Current Affairs

What is the Future of Learning?

July 10, 2014 By kwmccarthy

Today's On-Purpose Minute is different for me. I'm sharing this message plus adding my comments below. It is longer than normal, but I thought it an investment worth taking for yourself and those whom you mentor or would like to mentor you.

EVERYONE is a short film by my colleague Nic Askew. He continues his series of intellectually stimulating and visually engaging film topics. I so appreciate his work on getting to the soul of important matters. My comments follow, along with more information on Nic and Mimi Ito Fisher.

In this short video below Mimi Ito of Connected Learning presents a compelling vision of the future of education with technology as well as a gentle indictment of the current educational system and structure. She's pointing the way to my 1998 prediction of the Age of Purpose and Meaning—the age beyond the Information Age—a time where relationships will be the currency of greatest open value.

Purpose will be your strategic advantage in the future, but not a strategic weapon to lord over others. Truly, every person is equal in that we each have a purpose in life. The quality and contribution of that expression of purpose adds value on various dimensions and value to society.

In a world awash with opportunity, the power of knowing who you are will make all the difference in your capacity and ability to make a difference. For decades now, I've been encouraging my readers to "Explore Your Possibilities." Today, the capacity to do that is richly available via the Internet, peer learning, and mentorship.

Judith and I are a part of a learning and serving collaboration as Health Coaches under the guidance and support of Dr. Wayne Scott Andersen. Yes, we offer health coaching services to clients and help them gain health. But as coaches, it can be one of the richest of places to learn, mature, and gain free mentorship. Truly, we're learning and earning while caring for and being ourselves, prospering ourselves and others, and guiding others to do the same. It is an amazing experience and a large part of why I'm involved. Admittedly, health coaching isn't for everyone, but for those who have compassion for people carrying burdens, have a genuine interest in health, and are willing to learn and work, it is life-giving and meaningful work.

It is, after all, hard to be on-purpose if one is unhealthy. Our health reveals our life. We wear our worries on our faces. We carry our cares in our heart. We suckle ourselves with touch and nourishment. Our gut reveals our violations of that we hold dear. Clarity or cloudiness of mind is tied to our vision.

So why settle for a sense of purpose when you can know your purpose? Goldplate or 24 karat gold—you choose. You'll learn by trial and error and you'll learn from mentors, but why not learn from mentors more often. The professors in The School of Hard Knocks are harsh.

What To Do About Your Future

Circulate in your areas of interest for mentors. I remember coaching Little League baseball and try-outs. The engaged kids always stood out to the managers making the picks. Your carriage and your sincere attitude matter. Put yourself where your heart is.
Explore Your Possibilities by going deeply into things. Be curious. Search the web for information, and also search for people to follow.
Read different points of view. Be respectful and gracious on blogs, forums, and places where you post. Hiding rudely behind an online avatar may feel safe, smug, and secure, but rudeness is a matter of the heart. You're not hurting anyone but yourself by being an ass, if it is covered.
Ask questions about things you're curious about. Get to know people. Learn to develop a structured conversation where you're going deeper than the typical cocktail party idle chatter. Check out my daughter Anne's iLifeChat website. She is young and the concept is young, but it is so sound.
Be healthy. Less than optimal health is a compromised mind, body, spirit, and soul. Reclaiming health takes time, but it can be done. Yes, losing weight will get your body healthier, but expect the mind and spirit to follow. Good health also saves money for you and your health care plan.
Facebook friends and likes are not real friends and real likes. Real friends and real likes are available, face-to-face, over the phone, holding hands, hugging, and soul bearing buddies. I know you. You don't have enough of those kinds of people in your life. Trolling the surface of life on social media may offer comforting distraction from the real desire, but it's a placebo for on-purpose pals.

Learning of the future begins by learning about you. Your purpose, vision, mission, and values will enrich and inform your life. Perhaps this video and my comments have done the same for you.

Be On-Purpose!
Kevin

About Nic and Mimi

EVERYONE from Nic Askew on Vimeo — You'll find more of Nic's videos there.

Mimi Ito's weblog: http://www.itofisher.com/mito/

Connected Learning and Mimi Ito

Hey! Can You Keep A Secret?

March 6, 2014 By kwmccarthy

There's a reason dirty little secrets are called "dirty." No, I won't keep you in suspense wondering why. They are dirty little secrets because they leave us dirty regardless of whether we are the recipient or the teller of secrets.

