Kevin W. McCarthy

The Professor of On-Purpose

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The Christmas Prayer

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Here’s the transcript of The Christmas Prayer:

Merry Christmas.

Christmas stands more profoundly relevant and uniting as ever.

Allow me to share a personal life-transforming Christmas story from some twenty or so years ago.

Our then young family was celebrating a holiday at the home of our friends Jen and John. In fact, there were several families, probably 30 people gathered indoors and scattered outdoors.

Various cooks were in the kitchen each prepping their contribution to the potluck feast. Used dishes, utensils, and pots and pans accumulated in the kitchen sink so I stationed myself there to scrub, clean, and rinse. Working with me was Jen, our host. With each newly cleaned item, I handed it to her to dry to be put back in use or put away. We were the Clean Team.

Jen and I often had deep conversations about faith, the meaning of life, the power of prayer, and so forth. While our hands were busy, our mouths were free to talk, and so we did. Our conversation centered around our lives before and after Christ — a Christmas Story of sorts.

Checking her watch, Jen said, “I’ve got a pet-sitting job to do. Come with me. The sink will be fine without us for 30 minutes. We HAVE TO KEEP this conversation going.”

Jumping into Jen’s black Suburban, we talked. Arriving at the welcoming pet’s house, Jen got the dog out and on a leash. Such a small pooch allowed for a leisurely walk and talk.

As we’re ambling along a concrete sidewalk, I came clean: “Jen, before I really knew who Jesus was, I was ‘a good guy.’ I never smoked, drank, or took any illegal drugs. I was never arrested. I treated people and animals with kindness. I was honest, hardworking, and educated. And I was generally happy.

“Let’s say I was 60% good guy and 40% bad guy. But, in that 40%, I could cuss up a storm. Things easily upset me, and I could get combative. I was impatient with slow drivers and always competing to win and ticked when I lost. I took things personally. And, frankly, I felt inadequate, fearful, and anxious.”

I continued sharing with Jen, “On February 14, 1986, Jesus dramatically went from my head to my heart and forever changed my life for the better. Far less cussing and far more patience. Now, let’s say I’m 90% good guy and 10% bad guy.

“But what I really did was take the 40% bad guy and condense it into the 10% of the space. I worked to edge out the bad. Instead, my frustrations, anger, and disappointment just got super concentrated and more explosive than ever.”

Jen listened and nodded for me to go on, “I gave that 10% of me a name: Evil Little Kevin.

“I’m good at concealing him, but he’s always there within me. And, when Evil Little Kevin comes out, he gets REAL ugly, REAL fast! I don’t like me when it happens. It’s exhausting holding him back.”

Jen’s eyes grew large at the thought. She then asked me a short question that forever changed my life. Who knows? Perhaps it will do the same for you.

She asked, “Kevin, have you ever thought of introducing Evil Little Kevin to Jesus?”

I stopped mid–dog walk, “No. It never dawned on me to do that.”

Jen’s next question dug even deeper into my spirit: “Is Evil Little Kevin the part of you which you keep from God?”

I stammered, “Yes.”

“Yes, it is!”

With a little dog scampering about our feet, Jen and I stood right there on that public sidewalk, joined hands, and prayed as I introduced Evil Little Kevin to Jesus.

As my carried and concealed darkness was cast out by the Light of the World, I immediately felt my spirit brighten. The Prince of Peace, the Lord of Lords was on the case, which meant I could let Evil Little Kevin go. Jesus entered that part of my world.

What about you? I haven’t a clue what your “Evil Little Kevin” is up to in your life. But you do.

There isn’t a greater gift you can give yourself this Christmas than to introduce that withheld part of your life to Jesus. Join me by saying a simple prayer and insert your name instead of mine in Evil Little Kevin.

Let’s go!

“Jesus, meet Evil Little {Your Name} who needs to know you. Forgive me for not introducing you two sooner for I didn’t know it was possible. I cut myself free from Evil Little {Your Name}. To fill this void, I invite your joy to take its rightful place. By your sacrifice on the cross, please forever seal this Joy into my life. Amen!”

Evil Little Kevin isn’t a part of me anymore. However, he lurks nearby probing and prodding to regain standing in my life. When Evil Little Kevin worms his way back into my being, my responsibility is to reintroduce Evil Little Kevin to Jesus. It’s that basic.

