Thursday, January 6, 2022

⭐INTERVIEW⭐JOHN NERAL AUTHOR OF YOUR MID-CAREER GPS - FOUR STEPS IN FIGURING OUT WHAT'S NEXT

 




John Neral, MA, CPC reawakens, energizes, galvanizes, and innovates the mind think of employees, corporations, associations, and systems. A celebrated executive/career and professional development coach and in-demand, mindset-shifting public speaker, John’s professional walk included a 25-year career in education and a longstanding corporate consultant for Fortune 500 giant, Casio America, Inc. He now leads John Neral Coaching, LLC, one of the most progressive, mindset-shifting professional and organizational coaching and public speaking firms in the U.S. He is the author of Your Mid-Career GPS – Four Steps to Figuring Out What’s Next and SHOW UP – Six Strategies to Lead a More Energetic and Impactful Career and the host of “The Mid-Career GPS Podcast.”

As a Master Practitioner in the Energy Leadership Index, John’s experience has made him an impactful and valuable coach to his one-on-one and group coaching clients and organizations. With Energy Leadership™, John identifies where people perform at their optimal levels and when they are under stress. Combining the Energy Leadership™ principles, a client’s workplace strengths, and their “unique professional value,” John helps his clients create their career GPS so they can take action toward achieving their professional and personal goals.

A former church organ prodigy, John is an avid traveler–having sojourned to 5 of the 7 continents, a professional bowler and the winner of a Professional Bowlers’ Association Regional Title (2010), and a game-show fan, having appeared on previous episodes of GSN’s Chain Reaction and Make My Day. John is happily married and lives with his spouse and their rescue cat, Amy Farrah Meowler (named after the Big Bang Theory character), in the heart of Washington DC’s Dulles Technology Corridor, Tysons Corner, VA.

You can visit his website at https://johnneral.com or follow him at TwitterFacebook and Goodreads.



Thank you for this interview!  I’d like to know more about you as a person first.  What do you do when you’re not writing?

I’m a professional bowler and actively compete on the Professional Bowlers Association Regional Tour. Between tournaments and leagues, I bowl 5-6 times per week. I also enjoy cooking and baking. With the holidays coming up, I’m always looking to try a new recipe. Lastly, I love to travel. My husband and I enjoy visiting new places and we have traveled to five of the seven continents.

When did you start writing?

When I was a middle-school mathematics teacher, I did some consulting work to make extra money. I had a wonderful consultancy with Casio America, Inc. and wrote several books for their classroom materials. I also wrote a study guide for Barron’s. While writing math workbooks was familiar to me, venturing into writing for my coaching business was something new. I published my first book under my coaching business called “SHOW UP – Six Strategies to Lead a More Energetic and Impactful Career” in 2020 and published “Your Mid-Career GPS – Four Steps to Figuring Out What’s Next” in 2021.

As a published author, what would you say was the most pivotal point of your writing life?

Publishing SHOW UP – Six Strategies to Lead a More Energetic and Impactful Career was a pivotal point in my writing career because I had never written anything so profoundly personal and challenging. I felt like I was pouring my heart and soul out with that book. Having written and published that book made writing and publishing, Your Mid-Career GPS – Four Steps to Figuring Out What’s Next much easier.

If you could go anywhere in the world to start writing your next book, where would that be and why?

I’d like to go to Sedona, Arizona. I’ve never been, but heard it is beautiful and restful. I like to go places where it’s quiet and peaceful to write and get my thoughts down. I want to go to a resort/spa with some great food, great views, and a great vibe to think, reflect, and write.

If you had 4 hours of extra time today, what would you do?

There are a lot of shows backed up on the DVR. My husband and I love to watch television. We enjoy comedies, game shows, and dramas. We have a lot of things backed up on the DVR that need our attention. Currently, we are truly enjoying “The Morning Show.”

Where would you like to set a story that you haven’t done yet?

I’d like my next book to focus on the power of leadership and interview various mid-career leaders who share their lessons learned about how they elevated their careers, improved their leadership, shared their most valuable lessons, and their biggest fears. Everyone has a story. Not everyone gets a chance to tell it.

Back to your present book, Your Mid-Career GPS – Four Steps to Figuring Out What’s Next, how did you publish it?

I published with Andrea Seydel from Live Life Happy Publishing. I wanted to work with a hybrid publisher who could take a lot of the pressure and stress off of my plate regarding the publishing and let her focus on it. Plus, Andrea served as my book coach, and her coaching was exceptionally valuable in helping me get my book published.

In writing your book, did you travel anywhere for research?

I did not. I wrote this book during the pandemic, so all of my meetings were held virtually.

Why was writing Your Mid-Career GPS – Four Steps to Figuring Out What’s Next, so important to you?

I work with many mid-career professionals who fear being stuck in their careers. They know they are capable of more, but they are unsure of the steps they need to take. Everyone has a personal and professional journey. Navigating the next steps in your career aren’t the same for everyone else. Those steps can vary based on life situations, industry, etc. I wrote this book to help people formulate a roadmap or GPS to whatever is next. Their GPS helps them focus on everything from their mindset and strengths, their resume, LinkedIn, networking, and interviewing skills, as well as helping them define how they SHOW UP to create their next advancement opportunity.

Where do you get your best ideas and why do you think that is?

I worked with a wonderful book coach, Andrea Seydel, from Live Life Happy Publishing. She helped me organize my thoughts and messages to help me write this book. I maintained a comprehensive spreadsheet that held all of my thoughts and ideas for each section I wanted to write during my process.

I got my best ideas from my colleagues, friends, and clients who shared their experiences to help me pinpoint the topics and ideas I wanted to cover in my book.

Any final words?

I hired a book coach to help me process my thoughts and ideas. I loved working with Andrea Seydel from Live Life Happy Publishing.

Many people don’t know that this book was supposed to be an extension of my first book with a specific lens on what it means to SHOW UP because of the pandemic. However, something didn’t feel right when I was started writing that book. I talked to Andrea about writing something bigger or more significant to help people in a career transition because of the pandemic.

Who would have thought the world would have shut down? Almost two years later, many professionals have re-evaluated what they want from their professional life and how important it is for them to maintain the stress level they once were.

Writing Your Mid-Career GPS was my chance to help people have a resource to help them organize their thoughts, get their logistics together so they can apply for that new position, and learn how to tell their career stories better. With my book, they will learn how to tell their story from a place of value and service to get more people interested in who they are and what they do, rather than merely finding them interesting. 



Are you considering a career change but doubt yourself or get easily overwhelmed by the entire process?

Are you a mid-career professional ready to level-up, but unsure of what steps to take?

What if there was an easy and supportive way to plan your next career destination?

Your Mid-Career GPS will guide you to create your own professional roadmap so you can find the job you love or love the job have. John Neral, Certified Professional Coach, will help you strategically position yourself in the marketplace while teaching you how to leverage your unique skills from a place of value and service for any organization.

Learn how to prepare, position, and promote yourself as you create a tactical and strategic plan by building Your Mid-Career GPS. Let this book be your guide to answer many of the current questions you have about creating your next advancement opportunity.

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