Feeling dirty is the personal effect, but there's a larger, more devastating corporate consequence that pulls down innocent victims of these simple acts of foul play. In the end, we begin to ask, "Can I TRUST You?"

Today's On-Purpose Business Minute will hopefully get you to reconsider your participation in the act of dirty little secrets.

Be On-Purpose!

Kevin

P.S.: Here's something we don't want to keep secret. RE:CALIBRATE!

If you're in a season of trying to make sense of life and searching for direction and meaning, yet you're unsure what's right for you, then it is time to RE:CALIBRATE. Here are 8 power-packed sessions of personal leadership development with Kevin W. McCarthy that is sure to help you go while raising the trajectory of your life and work. Click the logo to learn more.

What Is Your Cost of Being Off-Purpose?

September 10, 2013 By kwmccarthy

Put on your financial hat for an On-Purpose Minute. If I asked you to pay me $1.22 to help you save a portion of $1,000, would you “risk” it? Most likely, yes. It is an easy business decision. In fact, you would probably ask, “What’s the catch?” There is a catch!

Prior to the 30-minute webcast of The POWER of Your 2-Word Purpose Statement (watch here), I conducted a survey of registrants. One of the survey questions was, “If you had to put a U.S. dollar figure on being disadvantaged without or a weak purpose, vision, or mission statement, which best reflects your cost of being ‘off-purpose’?”

The multiple choice answers can be found in the first seven columns (see chart below) plus “Other.” Over 47% of those surveyed indicated the cost of being off-purpose was over $1,000,000. Astonishingly the write-in text for the “Other” included words like immeasurable, incalculable, and priceless. At 22% it ranked highest. Not bad for an un-choice!

To be on-purpose, you need to make an intentional choice to actually do something about it. The ROI is amazing, especially for those in the 47% group. Immeasurable, incalculable, priceless? Yes!

What Are Your Answers To Life’s Great Questions?

September 3, 2013 By kwmccarthy

Dare You Risk Leading Your Life Better?

The On-Purpose Leader Experience Early Bird Savings End Sept. 4

Click the links at the bottom of this post and the discounts will already be applied.

Here they are: The 7 Great Questions about life that haunt us until we answer them, deny them, or simply overwhelm them in a soulless chase for gain and/or pleasure.

Who am I?
Why am I here?
Where am I going?
How will I get there?
What is important?
Is life meaningful?
Does God exist?

You may think, With all I have to get done, I realistically don't have time to mess with these questions. Here's a tip for life: until you begin answering these questions, they will mess with your life. The sooner you start, the better off you'll be.

Don't put your life on hold until you have definitive answers. Simply, explore your possibilities. Make it a joyous adventure of daily discovery as the layers of your life unfold before you with a sense of wonder and excitement.

Think it's impractical with all you've got going on? Hardly! There's a hard dollar cost to being off-purpose that is costing you in very real terms. Stop wasting your life in trivial pursuits.

Answers to these questions fill in the soul gaps—those places within us that we know are there, but aren't quite sure we want to or know how to get there. It can be a scary place to visit, like a closet of dashed hopes, painful memories, unrealized dreams, disappointments, and pain. On the other hand, it is also a journey of hope and healing to the heart of who you authentically are. Here's the only place on the planet where you can discover your true identity and begin the process of re-orienting your life on the strength, function, and contribution you have to give. Transformation begins in the spirit. Knowing and bringing expression to your purpose will raise the spiritual and practical trajectory of your life forever.

The On-Purpose Leader Experience starts with you. Come as you are. None of us have it together. We're all dysfunctional to some degree. Let the one who doesn't have a measure of chaos, confusion, hurt, distress, worry, or pain cast the first stone.

Join this six-week conversation (Sept. 24 – Oct. 29) that includes peer-to-peer interactions, phone and online on-purpose coaching from me, and more. Once a week we have a 30-40-minute live webcast that is recorded for replay later. You'll walk the steps of the man in The On-Purpose Person. You will:

Connect with on-purpose persons in creation in our private social network: The On-Purpose Planet
Write your two-word purpose statement
Clarify your core wants
Identify your TOP Want
Participate in live webcasts with me
Have access to webcast replays 24/7
Develop a meaningful time management approach
Get answers to the 7 Questions above

Here's a fun, easy-to-do, and efficient way to sound deeply into the spirit of who you are. What's more, you'll be creating systems and strategies that will save you time, help you to make better decisions, and eliminate costly detours. The upside is amazing. You'll discover:

Refreshing clarity and rare focus in your life
Authentic alignment from your heart outward
Clearer thinking to make wiser decisions
Renewed strength and energy
The abundance of being who you are and meant to be
An internal gyroscope to guide you
Improved confidence and growing personal leadership
The POWER of your Two-Word Purpose Statement

The On-Purpose Leader Experience Enrollment information:

Click here for: Single Enrollment: $197 — early bird: $147

Click here for: Dual (2 persons) Enrollment: $297 — early bird: $227

Guarantee: A 100% refund is available until the start of the third webcast.