On Christmas Day, we remember Jesus entering the world. Allow Him to enter into your life, for the first time or for the 489th time. Regardless, may you, too, experience the Peace and Joy of Christmas. In any season, that’s good news!

Merry Christmas!

What Is Your Business Purpose?

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What If You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know?

Business Purpose
Power Up Your Business with Purpose

Let me put this up front. In over three decades of experience working with P&L leaders and purpose, I have seen that 99% misunderstand what business purpose is. Therefore, the untapped power of purpose to inform and align the company strategy, structure, and system lies dormant. This misunderstanding depresses net profits by at least 25%!

Join me on Tuesday, December 1, at 10 a.m. Eastern USA for a meaningful and powerful conversation about the purpose of business and the purpose of your business. I’ll draw upon my many experiences as well as content from Chief Leadership Officer and The On-Purpose Business Person.

The first 30 minutes or so will be a presentation about business purpose, which will then be followed by your questions, comments, and experiences.

This content will be largely directed to those with P&L responsibility for a business, a division, a team, or a territory — or those aspiring to have it. That said, this is an “OPEN” so all are welcome to attend.

Be in Business On-Purpose!

There is no charge for this event — it’s an On-Purpose OPEN.

The On-Purpose Professional Speaker

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“The enemy of wealth is meaninglessness.”

I’ve been a Professional Member of the National Speakers Association since 1993. Decades later, I remain active because of the many friendships I formed and have with truly interesting and engaging people.

Think about it. To persist and excel as a professional speaker demands a deep inner motivation. Invariably, the gateway into the speaking business is a heartfelt desire to share the lessons and experiences of one’s failures, successes, and events so others can be better. Now surround yourself with a roomful of people like that, and you get a sense of why my membership matters to me.

For many years, Carolyn Quintin, the amazingly successful Dean of the NSA Central Florida Speakers Academy, has been booking me as the opening speaker for the Academy. It’s an honor.

Kevin W. McCarthy Speaking
Da Vinci had The Vitruvian Man and I have The On-Purpose Pal™.
He explained human anatomy and I explain the anatomy of Leadership and Strategy.

Every NSACF Speaker Academy attendee walks away with a 2-word purpose statement thanks to using ONPURPOSE.me. To be present when people recognize who they are and why they’re here is pure delight. From the front of the room I see them lift their eyes from their smartphones as a refreshment of life comes washing over them.

Next, because we’re in the context of being paid professional speakers, they also write their Vision, Missions, and Values so their speaking career and accompanying business model are more deeply aligned with who they are and how they want to be an influence in the world. It is their first step toward being an on-purpose person in creation.

On-Purpose light switch
The Light Switch turned ON is the symbol and reminder trigger for on-purpose persons.

This is why I do what I do. Yes, speaking, training, coaching, and consulting engagements help me pay the bills and grow the business. In the end, however, there’s nothing like that feeling of seeing the light switch go on in the heart and mind of another person.

Every person that knows his or her 2-word purpose and begins the steps or commits to being on-purpose is a fulfillment of their highest calling and dignity as a human. They turn a disadvantage into an advantage.

And for me, I get to be on-purpose serving others as they are learning what it means to be on-purpose for them. We’re respectively increasing one another’s wealth by profiting our souls and each other. Bliss!

Professional Speakers Panel Moderator

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What happens when you gather with a room full of National Speakers Association Professional Members and host a panel of Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) and Council of Peers Award for Excellence (CPAE) Hall of Fame Speakers?

Wow! The Central Florida Chapter of NSA (#nsacf) Distinguished Members provided sage advice, sound wisdom, and practical takeaways for all those in attendance. As the Chapter VP of Programs, I hold the honor of moderating this panel on the Spirit of Cavett (Robert) Day.

