Kevin W. McCarthy

The Professor of On-Purpose

kwmccarthy

Part 2: Preparing to Cast Your Vote in the US Presidential Election?

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Trump and Harris Presidential Election 2024. The meaning of life

My post last week provoked a number of readers, particularly this observation: “Therefore, when it comes to casting your vote for president, look beyond the rhetorical barbs, attack ads, and commercial sound bites designed to appeal to our secular selves. Harris unabashedly leans into a culture of death. Trump awkwardly leans into a culture of life.”

Readers were particularly curious about the terms “culture of death” and “culture of life.” I borrowed these phrases from watching The 1916 Project documentary. Gain context by watching the film for free on the X social media platform. I highly recommend it.

What is a culture of death?
This is a societal moral state whereby human life is deemed to be expendable, meaningless, and without innate purpose. This phenomenon challenges traditional values regarding life and morality and is exercised through abortion, euthanasia, and certain ideologies linked to eugenics and materialistic views. Therefore, putting others to death essentially without due process is justifiable in the situational eyes of the beholder and carries no legal, ethical, or personal consequence. The Holocaust is the ultimate example of this notion carried to its logical conclusion.

The Project 1916 documentary traces our current culture of death as rooted in a 1700s population control philosophy. Like frogs in the proverbial kettle, this once creeping ideology is accelerating into acceptance as a present-day societal norm and practice. Therefore, the convenient removal of an inconvenient tissue mass with a heartbeat from within a woman’s womb is of no consequences to the mind, body, or spirit.

On February 3, 1994, at the National Prayer Breakfast, Mother Teresa  addressed the societal and personal impact of abortion (13-minute mark): “But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because Jesus said, ‘If you receive a little child, you receive me.’ So, every abortion is the denial of receiving Jesus — is the neglect of receiving Jesus. It is really a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?”

According to a report on National Public Radio, in 2023, the number of abortions performed in the US was 1,026,690 — that’s an average of 2,813 terminations of life per day. This represents an increase in abortions since the overturn of Roe v. Wade. The world was horrified on 9/11 as 2,996 souls died in the terrorist attacks, as seen on television. Ending an inconvenient pregnancy in the privacy of a healthcare clinic receives little outcry except perhaps for the one soul being legally executed as the final solution.

What is a culture of life?
This is a moral state where all life is celebrated as sacred, and each person has innate worth, meaning, and purpose, often in spite of our limited ability to see or understand it. These traditional value are rooted in the Sixth Commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.”

In 1776, the US Declaration of Independence put forth the following: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The concept of Life as a right is codified in the US Constitution, including the presumption of innocence — all are innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, an abortion like any death sentence demands thoughtful adjudication and rare use as an exception versus the rule.

Yet, like the aforementioned frogs being slowly boiled in a pot, our national and international norms continue a slide into a culture of death, i.e., abortion on demand without due process of the unborn — the most innocent of all and most worthy of our protection — is murderously wrong.

From carrying a baby to carrying guilt
If you are a woman who terminated a pregnancy or a man who pushed a woman for one and you are suffering because of your decision, you have a paradoxical choice. Just because you made a decision for a “culture of death” once doesn’t mean your soul is forever committed to it. You can make a tough shift switch toward a culture of life where healing and wholeness await you.

By definition, restoration is not possible in the culture of death. Philosophically, your abortion carries “no consequences.” “So what’s the problem? Move on with your life,” which was the point of the termination of the inconvenient pregnancy in the first place.

In contrast, only within a culture of life is your complex imprisonment of emotions compassionately recognized as carrying hauntingly adverse consequences. As a result of grace, forgiveness, and acceptance, your deep hurt can be redeemed and your wellbeing restored.

“Elections have consequences.”
In January 2009, shortly after winning the presidency, former President Barack Obama uttered these three words that have become a political truism. The 2024 election will have consequences.

Because of the two-party system, US elections are largely binary events: VP Harris or former President Trump. “Either-or” choices create stark contrasts in what can otherwise be a complex web of competing thoughts. Hopefully, this death or life contrast of cultures offers guidance if you’re feeling lost in the moral trees, having lost sight of the forest fire burning around us.

On-Purpose, for example, uses an “on” light switch as a reminder we are either off- or on-purpose — in the dark or in the light. It’s a subtle nod to another binary choice: Life is either meaningful or meaningless. Naturally, with on-purpose, I unreservedly advocate the “life is meaningful” choice. And I uphold your free speech right to respectfully disagree by voting your conscience.

Be On-Purpose!
Kevin

Preparing to Cast Your Vote in the US Presidential Election?