Happy New Year

January 1, 2013 By kwmccarthy

Clarity is the mid-point in the On-Purpose Process. Prior to clarity is chaos and confusion. While not an avoidable state of being, there's little benefit to residing in chaos and confusion any longer than necessary.

Clarity, however, is a beginning point for building and being on-purpose. So the word for 2013 is clarity. Seek it and once you find clarity, leverage it into greater service and opportunity so you can be more on-purpose.

By the way, a great FREE tool to use for finding clarity is the DIscover Guide preview printable ebook. Click the cover to be taken to the download area.

What Will Be Your Best Business Decision for 2013?

December 13, 2012 By kwmccarthy

Make 2013 your best business year yet! Purchase a $1000 Small Business Advisory Package with Kevin W. McCarthy and get 50% more one-on-one time by phone, email, or in person. (Use coupon code: 50%More) That's 6 hours instead of 4 hours of insights, ideas, and advice to grow you and your business. You set the agenda and time frame. Break up your package into hour long segments, one long stretch, or something in between. Get Kevin to review a business plan, presentation, or help you write your on-purpose statements of purpose, vision, mission, and values.

This is a double bonus value worth $1,130 in savings compared to Kevin's normal hourly rate of $350. It must be purchased before Christmas and used in full by March 2013. Your investment is guaranteed. If after the first hour you're not satisfied, we'll end it there and give you your money back. Limited to only 5 clients on a first come, first served basis. Act now!

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Entrepreneurs start businesses, but they tend not to grow them. There's a variety of reasons but mostly it is their mindset and aloneness. Reach out for help!

You want to mature out of your start-up stage as soon as possible and move into a growth stage. There aren't but about 10,000 ways to get tripped up. You don't have sufficient knowledge and experience to go it so alone, yet chances are that you are too isolated for your or your business's benefit.

OK, so here we are in mid-December. The Christmas season is upon us, but if you're a small business owner the chances are you're reflecting on 2012 and thinking about 2013.

What will you do differently in 2013 from 2012 to improve your business performance? What will work and what won't work? Do you feel like your wheels are turning but you risk spinning versus gaining traction for the New Year? Are you feeling "tripped up" or stuck?

As a business advisor over the decades, my clients are primarily CEOs and Presidents of mid-sized companies, say businesses with $5 million in sales or larger. At one time, I used to do work with the CEOs and Founders of some Fortune 1000 companies. In time, however, I found that the mid-market and small businesses were more to my liking. Give me companies with revenues less than $100 million and I'm in my sweet spot.

That said, I have this deep love for the start-up person, the entrepreneur, the freelancer, the 100% commissioned sales person, the solo owner, or as some call them "The Little Guy." Perhaps the proper term in 2012 is "The Little Person."

Truth is, if you're one of them, there's nothing little about you. You are the people who are standing tall, being bold, starting and building a business, pursuing a dream, aiming to change the world, seeking to provide for the family, serving your community, and deciding to kick Corporate America aside and give it go. You are the dreamers and the doers.

Here at On-Purpose Partners, we've developed options for you solo owners to grow your business:

ONPURPOSE@WORK is a six-week online program that rocks. Anyone in the world can participate if you have an internet connection and understand English.
Are you a Christian small business owner living in the Orlando, FL area? (Or do you know someone who is?) Check out www.myceogroup.com. Groups are forming now north, south, and east of Orlando.
Small Business Advisory Package (see above for Christmas special): 4 hours of one-on-one advisory services for the small business owner. You'll be blown away by what you learn and how you can improve your life and business.
The On-Purpose Business Person: See insert below for the Kindle edition. A print version in paperback will be forthcoming soon.

Make your best business decision for 2013 in 2012. You'll be glad you went into with a plan, even a simple plan and some people to help you can make all the difference.

Be On-Purpose!
Kevin

What is the Upside to a Down Economy?

August 2, 2012 By kwmccarthy

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.

Subscribe to The On-Purpose® Minute.

Do You Want The On-Purpose Person For Free?

April 24, 2012 By kwmccarthy

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!

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