Barry Banter, CSP; J. Lenora Bresler, CSP; Dr. Shirley Davis, CSP; David Glickman, CSP, CPAE; Linda Larsen, CSP, CPAE; Andy Masters, CSP; Randy Keirn, CSP; Doug Van Dyke, CSP; Stan Walters, CSP; and Kevin W. McCarthy, panel moderator

I asked the following questions:

  1. Describe your speaker business model: keynote speaker, trainer, coach, consultant. Is speaking your primary income or does speaking open the door to your primary income as a marketing method?
  2. What insight/event was the turning point for you when you realized speaking could be a profit-making part of your business model? In other words, when did you take speaking seriously enough to want to master the craft?
  3. From that turning point forward, how has membership in NSA/NSACF contributed to your business growth and development?
  4. If you were starting your business over today, what would you do differently to begin generating revenue sooner?
  5. What’s one piece of advice, idea, or improvement to your business that helped you grow your speaking business to the point where you qualified to become a CSP?
  6. Where do you see the future of the speaking business headed, and how are you meeting it more head-on within your business model?

What’s evident from my peer professional speakers is there are as many career path and business models as there are speakers. For all that diversity there was unity on the power of peer-relationship to accelerate their learning and business growth. It can be a lonely profession otherwise as a keynote speaker, trainer, coach, consultant, or seminar leader.

Saturday, August 17, 2019 • Sheraton Tampa Brandon Hotel • visitors are welcome to chapter meetings: register and pay online at www. nsacentralflorida.com

How to Get the Job of Your Life?

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This On-Purpose Minute originally aired in November 2011, when the unemployment rate was over 10%. In the years since then, not much has changed really. Supposedly, the unemployment rate is currently around 4.9%, but that statistic fails to account for many who have simply dropped out of the job market due to discouragement. Some say the effective unemployment rate is as high as 1 in 6 persons.

I regularly talk with people who are underemployed, but at least they’re in the game. Opportunity tends to create more of itself. There’s learning happening and new relationships being made. This is currency that doesn’t spend, but it can pay.

Then there are those who are involuntarily unemployed. This is heart-breaking on many levels. The fear of rejection, let alone the rejection itself, can erode confidence. This reduces their chances for future employment even more.

Aside from the loss of income and financial struggles, what I often observe in their situation is a point of view that is detrimental to their state of being now and long-term. They’ll never get the job of their life. It is like the movie Dead Poets Society, where the one young man decides that a life of just pleasing others is worse than death and others learn the lesson. Despite Robin Williams’ tragic death in real life, he provided a source of inspiration through his body of work.

Many think that a job provides a sense of security and identity. This “3-2-1” pattern, however, is a frail basis upon which to build one’s life. Instead of growing a sense of self, the shifting “foundation” speeds the cycle of being in and out of dissatisfying jobs or workplaces.

Perhaps the money is too much to quit a miserable job. The pain of change appears worse than the suffering on the job. For a few dollars more, we’ll trade our life. What a waste! Yet, I fully understand and deeply appreciate the dilemma. Money is important to function in society, to eat, to be housed, etc.

Work on You

Don’t blame the job for your state of being. Instead, bring your state of being to the job! Here’s how:

  1. Don’t quit your day job just because I struck a nerve with you! These seemingly stalled or downward career spirals can be broken.
  2. Let my 1-2-3 approach in this OP Minute settle in your spirit. Even if you think it is impractical, do you find yourself wishing you could actually do this? Do you imagine what’s really possible if you pursued your passion?
  3. Take action. Be in circulation. Make appointments for visits over coffee, not lunch. Coffee is cheaper and you’ll not get fat.
  4. Develop a list of ten to twenty friends or business colleagues with whom you keep in regular contact. Describe in detail what you’re looking for. Gain their agreement to keep their eyes and ears open for you. Have them make warm introductions to your target companies.

Investing time to think, sort, and pray about who you are and how you can contribute to the well-being of an employer and company is smart thinking.

The job of your life is to live your life on-purpose — to be as fully YOU as God intended and designed you to be. It is the only job you can’t delegate so get to it now.

How Do I Find The Job of My Life?

The On-Purpose Person provides a simple and affordable roadmap for discerning who you are before you decide what to do.

Recently, I was speaking to a group of women who worked at a local college. Their Wellness Committee recognized the connection between purpose and health and booked me to speak the faculty and staff (not students). From the audience, two small groups formed who were systematically going through The On-Purpose Person. After completing the study, I was invited back on campus for their last “Gathering” to discuss the experience. One woman decided to make a job change and was starting a new higher paying, more rewarding job in 10 days. One decided she needs to start a job search. Others, however, reaffirmed that they were exactly where they were most suited to be. They saw the meaning of their lives and those they served with a fresh and positive point of view.