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Regardless of which side of the aisle you stand, the upcoming US presidential election carries profound economic, geopolitical, and cultural implications into the future. The contrast in candidates and their respective parties is stark because each advances not just policies but philosophical underpinnings. Sadly, presidential campaigns have degenerated into sophomoric personality and popularity contests in which juvenile staffs trade barbs repeated by unserious “journalists.” Rare is the reporting and debate of the respective contenders’ credos and strategies that comprise the person and how they will govern.

The Body, Mind, and Spirit Model of defining a human is widely accepted. The Body represents our physical composition. The Mind represents our mental and intellectual faculty. The Spirit represents our state of peace. If left alone, the Mind and Body function as secular realities. The Spirit uniquely contributes reverence into the framework. 

If only the Spirit had it that easy. Star Wars portrays an endless and epic battle between the dark and the light sides of “The Force.” Some might call the conflict one of evil versus good. In church terms, it is Satan rebelling against God. Regardless of your terminology, there is an underlying admission of some higher powers at work that defy our understanding or control. 

The interplay of the three elements largely determines our wellbeing as a person and a society. All three are constantly subject to decline and decay. Maintaining a healthy state of being takes constant vigilance and daily effort.

In TOUGH SHIFT, this clash is captured in Question 1 of 7, “Is life meaningful?” The answer is “Yes” or “No.” Each answer has practical implications:

  • No: In an absolutely meaningless world there is no reason to exist or even a whiff of purpose. Without a reason for being there is no cause and effect and no consequences for one’s actions. Here is a hopeless existence.
  • Yes: In an absolutely meaningful world there is reason, purpose, cause, hope, and actions have consequences.

The On-Purpose® Approach is based in the belief that life is meaningful. Your 2-word purpose puts words on the otherwise intangible Spirit. The Mind and Body are better equipped with a heightened and more holistic moral awareness for making decisions and taking actions.

Recently, my wife and I saw a new documentary, The 1916 Project.  Portrayed was the long arc of a Mind and Body secular philosophy from the 1700s alive today. As a result, our Spirit is compromised, clouded, and crowded out by situational ethics with a devastatingly polluting effect on our social, moral, and political perspectives. This normalization of the minimization of the Spirit has effectively led us into what the filmmakers call “a culture of death.”

Therefore, when it comes to casting your vote for president, look beyond the rhetorical barbs, attack ads, and commercial sound bites designed to appeal to our secular selves. Harris unabashedly leans into a culture of death. Trump awkwardly leans into a culture of life. 

Cast your ballot as your Spirit convicts and has prepared you to vote.

Be On-Purpose!
Kevin

How To Be On-Purpose in Business & LIfe

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You never really know how your work touches another person’s life.While I’ve known Dr. Jim for over 30 years, I had no idea until this interview the impact of our working together on his 2-word purpose. Here’s the interview in its entirety.

Jim, as you’ll see, is a bright guy with a curious mind and a steward’s heart. His strong Christian faith comes through in this interview — as does mine. Thanks to his inquisitive mind, we go deep with some on-purpose principles. Given our relationship, there’s a natural comfort in our conversation, which I hope translates into a deeper appreciation and application of your 2-word purpose.   As always, your comments are welcomed.

Be On-Purpose!

Kevin

Dr. Jim Harris

My Personal Declaration of Independence

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Person handcuffed with the text My Personal Declaration of Independence

When in the Course of my Human Life it becomes necessary to dissolve my unhealthy and unproductive Patterns which have led me to this point in my life and relationships, there arrives such a time to assume among the Powers of Earth and Heaven, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of God entitle me, an inherent Identity, Respect, and Worth apart from the opinions of others, requires that I declare and separate myself from such distraction, derailment, and destruction in order to ascend to my rightful Purpose, Promise, and Place as an On-Purpose Person in Creation.

I hold these truths to be self-evident, that all are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Wellbeing. — That to secure these rights, personal responsibility must be seized, embraced, and owned, deriving said just Powers from the consent of the Creator, — That whenever any Form of Self-Governance becomes destructive of these ends, it is my Duty to alter or to abolish it, and to institute revitalized Personal Leadership, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its Powers in such form as one’s Purpose, Vision, Mission, and Values, as to most likely effect my Safety, Wellbeing, and Joy. 

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Patterns long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience has shown I am more disposed to tolerate and suffer, knowing that insufferable evils will not right themselves or abolish the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of self-inflictions and disruptions of Purpose, pursuing invariably the same Object repeats a Pattern to reduce and subject me to Despair, it is my right, it is my duty, to throw off such Inflictions, and to provide new Guards for my future security. — Such has been my patient sufferance; and such is now the necessity which constrains me to alter my former System of Personal Leadership. The history of my present Person is a history of repeated Self-Defeat and Squander at great peril and cost to the Innate Purpose and Promise bequeathed to me by my Creator upon my Human Birth.

