The first half of life and career is like laying the foundation of a house—you may not see every structural beam, but they hold everything together. After living in our older home for over twenty years, we’ve upgraded plenty, but one recent challenge reminded me how easy it is to get “locked out” of using the skills, resources, and experiences we’ve already built. One of our bedrooms had an outside-style lock, sealed tight from the inside. After years of never touching the bedroom door locks—raising boys who were constantly in and out—we had no idea one could turn into such a stubborn problem. We couldn’t find the key and spent almost a week trying everything—picking the lock, trying to remove the handle, and even trying to drill through the door knob—without success.
Finally, after sorting through all our keys, including my stash of “mystery keys,” I tried one last option. It fit—and I was so relieved! The handle turned effortlessly, and the door opened. It’s hard to describe how excited I was! I realized that maximizing our skills works the same way. We may have all the pieces and even methods, but nothing unlocks our next chapter until we use the right key—recognizing, affirming, and applying what we’ve already built. That’s how we create a chapter that’s deeply fulfilling, sustainable, and impactful. Included here are five principles that help in maximizing your skills to help you answer “What’s next?” for your purposeful next chapter.
One: Identify and Leverage Transferable Skills
💡 Tip: Make a running list of your skills, then ask: “Where else could this skill create impact?”
- Leadership & Team Management – honed from supervising teams, leading projects, or mentoring others.
- Problem-Solving – developed from navigating challenges, adapting to change, and finding creative solutions.
- Communication & Presentation – valuable whether in sales, education, public speaking, or consulting.
- Project Management – applicable in nearly every industry, from non-profits to tech startups.
- Strategic Thinking – essential for guiding growth, launching new initiatives, or innovating processes.
Two: Maximize Your Existing Resources
By this stage, you’ve built a network, earned credibility, developed systems, and created intellectual property that can accelerate your next chapter. Instead of starting from scratch, tap into your professional connections, reputation, learning platforms, and proven processes to open new doors.
Key Resource Categories to Assess:
- Professional Network – colleagues, mentors, and connections you’ve built over the years. This is a good reminder to stay connected with many of those in your network. I have colleagues that touch base with important contact at least once a year which is a great habit.
- Reputation & Credibility – your track record can open doors faster than cold introductions. A solid, positive reputation is worth quite a bit in the ability to gain referrals.
- Systems & Processes – the workflows and habits you’ve developed that make you more effective.
- Learning Platforms – subscriptions, memberships, or courses you can leverage for growth.
- Creative Assets – content, intellectual property, or unique ideas you’ve already developed. Affirm those. Many of these assets pay for themselves in the work they generate, like books, music albums and online courses.
Situational Example: A teacher leveraged her reputation and existing lesson plans to launch an online course platform, expanding her reach to thousands of students worldwide without having to reinvent her content from the ground up.
Three: Mine Experience for Patterns and Strengths
Your career history is a gold mine of insights. Look for recurring projects, challenges, and environments where you’ve consistently thrived. These patterns point you toward work that aligns with your natural strengths, making your transition smoother and more impactful. Reflecting on these patterns and strengths help to identify what you love to do and would like to continue doing.
Reflection Questions:
- What types of projects or roles have consistently energized me?
- When have I felt most confident and in control?
- What challenges do I solve more easily than others?
- Which environments bring out my best work?
Situational Example: An executive noticed her career “sweet spot” was always tied to launching new initiatives. She used that pattern to focus on roles in change management and innovation, where she could repeatedly create high-impact results.
Four: Build on Your Foundation with Strategic Skill-Stacking
You don’t have to abandon your past to create your future. The most powerful shifts happen when you stack new skills on top of existing expertise—like a trainer learning digital course design or a marketer mastering AI tools. This combination keeps you competitive, credible, and future-ready especially with the exponential growth of A.I.
Examples of Skill Stacking:
- A corporate trainer learning digital course design to expand online.
- A healthcare professional adding wellness coaching credentials.
- A marketing director learning AI tools to lead automation strategies.
- A musician adding licensing and publishing expertise to diversify income.
Situational Example: A healthcare professional added wellness coaching to her credentials, opening a new stream of clients while still leaning on her medical background for credibility. I have a personal friend I call on who provides essential oil products and also is a nurse practitioner. Her expertise helps her help her clients more effectively.
Five: Turn Limitations Into Leverage
Perceived setbacks—age, industry shifts, or tech gaps—can be reframed into advantages. Experience brings wisdom, adaptability proves resilience, and learning new tools signals relevance. When you design your next chapter around your “why,” you create work that is purposeful, profitable, and sustainable. I have written quite a bit about this in my book Power of After, where age can also be a huge advantage. That is a world-view that is important to embrace.
Mindsets to Affirm:
- Age → Experience – You’ve seen cycles, trends, and challenges before. That wisdom has value.
- Industry Shifts → Adaptability – Having navigated change proves you can do it again.
- Technology Gaps → Fresh Learning – Learning new tools now shows resilience and forward-thinking.
Situational Example: A non-profit founder used her age and long career history as a selling point, demonstrating stability and perspective to donors, which helped her organization grow faster than expected.
Your Purposeful Next Chapter
A purposeful next chapter doesn’t happen by chance—it’s intentionally designed by aligning your skills, resources, and experience with a vision that excites and motivates you. It’s not too early to start on this! Start by clarifying your “why,” whether it’s freedom, impact, challenge, or legacy that you desire. Define your ideal role or project with specificity—know the kind of work, audience, and impact you want to create. Map the assets you already have, from skills to connections, and identify the gaps you need to fill through learning, building, or networking. Then, commit to taking small, consistent steps forward, because lasting progress comes from steady action, not just inspiration.
The first half of your life has been about building—careers, families, reputations, networks. The next chapter is about maximizing. When you take inventory of your skills, leverage your resources, and apply your experience with an entrepreneurial mindset, you create a future that’s not only purposeful but deeply fulfilling. Many of us can help others through this process. We have children who are entering their halftime stage faster than we even imagined! The message here is that you’re not starting over—you’re starting from strength. Your next chapter can be your most impactful and rewarding yet.
Additional Resources
Power of After: What’s Next Can Be Your Most Purposeful Chapter by Deborah Johnson
Building a Story Brand 2.0: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller. Also see Storybrand.ai for creating your brand script.
FREE Downloads: Goal Setting Worksheets
FREE Resources and links: https://GoalsForYourLife.com/DJWorks
YouTube Podcast Playlist: Women at Halftime/Power of After
Nothing unlocks our next chapter until we use the right key—recognizing, affirming, and applying what we’ve already built.
deborah johnson
Thought Leader, Keynote Speaker, Author
If you are interested in growing and learning, check out our online courses here: Online Learning
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