Kevin W. McCarthy

The Professor of On-Purpose

Rick Warren

The On-Purpose® Pal

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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.

 

 

Casting Crowns Music

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Casting Crowns is a contemporary Christian band that just had an article written about them entitled Casting Crowns On Purpose.  In the article, the front man, Mark Hall, shares what it means to have a "life on purpose."  He is really close to understanding the power and potential of being on-purpose. 

Back in the late 1980s when I was teaching about on-purpose in the positive, it was very novel.  Until that time, most people would use on purpose to negate a negative, such as, "I didn't mean to spill my milk on purpose."  I knew then, as I still do today that I am pioneering a positive concept whose time has yet to come.  Even today, most people are seeking their purpose, rather than the follow through of living or being on-purpose.

I envisioned the day when the words and concept of being on-purpose would be in the popular culture.  Well, it continues to creep into everyday use more and more as the Casting Crowns article indicates.  I must admit a certain measure of joy mixed with disappointment because
the general use of purpose is misunderstood and the concept / lifestyle
of being on-purpose is used far too cavalierly. 

Pastor Rick Warren's work, The Purpose Driven Life popularized the use of purpose; unfortunately, it was a watered down version of the concept.  Oh well, I persevere in this calling trusting the results to God.

Be On-Purpose!

Kevin

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

What Does It Mean to Be On-Purpose?

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The On-Purpose® Approach is best understood by reading my books The On-Purpose Person and The On-Purpose Business.  They provide a fundamental understanding of this movement of hearts into meaningful action.  Nothing else in the marketplace provides such a broad, yet integrated lifestyle.

On-Purpose® is a holistic and integrated lifestyle advocating the fullness of life.
On-Purpose® is a method with everyday tools to build a life, a career, or a business.
On-Purpose® is a point of view that life and work are by design and meaningful.
On-Purpose® is a light turned on to shine into the darkness of the heart of one’s heart.
On-Purpose® is a way to answer The Great Questions of Life.
On-Purpose® is to live with intention and personal accountability within a larger fellowship.
On-Purpose® is to know one’s purpose and to align one’s life with that purpose.
On-Purpose® is living a called life, instead of a driven life.
On-Purpose® is spiritual in that it answers the deepest longings for significance and belonging.
On-Purpose® is hopeful, positive, and relevant to contemporary challenges.
On-Purpose® is shalom from the Jewish concept of peace that comes from being one with God.
On-Purpose® is to clearly know one’s identity in Christ and to joyfully live in this manner.
On-Purpose® is to seek God first and to center one’s life on The Great Commandment.
On-Purpose® is seeking to meet us where we are and to live as Jesus did in his day.
On-Purpose® is the alignment of your heart, head, and hands within your highest values.
On-Purpose® is practical because it can be lived long term and moment to moment.
On-Purpose® is giving from strength even in times of weakness.
On-Purpose® is the difference in people who make a difference™.