<insert your Off-Purpose Pattern(s) here>

I, therefore, the Person solely charged and vested to lead this profound Gift of One Life do assemble and engage with others in like-mindedness in my Personal Declaration of Independence, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the ethic of my intentions, do, in the Nature, and by the Authority of the People of this On-Purpose Planet, a Commonwealth, solemnly publish and declare, That I am, and of Right ought to be a Free and Independent Person, that I am Absolved from all Allegiance to the Distractions, Derailments, and Destructions of my Past and that I sever all connections from them and their grip on me. They are to be totally dissolved; and that I am to be a Free and Independent Person, with my full On-Purpose Powers and Promise to defeat my nagging Fears, embrace true Peace, contract healthy Alliances, establish meaningful Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which an Independent Person may of right do–And for the support of this Personal Declaration of Independence, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, I, as an On-Purpose Person In-Creation and a member of this commonwealth with On-Purpose Persons do mutually pledge to myself and to each other my Life, my Calling, and my sacred Honor.  

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The Persisting Presences

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Saturday, June 10, 2023, Judith and I attended the Consecration and Installation of the Right Reverend Justin Holcomb as the Episcopal Bishop of Central Florida. It was a glorious occasion filled with pomp and circumstance, worship music, a bench of bishops, a pontification of priests and deacons, and a congregation of witnesses and worshippers for communion.  

Pictured above is the profound moment when Bishop-Elect Holcomb is in prostration (green circle) before the Presiding Bishops and bench of Bishops. Soon they will examine and lay hands of Apostolic succession upon him. This posture of submission represents a reverent obedience and total surrender to Christ. It is a breathtaking experience to witness.

This moment (to me) symbolizing the two persisting presences tugging and tearing on all our hearts: God and the World. Ironically, all those surrounding the Bishop-Elect individually and organizationally are the most likely candidates to distract him from this prime directive.

The prostration message is simple: God first. This isn’t just for Bishop Holcomb. This visual depiction of The Greatest Commandment is for all of us. First God, then God and Self, and finally Others is the key to a whole life within the chaotic and confusing swirl of competing interests. 

We are called to be conduits of service. Yet, as so many constituents draw down on us, the risk of putting service ahead of God is the path to being burned out and bummed out. How, then, do we remain committed and connected to the source, while not being drained by the calling of one’s work?

This wondrous notion and potential for an aligned, integrated, and fluid series of vigorous relationships is animated by a third persisting presence. Your God-gifted 2-word purpose energizes and makes the desirable outpouring of one’s Body, Mind, and Spirit personal, actionable, and alive, but most of all protected. This believed bond discerns what’s off- or on-purpose and reveals what’s wise to do, delete, or delegate.

Leaders, you don’t have to be a Bishop to commit to God first.

Be On-Purpose!

Kevin

PS: Here’s my bride and me with Bishop Holcomb

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Daring You To Be A Commonwealth Capitalist

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Let’s get some terms on the table to guide our conversation.

Capitalism is the economic system by which private enterprise is the chief means of production and distribution of goods and services in a nation.

Socialism is an economic and political system whereby the chief means of production is controlled by the government or publicly owned.

A Commonwealth is a nation, state, or political group that is founded on law or agreement to serve the common good or to serve to the advantage of one’s self and others.

Communism is an economic and political system with a single central authority with the collective ownership of property, labor, and means of production and distribution whereby its people are required to serve the greater good or the state’s agenda.

Individualism is a belief in the primary and moral worth of the individual to make decisions, to be self-reliant, and to be free to pursue self-interest.

Collectivism is a belief placing the community’s worth, morality, and interest first.

Materialism is a belief that the personal accumulation of money and physical comfort are the chief aim of the individual, at the exclusion of spiritual or intellectual endeavors.

Idealism is a belief that the basis of all life is rooted in mind, spirit, or soul apart from the material.

Clarify your beliefs to gain deep personal insight on the social, economic, moral, and political foundations defining how you operate in the world as an individual, a partner, a parent, a friend, and a business owner or team member.

Why am I daring you as a business person to be a Commonwealth Capitalist, basically the left side of the above list? You are capable of being an even better leader of your life than you already are. Yet, if you don’t take a stand, you’ll be squashed by your ignorance. On the other hand, better understanding who you are and where you stand provides you a meaningful opportunity to tap into a even deeper anchoring of who you are being and becoming. You may love your specific choices or doubt them, or reject them with greater insight and appreciation thanks to heightened awareness about the underpinnings of your thoughts.

Capitalism is proven to be the greatest system in the world for raising the standard of living for any people group. From the Pilgrims to the Founding Fathers of the USA to today, the ideals of free enterprise, fair competition, personal responsibility, and rule of law have proven to create a prosperous nation. However, raw capitalism left unchecked leads to materialism and greed. Raw capitalism, therefore, must be checked by justice and further moderated by idealism and mercy.

