Kevin W. McCarthy

The Professor of On-Purpose

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Purpose or Purposes

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You have only one purpose in life.   Once you know that purpose, you are to align your life and make choices consistent with it so you are on your purpose, rather than off your purpose.  That’s the essential message of being on-purpose.

In business, and especially in the church community, many people write about their “purposes.”  Note the use of the plural form, a recent pop culture invention mostly due to Pastor Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life in which he tells people they have five purposes of Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship, Ministry, and Evangelism.  These are missions of the church, not purposes.  For all the good Pastor Warren’s book is doing, it is ultimately confusing people at the core of their being, but it is getting them engaged in life more profoundly.

You do not have many purposes in life.   You may have multiple visions and missions, but only one purpose.  You may have many reasons for doing something, but only one will to do it. (Read more about the subtle differences between purpose, vision, mission, and values by clicking on this sentence.)

Need further proof of the singular nature of purpose?   The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary doesn’t provide a plural for purpose.  Purpose is inherently singular.

For example, here is an excerpt from a devotional I read today, “God
will provide the necessary circumstances to accomplish His purposes in
your life.” This is incorrect because of the plural use of the word.  God has one purpose for your life, and, yes, he will arrange the circumstances.  To push the point just a bit further, let’s replace purposes with the word will.  This is a more accurate description of the usage.  God has one will, not a plurality of wills.

Reason and purpose are frequently interchanged.  Life purpose is a person’s one reason for being or raison d’etre.  Purpose in lieu of reason is an appropriate, but a less effective word choice.  Purpose is deeply about one’s intention or will.   I appreciate that one can have many reasons for doing something, but there is one intention.  To be otherwise is to be double-minded or confused.  That is the very challenge purpose clarifies for you.  You can’t have purposes or be on-purposes. The logic and semantics don’t support the concept of purpose – plural.

Avoid getting caught up in this sloppiness of use.  Strike the non-word purposes from your vocabulary. Purpose is a truly special and remarkably powerful word as applied to one’s life purpose.  Seek the singleness of strength of being of one mind, body, and spirit and you will be on-purpose.

Your comments are always invited.

Be On-Purpose!

Kevin

The Folly of Self-Diagnosis

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As I dropped my car at the garage, I told the mechanic, "I think my muffler is broken."  Later that day when I picked up my car, the mechanic informed me there was nothing wrong with the muffler.  After paying his bill and starting my car… the darn noise that began the auto repair visit remained.  I asked the mechanic about it.  He said, "You asked me to check the muffler." 

Just shoot me!  I left the car for another day and made additional transportation arrangements.

Yesterday, my wife told the refrigerator repair man, "I think the gasket needs to be replaced because the refrigerator door doesn't stay shut."  He was better than my car mechanic.  After a quick visual, he informed, "It is worn but is working.  Your hinge isn't set right."  $125 later we had a hinge adjustment.  Only problem is the refrigerator isn't cooling. We thought it was the door being ajar.

The folly of self-diagnosis is real.  Unless you are an expert on something, don't do the diagnosis.  Speak in terms of the problem, not the solution.  

A friend of mine, Chris, is a brain and spinal cord surgeon.  If I'm
having a headache, do I tell Chris, "I think my cerebral cortex is
swelling.  You need to check for a tumor."  Absurd! But we all do this kind of self diagnosis regularly.  My goal is to get out of the habit.

Consider your area of expertise.  When you're working with customers or
clients who don't know what you know, do you find it odd when they
start telling you how to do the job they hired you to do?  Why did they come to you in the first place?

Here at On-Purpose Partners, we help individuals and organizations write their core strategic statements of purpose, vision, mission, and values so they have a fighting chance to be on-purpose.  Some people want to debate our terminology and approach.  I always invite clients to read my books before they engage us to ensure they understand where we're coming from before they invest their hard earned money working with us. 

