant. Give and Take. There's three types of people givers, takers and then the mix or something like that. Right so, and they say that consistently, over a longer period of time, people that are more giving, meaning that they're the ones adding value to people's lives, are, on a longer term, more successful financially, socially, career-wise than people who are takers.

Elena Agaragimova: 28:55

Takers are very short-minded, short-sighted, very short-lived experience. So focus on how can you be a person of value versus a person who looks to take value? And I think that's the mistake people think when they're building relationships at networking. Their intent is good, it's not ill-intended, but they're in a fear mode of desperation or in a fear mode of their job is about to, they're about to lose their job or et cetera, or there's insecurities or imposter syndrome, whatever other underlying feelings that the person's going through, but ultimately it comes off as them being a taker versus, if you operate out of curiosity, giving and value adding. That's probably a much better strategy when it comes to networking.

John Neral: 29:37

Couldn't agree more. Well, well said, absolutely so. Elena, as we start wrapping up here, we've talked a lot in this episode, so many different things to help mid-career professionals, but what advice would you give them today to help them build their mid-career GPS?

Elena Agaragimova: 30:02

things I try to do less of is give advice, although I know I've given some strategies and tips here and there, but I try to move away from giving advice because I'm still learning myself and I still I realize how much I don't. I don't know, and I'm mindful of giving general advice, but I think, if I were to you know, recommend something to focus on is that inner chatter that's that get you know under quiet, down, down, quiet down your mind, quiet down all this different information that's coming at you. We are continuously influenced by social media, by the news, by people around us, by all this information, all these bits that are coming into our mind, subconsciously or consciously. Most of it subconsciously, we don't realize, right, even hopping on on LinkedIn and seeing people being laid off or or open to work green circles, it might, you might just be scrolling through, but I read, I was like, oh, my god. I was like one day I woke up and I was like, oh, there's so many people open for it and I'm starting to get nervous. I was like, oh, is the job market bad? And so on. So subconsciously, it's impacting us more than you realize.

Elena Agaragimova: 30:57

So, stepping away from all of that, taking a walk in nature, as simple as it may sound. You know, getting some sun on your face, moving your body, being quiet. Don't listen to a podcast, don't listen to music. Just take a walk and tune in with what's going on in your mind and start to uncover.

Elena Agaragimova: 31:13

What is it that you actually want? What do you feel is the right thing to you? What do you feel is stopping you? What fears that you need to face? And ask yourself the question when you're facing those fears, what's the worst that will happen? And the worst case scenario, once you say it out loud, once you write it out loud, is not as bad as you imagine. And I think that a lot of our obstacles is because we're afraid of something and that feeling that the reaction or the symptom of it could be us getting defensive, or the symptom of it could be us blaming the outside world of well, it's this or it's the new government, or it's the job market and so on, but really it's just us being afraid of losing our jobs or being irrelevant. And instead of looking at all these external factors, look at how you can utilize that to your advantage and what you can do on a day-to-day basis about your mindset to help you move forward versus looking backwards.

John Neral: 32:02

Do on a day-to-day basis about your mindset to help you move forward versus looking backwards. Yes, I mean the whole bit about quieting the mind and taking that walk and everything. We're both in the DMV area outside of Washington DC and everything. It's been so cold here, but I will tell you that one of the things on my list this week, as the weather is warming up, is to get out for just even if it's just a 10, 15 minute walk, just to your point about getting some sun on my face, because I feel like I've been inside way too much. So I appreciate that Absolutely. Elena, thank you so much for this conversation. If people want to find you, connect with you, learn from you, I'm going to turn the mic over to you. Please share with us all the great places where people can connect.

Elena Agaragimova: 32:44

LinkedIn is probably the best place. Elena Agaragimova the beautiful part about my difficult last name is that I'm the only one that you'll probably find on there, so Elena Agaragimova is probably on. Linkedin is the best place and you can, you know, take what you want from that.

John Neral: 32:59

I will make sure that's in the show notes and link up to that. But Elena Agarigamova, and I think I mispronounced that as well, so I apologize. Okay, all right. Good Names are important. We got to get them right, my friend. Thank you so much for being a wonderful guest on the Mid-Career GPS podcast.

Elena Agaragimova: 33:14

Thank you, John.

John Neral: 33:15

All right, my friends, if there's one big takeaway for today, I want to highlight Elena's three C's. Those three C's that she talked about were consistency, courage and curiosity. I want to offer you this week to think about Elena's three C's. Where are you being consistent, where are you being courageous and where are you being curious about where your mid-career GPS is taking you and the relationships that you're building to help you get there? So 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 rest of your day.

John Neral: 34:05

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-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 Darrell Coaching. I look forward to being back with you next week. Until then, take care and remember how we show up matters. Thank you.