A Commonwealth Capitalist is a business person who eagerly accepts personal responsibility while also embracing and acting upon the moral urging of the soul to do right by others. Their “pursuit of happiness” is not a headlong charge of individual aggrandizement and enrichment. Theirs is a shared and uplifting journey that’s the epitome of the adage “A rising tide lifts all boats.”

Be On-Purpose!

 Kevin

Daring Business Owners to Profit the World

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Why does your business exist? Pause and answer. 

Image of man fanning one hundred dollar bills with the question, Why does your business exist?

Over the decades, I’ve posed this question to business leaders and audiences. Here’s the four most popular and consolidated responses of my unvalidated survey:

  • 50% to make money or to profit the shareholders
  • 20% to sell goods or services to customers
  • 20% to provide jobs
  • 10% to raise the standard of living in society

So what did you answer?

The first three accurately describe what businesses do (missions), but not the reason why businesses exist (purpose). Confusing missions as purpose creates an “it’s all about me first” approach to leading a business. Such a self-centered orientation distorts the business and ironically diminishes performance. 

Unfortunately, this is the prevailing principle at work within the CEO-system of business administration. Most business owners are unwittingly placing mission ahead of purpose from ignorance, not malice. Regardless, the adverse effects remain the same.

Purpose provides a point of origin to meaningfully resolve, satisfactorily align, and fluidly blend otherwise competing interests in service to God, self, and others. Purpose (being) informs vision (seeing) and is expressed through its missions (doing) while guided by its values (choosing).

Businesses hold the special opportunity to profit (add value) to the world’s people. Business is first a social construct whose greatest potential to earn, sell, and hire ultimately relies upon improving the lives or standard of living of people — shareholders, team members, customers, vendors, and more. This common good mindset is akin to answering the question, “How does our business make a difference or the world a better place?”

If your business doesn’t have a 2-word purpose, you’ll find in Chief Leadership Officer the suggestion to use “We exist to serve by Increasing Wealth.” One caveat for using wealth (state of weal or well-being) is to embrace the whole person perspective (body, mind, spirit, and financial) plus working and living conditions — one’s standard of living. 

My bet is you don’t have a purpose statement. Rather you have a vision or missions and you’ve haven’t a clue what its costing your company in lost financial profit.

Business has a high and noble role to play in society. We are to profit the world–to make the world a better place. I dare you to re-consider how your business purpose is stated, communicated, and integrated throughout your company.

Let your business reformation begin!

Be On-Purpose!
Kevin

PS: Need some help sorting out purpose, vision, missions, and values. Schedule a time to Pick Kevin’s Brain.

Are You a “Daring” Entrepreneur?

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 In the title, “Daring” is in quotes because we entrepreneurs may be risk-takers but we’re not gamblers. The beauty and artistry of launching a business is that a person can start with nothing more than an idea and bring it to life to enrich peoples’ lives. Daring, however, is best left for daredevils not founders.

Entrepreneurs typically operate in one of the following seven stages. Knowing this prepares you for your journey.

  1. Contemplating: What will it take to quit my job and start a business in my search of independence, opportunity, and wealth?
  2. Enraptured: In the “hands on” start-up of organizing the business — the honeymoon stage.
  3. Captured: All time, money, attention, and energy are imprisoned by this relentlessly needy foundling. 
  4. Emerging: The founder of this thriving business says, “Why didn’t I start this years before?”
  5. Expanding: Scaling a team, culture, and brand. 
  6. Exiting: Who will replace me as the leader?
  7. Exited: Moving on to what’s next.

Navigating from stage 1 through to stage 7 involves integrating an increasingly complex variety of disciplines. Each stage opens to frontier territory with a wondrous confounding set of challenges and learning experiences. Some of these roadblocks will bog down the emerging business leader for days to decades. The School of Hard Knocks carries a high cost of tuition. There is a better way!

May I serve you? I am a lifelong student of business and leadership. I began as a nine-year-old entrepreneur selling candy on the school bus. Business degrees plus a series of failures and successes decades later, authoring bestselling books, and advising top decision makers in all seven stages has honed my talent to cut to the root cause. It’s a jagged path with ups and downs but I can help you flow more fluidly from stage to stage.

Don’t be daring. Work smart. Set your company and team up for success. Recognize financial profit is a net result and not your reason for being in business. Build from your personal 2-word purpose toward the vision in your mind’s eye. Organize, delegate, and serve, and you will likely realize what you set out to achieve and then some.

Be On-Purpose!
Kevin

PS: Got a Puzzling Problem?

Book me for a prepaid 45-minute business growth session. Satisfaction is guaranteed or your money is returned. Learn more at  www.PickKevinsBrain.com