The Professor of On-Purpose
May your Easter Day be filled with joy!
We're in the Augusta, GA area for the holiday with family. My wife grew up here. Later today, my daughter Anne and I are heading to the Masters Golf Tournament to watch the greats of the game. We're hoping to watch Trevor Immelman play as his father and I are acquainted through my books. They're a nice family. I was delighted to see him win the green jacket last year.
I hope your Easter Day is special.
Be On-Purpose!
Kevin
Pastor Warren Martin brings a stirring and patriotic message that plays off the concept of the light switch in The On-Purpose Person. Enjoy.
Be On-Purpose!
Kevin
Judith and I were married on April 7, 1984 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Augusta, GA. It was a late morning wedding. We held the reception at Judith's mother's home and farm in North Augusta, SC. It was wedding clothes and personal picnic baskets. Eventually, most of the younger people changed clothes and we played volleyball and games on the front lawn.
This photo shows Judith and me with her mother, sisters 
Mary Bright and Laura, and Laura's husband, Stewart Phinizy. The girls are Laura, Marion, and Louise.
Since we've lost weight in 2008, I really don't think we've changed all that much in all those years. We're at or about the same weight as when this photo was taken! Judith is for sure. I might be five or ten pounds heavier.
Judith and I were classmates at the Darden School, the graduate business school at the University of Virginia. It has been great to have shared that common experience together. We had the benefit of becoming truly dear friends as classmates long before a romance blossomed. Amazingly, I met Judith the first day of classes. We were assigned to the same section and seated in alphabetic order. Her maiden name was Haskell. She sat to my left and in front of me. I remember her by her blond hair. I was walking back to my apartment, spotted her hair, and remembered she was in my class so I caught up with her and introduced myself. Turned out she lived in the same apartment complex (Ivy Gardens) two buildings away from me and on my path back and forth to classes. We shared many a walk and talk together. We ended up in the same section both semesters that first year.
As a section, we studied, partied, and played co-ed softball together. In fact, our section won the league that included the UVA law and business school. Judith played on the team and actually crossed the plate for the winning run in the championship game. How 'bout that!
Dating at school happened, but it was generally an under the radar event because it was like dating at work. We were grad students with an average age of 26 so our judgment about such things was better than the hormone raging undergraduates. Because we weren't dating, Judith and I would have dutch treat dinners and lunches with some regularity. It was her idea to go dutch so it wasn't a financial burden on me or put us in place of dating.
One of our favorite things to do was to go to Christians, a restaurant in Charlottesville that had the best carrot cake. (I'm not sure they are still in business as the little bistro we used to go to.) We still like to share a good carrot cake to this day. Another place we went was La Hacienda, a Mexican restaurant. Sometimes classmates would go as group and sometimes Judith and would go alone.
The first year at Darden is intense. Lots of work from the time you get up until you go to bed. The day is highly structured with class from 8 to 1, lunch, read cases, prepare for study group, go to study group, prepare based on study group input, and go to bed. There really isn't that much social time except during exams oddly enough. Because of the case method learning, you can't study, so the b-school students really have it nice in that regard. These were times when we were the most social as a class. Friday afternoons were usually parties of some sort, too; but business cases and papers rather than cases of beer tended to hang over us on the weekends.
It was, in fact, during exams our spring semester when our romance began. After all those dinners and desserts, I guess we both began to appreciate each other deeply as friends. We could share true discussions about life, school, dreams, and values. I appreciated Judith's mature thinking and profound sense of right and wrong. She offered great insight, good listening, and true loyalty as a friend. Then and now, she remains very low maintenance relative to the drama I see many other women bringing into a marriage.
We graduated in May of 1982 and went our separate ways. She went to Hartford, CT to work at Connecticut General Life Insurance Company to help launch their fee-based financial planning services. I went to Orlando, FL to work with the Trammell Crow Company to make a fortune as a commercial real estate developer. Despite the distance, we stayed in touch regularly… no cell phones back then – do you remember those huge long distance bills? We had them. We each dated other people but kept gravitating back to each other and our friendship.
On November 2, 1983 I jokingly tell Judith she asked me to marry her. I was on a visit to Hartford to see her. I had sown my wild oats and was ready to arrange the merger and acquisition with my best friend.
Yep, I married the milkman's daughter on April 7, 1984. I feel very blessed to be married to my best friend and MBA classmate who can tolerate and even appreciate the entrepreneurial life I lead.
Be On-Purpose!
Kevin
Wow! What a difference a year makes! One year ago today I began Day One of the Take Shape For Life program. At the time I weighed 230 pounds – down from 239 on Jan. 1.
I lost my first 9 pounds by exercising it off – "the first gear way" is the way I refer to that now. "High gear" is the TSFL way. That is to get into a fat burning stage where the fat burns away and the lean muscle mass remains.