Often, it doesn't matter.  They argue.  We're delighted to clarify and explain the difference between purpose, vision, mission, and values, but why debate it with us after you've hired us.  We're pros at this.  Let us do the diagnosis.  Tell us your problems.  Let us practice our craft.

Candidly, pride is why we're all guilty of self-diagnosis.  I don't want to look stupid in front of my mechanic because I'm a guy.  I'm supposed to understand cars and engines and mechanical things.  Right?  Wrong.  I'm clueless.  Faking it to impress the grease monkey tells him I'm both stupid and a phony.

These days, I tell my mechanic, "My car is making a weird and loud noise.  I haven't got a clue what it is."  Instead of faking my way to repeated repair visits, today I confess my ignorance, find the most honest mechanic I can, and throw myself at his mercy with an open line of credit.  My favorite question, "If it were your wife and kids driving in the car, would you do the repair?"  My automotive bills are high, our cars run fine, I have fewer visits, and I have no pretense.

About twenty years ago we had a father and son living next door who worked on their own cars.  I observed to Judith one day, "Every weekend they're working on their cars to get them working.  I don't even crack the hood of my car and it runs fine."  What's the moral there?  Those who do… who don't know they don't know.. do more of what they don't know. 

Let's call it personal outsourcing.  Judith is calling the refrigerator repair guy back today to say, "My refrigerator isn't as cold as I think it should be." It will probably be another $125 or more.  The compressor is probably shot!  Oops!  Did I just do a self-diagnosis?

Do you have a story where self-diagnosis got you in trouble?  Share it in the comments so we can all learn and laugh.

Adversity as a Teacher

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Adversity is one of life's great teachers dressed in disguise.

"What good can come out of this?" you ask, while pondering your present problem. You're thinking, "It's horrific, terrible, the worst thing that has ever happened." A heavy dullness leads to the clincher questions: "Why me?", "What did I do to deserve this?", "What hope is left?"

Hope! How are hurts transformed into hope? How is crisis turned into contribution? The fifth chapter of the book of Romans (NIV) encourages us to "…rejoice in our
sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance,
character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has
poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

Adversity is one of life's great teachers dressed in disguise and leading us to
character, hope, and love. Yes, greatness can emerge from adversity.

Thomas Alva Edison by Frank Attwood

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Frank Attwood is an On-Purpose Person in creation.  It hasn’t always been easy for Frank, but he’s in his element professionally and personally.  He performs a variety of amazing one man shows based on the remarkable life of Thomas Edison, my boyhood hero.

I remember the day Frank called me to brainstorm some life and business
decisions he was facing.

Photo:  Here is Frank Attwood in his portrayal of Thomas Edison.  You just have to catch his show sometime.

[Read more…] about Thomas Alva Edison by Frank Attwood

USA: The Off-Purpose Country

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Like many of my fellow US Citizens, I am very frustrated with the state of our "union."  Never before can I remember a President and a Congress having (and deserving) such low confidence ratings. 

Allow me to dip into the political realm for a moment not as a pundit, but as a strategist with an eye for personal and organizational development. 

The US is unraveling from within.  Political party polarization has made sport of our government.  Red and Blue are more like team colors with fan bases than a thoughtful citizenry with a sacred duty and honor to vigorously debate the issues and cast our votes.  The shrillness and empty talk on both sides have taken on an ugliness and unintelligible tone catering more to cheering crowds instead of elevating the electorate to be engaged in making a difference for the cause of freedom with responsibility.   We've entered a season of win-lose politics where power takes precedence over purpose.

We're off-purpose.  Let me tell you why.   

[Read more…] about USA: The Off-Purpose Country

On-Purpose® Radio Interview

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Listen for free to a 23 minute radio interview (MP3) with Kevin W. McCarthy by James Burkhardt on radio station WORL in Orlando.  James asks great questions regarding business matters for small and medium sized companies.  Join James and Kevin on Focus Orlando Radio Show as they talk about marketing, people, financing, target audiences, and business growth.  Learn how to do business on-purpose.

Recorded on May 10, 2008