Not bad! Not bad at all. So the point is, use The On-Purpose Person to plan your life and then your work. Remember all work is neutral and that it is our job to bring meaning to it.

Be On-Purpose!
Kevin

Leveraging Thought Leadership Podcast with Peter Winick

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Peter Winick is one smart and capable guy whose message and work I’ve followed for years. He’s a thought leader for thought leaders.

Recently, Peter interviewed me about book publishing and how to articulate your message so your audience wants to read what you write … and you get to sell more books, too! Listen in to this episode of Leveraging Thought Leadership where Peter and I talk about being on-purpose, publishing, and what it means to be a thought leader.

Do You Want More Balance in Your Life?

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Be sure to check out the free offer to download Kevin’s poem: A “Balanced” Life at the end of this post!

It seems that everyone wants more balance.

People want:

  • A higher checking account balance
  • A perfectly balanced body
  • A balanced diet

So doesn’t it make sense that one would ask, How do I find balance in my life? A balanced life flows logically and seems so attuned with the natural order. Life coaches, executive coaches, self-help gurus, counselors, and therapists galore teach the overwhelming benefits of having your life in balance. Being well intended doesn’t replace being well thought out about such a central concept of personal and leadership development.

Work–life balance is in high demand.

But do you have a true definition or image in your mind’s eye for what constitutes a proper work–life balance definition? Experience tells me that most people love the idea of work–life balance, and they’re seeking and investing in tips and techniques all too regularly but not getting the results they want. Let me save you some time!

Do not seek balance in your life. It will misdirect, confuse, and frustrate you. It doesn’t work, period. Instead, integrate your life with your purpose being the point of integration.

“So why, Kevin,” you may ask, “are you such a contrarian?” No, I didn’t wake up on the wrong side of the bed. I’ve studied, observed, and thought about this concept of living a balanced life for decades.

Balance is a physical concept that cannot adequately grasp or reconcile with spiritual realities.

Balance falls far short, yet it remains the popular culture ideal of enlightened living. In fact, it is hogwash!

A life in balance is a myth.

It is one of those feel good, happy distractions that just doesn’t work. People who are busy balancing their lives often miss it because they’re so busy thinking they have to have their life together before they can go forward. Not true! Another myth!

Doing life is learning life. Sitting on the sidelines waiting for the perfect moment of balance and harmonious happiness is wishful thinking, at best, and wasteful thinking most of the time.

Others will claim to be so busy, overworked, and stressed that they believe more balance will finally bring them the peace, comfort, and security they’re working so hard to achieve. Wrong! Today’s On-Purpose Minute points out the folly of that line of thinking.

In another On-Purpose Minute titled “Do You Want A Balanced Life?” I invite you to really consider what you are seeking. Below, you’ll find a link to download my poem titled A “Balanced” Life.

My hope is that you’ll find that striving for balance is a frustrating folly not worth the effort.

I’ve played the “balance your life game” in the past. No more!

Today when someone says “I want more balance in my life,” I actually hear an absurd statement. You might as well say, “I’m hoping to walk to the edge of the earth one day and be able to look over it to see what’s there.” No Virginia, the world is not flat.

The concept of balance in your life is equally flawed thinking despite being so broadly accepted.

So allow me to release you from the relentless pursuit of a vaporous standard that’s impossible to grasp yet seems so easily within reach. Why live in the unhealthy definition of stress, which is what pursuing a life of balance creates?

Instead of wanting more balance in your life, seek to integrate your life around your purpose, then live into your purpose, i.e. being on-purpose. This isn’t semantics; this is a seismic truth that provides order, focus, and clarity—and, thankfully, a healthy dose of “being out of balance.” You’ll learn to live with the joyful intensity where being “off balance” doesn’t matter and being true to yourself and more on-purpose does matter.

Replace your tiring, old concept of balance in life.

Change your “ideal” and you’ll transform your life for the better as you integrate your life rather than balance it.

To download my poem A “Balanced” Life, go to our shopping cart to get your free copy.