Marc Miller on his Book Tour and More! [Podcast]

Podcast #150 – In this Third-Anniversary Episode, Marc Explores the Stresses and Successes of Touring to Promote the Third Edition of Repurpose Your Career.

Description:

Marc lays out his experiences during his recent tour for the third edition of Repurpose Your Career. He shares the places he visited, the people he met, and how he had to meter his energy and leave time for self-care to avoid depression. He found the trip exhausting, although he met most of his objectives on the trip.

Key Takeaways:

[1:24] Marc welcomes you to Episode 150 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast.

[1:35] If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with other like-minded souls. Subscribe on CareerPivot.com, iTunes, or any of the other apps that supply podcasts. Share it on social media or just tell your neighbors and colleagues. The more people Marc reaches, the more people he can help.

[1:53] This is Episode 150 and the third anniversary of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Marc just finished the book tour for the launch of the book Repurpose Your Career, Third Edition. Marc is recording this episode in Austin, a bit on the exhausted side.

[2:14] For the last month, Marc has been speaking, promoting the book, and meeting with people. Marc is a closet introvert while appearing to be an extrovert, so he is tired.

[2:29] After recording, Marc and Mrs. Miller will start their drive back to Ajijic, Mexico. This week, Marc will keep the intro and outro simple and he will take you through his experiences of the last month on tour. Marc hopes you enjoy this episode!

Now on to the podcast…

[3:00] On the afternoon of October 14, 2019, Marc is in Austin, Texas four weeks after leaving Ajijic, Mexico. On September 16th, Marc had pushed the ‘publish’ button on Repurpose Your Career, Third Edition. On September 17th, the Millers made their way to Austin, where they had lived for 40 years.

[3:35] This trip started with emptying their storage in Austin, then a visit for Mrs. Miller to the clinic for a year’s supply of medicine not available in Mexico, then Marc’s high school reunion and book tour. Marc talked at a couple of Austin job clubs.

[4:14] Marc was in Austin for a week before he headed up to New Jersey to visit his brother, present four talks at job clubs around New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and go to his 45th high school reunion. Then Mrs. Miller joined him to go to Washington D.C. Marc also did meet-and-greets with his online community.

[5:17] In D.C. the Millers visited their son and daughter-in-law and combined the book tour with the trip for tax purposes. Marc tried out some new presentations on the tour and did some brand building. All told, the trip went well.

[5:56] On this trip, Marc was around a lot of people. Although Marc spent years honing his public speaking skills and is good at it, he is an introvert, not an extrovert. He behaves like an extrovert but he gets his energy by being alone, not from being around people. Marc expected the trip to be exhausting and it was.

[6:49] Marc flew to Newark, New Jersey Monday evening, spoke to a job club in Somerset on Tuesday evening and in Princeton, NJ on Friday morning. A planned visit with Richard Eisenberg of Next Avenue fell through. Also on Friday, Marc was interviewed by Andy Levine for the Second Act Stories podcast.

[7:48] Marc found he had to meter his energy. He took some time visiting Princeton alone. On Saturday was Marc’s high school reunion. Marc didn’t enjoy his childhood or high school days. Marc had only been back to Central New Jersey once in 45 years, to stop in at his 25th high school reunion.

[8:31] With some trepidation on Saturday night, Marc walked into a reunion of 150 strangers he had not seen for 45 years. Earlier in the day, Marc had run a meet-and-greet in Metuchen, NJ at a Whole Foods. One person had come but that was fine with Marc.

[9:49] In a class of 800 graduating, Marc hadn’t made many friends, except with his Track teammates. Most of those friends didn’t show up at this reunion. Marc stayed to the end of the party, and when a bunch of people went out afterward, Marc went back to his hotel. He had had enough of people.

[10:35] The uncertainty around who Marc was going to meet at his high school reunion caused Marc to experience certain symptoms of depression. Marc has learned over the years to spot the physical signs of depression before he gets depressed. All week, Marc was watching for the signs.

[10:58] Sunday, rather than going out for brunch with some classmates, Marc drove around Central New Jersey, exploring places he hadn’t seen in decades — his high school and grade schools, the East Brunswick neighborhood, the house he grew up in. Many things had changed, but not everything.

[11:45] Marc spent a lot of time observing how he was reacting to being around people. He recalls how he behaved at his nephew’s wedding in May. He had switched back and forth between how he wanted to behave and how he had been trained to behave, as a “geek that could speak.”

[12:25] Mrs. Miller joined Marc and they drove to King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; that evening Marc spoke at a job club in Philadelphia and the next morning to a group in King of Prussia. Marc was exhausted and was experiencing anxiety and frustration.

[13:40] Marc got through the job club presentations pretty well and then he crashed, “big-time.” That afternoon, they turned in the rental car and got on a relaxing train ride to D.C. to find their hotel. Throughout the week, Marc had to meter his energy and stay away from people. He spent a lot of time alone.

[14:46] Many of us have to act in our careers. Marc was paid pretty well to act differently than his introverted nature would have preferred to act. It exhausts him.

[15:06] Marc recounts some problems on the trip, including misplacing his credit card and needing to get it replaced. His author copy books from Amazon KDP were going to be a week late. So Marc canceled that order and ordered retail copies to ship to the various job clubs he was going to visit.

[18:13] All during this time, Marc was careful of his self-care. His reunion experience with people he used to know a bit was stressful and different than he had expected.

[19:09] In D.C., on Saturday, Marc held a meet-and-greet with six or seven people from the Career Pivot Online Community. Marc talked to Kerry Hannon, with whom he has cooperated on a few articles. Kerry was a guest on CareerPivot.com/episode-141. Marc and Mrs. Miller spent two days with their son.

[20:02] This trip has been an emotional roller coaster ride to be around so many people, in spite of how kind people are when he speaks at events. Marc donated 10 books to each event, with the proviso that they sell the books to their members for a donation. When you pay for a book, you will read it.

[21:13] The Millers flew back to Austin on October 13 for orthodontist and audiology appointments as well as shopping for tall and thin clothes sizes they don’t find in Mexico for Marc and will have driven back to Ajijic starting the afternoon of October 15, to Laredo and then to Matehuala on October 16. Wandering livestock make night driving difficult.

[23:51] The Millers like to stay at the Las Palmas Midway Inn before leaving the next morning for Ajijic on October 17.

[24:27] This is the third anniversary of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Marc talks about the experience of the last 18 months of living in Mexico. The trips back to the U.S. are very interesting, although exhausting, as Marc observes who he is now. He has left behind his work persona and does not want to behave anymore as he did at work.

[25:15] Marc wants you to think about what you have made yourself into, what you want to do in the second half of life, and what it will take to get you there.

[25:33] Marc hopes you enjoyed that episode. Many of you may be able to see yourselves in Marc’s experiences on tour.

[25:48] If you are interested in the Career Pivot Membership Community, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community.

[25:56] Marc invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.com/in/mrmiller. Just include in the connection request that you listen to this podcast. You can look for Career Pivot on Facebook, LinkedIn, or @CareerPivot on Twitter.

[26:11] Please come back next week! Marc will be back in Mexico!