My health coach, Lori Andersen, helped me set a goal to lose 30 pounds. For me to weigh 200 pounds was frankly unimaginable – I thought it would require an amputation of a leg. More accurately, I set my 200 pound goal weight goal because I thought less wasn't realistic. Truth be told, Lori encouraged me to consider 190 pounds as my stretch goal weight.
Was I a skeptic? You bet! I have a sweet tooth that doesn't stop wanting chocolate, Hot Tamales, caramels, and ice cream. Couple this with a pizza habit and you've got the makings of an early demise for the pioneer of being On-Purpose!
I chronicled my return to health on these blog pages, so I encourage you to read the Health & Fitness Category starting on April 4, 2008. The real question in your mind is, "So, Kevin, what do you weigh today? Have you kept the weight off?"
This morning I weighed 191! The weight I lost, I've kept off. More importantly, I'm living the BESLIM approach and developing the Habits of Health (see special offer below).
To top it all off, my wife, Judith, caught the vision of TSFL when I spoke at the National Convention in July 2008. She joined the ranks of TSFL as a health coach and is experiencing the joy of helping clients share my experience. She is back to her college weight. Now a few of her clients are becoming health coaches. Dr. A's vision is to "Get America Healthy." Judith is a part of that movement. If you're looking for a health coach or to learn more here's a link to Judith's web site: www.certifiedhealthadvisor.com.
Take Shape For Life has changed my life… my family's health and life. This is the power of having a well-designed system that works and simply engaging the genius of others to my benefit. Thank you TSFL, Medifast, and Dr. A and Lori. Special thanks go to my dear friend, Janet Cronstedt, who introduced me to Dr. A.
Be On-Purpose!
Kevin
On-Purpose Health Bundle: Through April 15, we're offering a special package that includes Dr. A's Habits of Health, an amazing book, and The On-Purpose Person ebook. Normally, both would be $54.95. Through April 15, we're selling both for $35.95 – a savings of $19! Click the book image to go to our shopping cart.
I wanted to have a purpose. This was the front page headline of the March 18, 2009 Orlando Sentinel. The article by Kate Santich, a staff writer, portrays how people out of work are making the positive decision to volunteer more and are finding surprising rewards.
Dr. Ivan Misner, the founder of BNI (Business Network International) says, "Givers Gain." Having invested a couple of hours with me on the telephone on two separate occasions, I can tell you this man lives his motto.
To the people featured in Ms. Santich's front page article – Larry Szrom, Janet Morris, Claudia Mayes, and Yesennia Cruz, I must give a tip of the hat for taking their job loss and turning it into someone else's gain. Yes, givers gain. What they are sowing is returning to them in fresh ways.
So thanks Kate Santich for some great reporting, sharing these personal stories, and seeing good in the midst of loss. Thanks to those featured in the article for providing hope, inspiration, and direction for those frozen due to a job loss and financial stress. Those featured express a virtue of being an on-purpose person – service.
Be On-Purpose!
Kevin
March 17, 2009 – Disney Wide World of Sports
I'm very fortunate to have my parents living nearby in Winter Park. Most every day I stop by their house for a visit. The same can't be said of my son Charles, who at 18 is away at school. St. Patty's Day turned out to be a day for the luck of the Irish.
Spring break and spring training baseball and three generations of McCarthy Men made the trek to see the Braves and the NY Mets play at Disney. The video is admittedly not the best, but the sentiment is priceless. As you can imagine, my son was not happy with me pulling out my little FlipHD recorder and capturing the moment in the ninth inning with a 360 view.
It is fun to take an afternoon off of work and just be with family. That's so on-purpose!
Tom Fillinger, the CEO of IgniteUS, Inc. shares his online book review of The On-Purpose Person.
IgniteUS provides Pastors and local churches with the process and
resources that God uses to produce transformation. This begins with the leaders, and is an inside out process.
March 3, 1916
My mother-in-law was born in Augusta, GA. Grannie is still living on the dairy family farm in North Augusta, SC. She needs more help these days but her sense of humor remains.
Grannie's mind has been slipping. On a previous visit a couple of months ago, she informed Judith that she was going to be 106 on her next birthday. Grannie remembered she was born in 1916. Lovingly, Judith walked her though the proper calculation to get to 93.
Judith and I were visiting with Grannie a couple of weekends ago. Testing Grannie's mental clarity, Judith asked her, "Mother, what birthday is coming up on March 3rd?"
Grannie smiled and said, "My last… at least that's the way everyone seems to be treating it, what with the party that is planned and all." Her mind may be slipping but her humor isn't!
March 3, 1992
I signed the publishing contract for The On-Purpose Person with Navpress of Colorado Springs. This was my first book contract. The message has sold over 200,000 copies with domestic and foreign distribution. Now there's an updated version. Now more than ever this message is needed. Please help us share it by passing along the free preview available at our web site.