Starts October 30 — December 11. Learn more at: www.onpurposeleading.com or click the logo below:
Raise the Trajectory of Your Life in Six Power-Packed Weeks
Blog
What Are Core Values?
Purpose and values are strongly related. Purpose precedes values. Purpose is by definition good. Values without purpose being inherently good can be easily abused. Values, you'll discover, will often be in conflict.
How does one resolve a values conflict? Your purpose provides the swing vote or trump card if needed.
For example, most people would say that a value such as "Family first" makes a lot of sense. Now consider that if that family is the mob and you as a family member happen to cross the family. Another value kicks in—you cross the family, you die. Murder, even an "honor killing" is still murder.
The values came in conflict! A purpose statement that is by definition "good"—a rather biblical concept from Genesis or "of God"—has a higher probability of engaging our deeper spirit or consciousness that murder is absolutely wrong regardless of the circumstances.
I'm sharing with you this brief Simple Truths movie about core values. It offers a solid "core" reasoning for investing in knowing your values and better knowing yourself.
Are you ready to clarify and write your purpose and values plus vision and mission? Enroll today in The On-Purpose Leader Experience. The next six-week cycle begins October 23. Watch a free one-hour preview and enroll at this same site—discount prices currently show in the shopping cart, too, so you can save $50 or $70 on your enrollment for one or two persons.
The On-Purpose® Pal
Meet The On-Purpose® Pal! He’s here to help you better differentiate purpose, vision, mission, and values.
Regardless of whether you are writing a purpose, vision, or mission statement(s) for your life or your business, having a clear understanding of each of these essential words and related concepts is likely the difference between being just good or truly great.
Life begins at your purpose. It is the heart of your heart. When your heart, head, and hands are aligned (in that order) within your values, then you are on-purpose. There is an order and relationship here that provides structural integrity.
Confusion around the very meaning of these words creates a muddled strategy. Unclear thinking undermines confidence and performance.
Yet few people or organizations really give the meaning of these core words of strategy a passing thought. What a costly mistake!
In organizations, imagine the bewilderment when each word carries different meaning to each person. Is it any wonder why a team can’t get on the same page?
By the way, on the personal side, you are not a purpose-driven person. You are a called person. Called by your purpose which is inherent to who you are. Think of purpose as your spiritual DNA. It just is! Therefore, your purpose is not dependent upon externals for value or validation. Are you getting a sense for the internal strength found in knowing your 2-word purpose statement?
Your natural desire to make a difference is really your purpose wanting to come into expression. This longing of the heart works to inform your mind and move you into action so your purpose comes to fruition. Your values guide your course for right and wrong while you are being and doing life (or work).
Attaching each strategic word/concept to a tangible body part makes the words take on a visceral and very real power. Regardless of whether your heart longs, breaks or sings, what’s happening is a meaningful matter. That’s because purpose lives at the heart of the heart. It is at the core of your identity.
If your head hurts, chances are you’re confused and conflicted and don’t have a clear vision for where you are headed. When you don’t know what to do, your mission is messed up. When your stomach turns, then your values are being compromised. Your body is talking if you’re listening. Pay attention!
“What should I do with my life?” Here is a mission or hands and feet question seeking an actionable answer. It is actually a surface question, however. Dig a bit deeper and the odds are high you may have a vision and/or purpose matter that precedes the mission question.
Values are essential governors of right and wrong. Violate your values and you gag and your stomach turns. This gut reaction is your body telling you you’ve made a bad decision.
Purpose, vision, mission, and values are meant to provide inner strength from above. Yet the incorrect use of these words rots the root of our growth and results in the challenges of modern life. Align your heart, head, and hands (and feet) within your highest values and you are On-Purpose! Get these concepts clearly articulated and you have given yourself a huge strategic advantage in life, business, or other endeavors.
Want to learn more? Click each cover to buy the book.
What is the Upside to a Down Economy?
Financial challenges rip at a misplaced sense of security. These can be very challenging and humbling times. My business has been hurting this year because I allowed myself to be in a position where a client could stiff me for a large sum of money. The ripple effects touch every aspect of my life and business.
Because we're working as a team and as a family, good is coming out of the hardship. How about you? Please share your comments or story of the upside of a down economy. Your thoughts may inspire, comfort, or encourage someone in a similar situation to see things in a more positive and productive light. Hope need never be lost.
Paper Airplane By Michael McMillan
I'm blessed to have some really cool colleagues and Michael is one of them. This video below speaks for itself so I've given Michael space to be my guest blogger for the On-Purpose Minute.
For a couple of decades I, too, have shared the "Man on the Moon" vision that President Kennedy shared. For On-Purpose fans, I'll add one thing Michael excluded from Kennedy's statement. The President not only said we would put a man on the moon, he also said we would return him safely. The President placed a value on life above technological progress. Life is meaningful.
Do You Want The On-Purpose Person For Free?
Download The On-Purpose Person for free in Kindle: go to http://www.oppkindle.com. Starting today through April 28, you can get the unabridged book for nothing. Don't have a Kindle device? No problem, use the link above to download free Kindle reader software for your Mac, PC, phone, or iPad!
Once you have your own free Kindle edition, please share the message of being on-purpose with others on your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or other social media and email lists. Thanks for helping the planet to be on-purpose!
Soul searching begins with sole searching.
“Who am I?” is one of the most profound questions you will ever seek to answer. Much of our identity is erroneously formed by others’ opinions of us and shaped by experiences that reinforce and refine our sense of self.
Yet, the true answer to the question is found from above and within. It takes quiet time and solitude. Oddly, being contemplative is harder than it looks—I’m so programmed to equate action with productivity that rest feels like I’m playing hooky from life.
Being alone is not the same as solitude. When I’m alone I can fill the emptiness with television, email, web surfing, reading, or any number of business related activities ill-intended to avoid confronting the real me.
Soul searching is a time of resting in God’s presence, listening for His voice, and seeking His will. Jesus taught that the Kingdom of God is within and we are to seek it first. Yet, most of us pursue fame and fortune “out there in the real world.” Eventually, even precious Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz discovered, “There’s no place like home.”
And when my sole searching leads me to my soul, indeed I have found the kingdom of God. I’m home where God intends me instead of where the world might like me to be.
Plant a smile on your face and enjoy a garden of grins in return.
I like to walk around with a big grin on my face. That’s easier said than done when you have lips like mine. Have you seen my lips? Take a look at my picture above, look closely….do you see lips? I’m lip challenged… lip impaired… lipless. All the skin for my lips must have moved north to my nose. I do have a, shall we say, distinctive nose. With my lips all on the inside of my mouth, walking around with a big grin is work for this face.
But it’s worth it!
Here’s where that grin grows into fun. I’ll be walking and grinning down a crowded downtown street or in an airport. Some people avoid making eye contact for fear I’m some kind of stalker I guess. Others are obliviously lost in their thoughts. But here’s the on-purpose payoff. A lot of people smile back. And some even say, “Hi!” For the price of a smile, I get to enjoy the bounty from the garden of grins I plant as I walk.
Try it and see how it is to be on-purpose.