Insights, inspiration, and practical leadership and business tips and advice for meaningfully integrating your life and work using the On-Purpose Approach by Kevin W. McCarthy
It has been said there is an absence of leadership today. Actually, I think it is an absence of maturity stemming from the reality that we're still trying to figure out what to do with ourselves when we grow up. Certainly, there's a benefit to having a childlike curiosity and faith. But, let's talk growing up here -- stepping into adulthood with both feet firmly planted on the ground as a leader of one's life who is growing in experience, wisdom, discernment, and judgment.
The absence of leaders may well reflect deeper challenges, the absence of mentors and the value of relationships over time. This On-Purpose® Minute invites you to explore four attitudes of maturity. How are you coming along?
Carrie plays in the noble space of helping professionals, business owners, those in career transition, and other self-employed persons work more successfully from home. She trailblazed her way and is marking the path for others to follow in her footprints.
If you've followed me for any length of time, you know that I'm a fan of the creativity, productivity, profitability, and contribution that starting and owning a small business offers. Business can be a pure vocational expression of your purpose, and, therefore, an opportunity to be on-purpose. Because of a similar heart to Carrie, my On-PurposeME program is designed for the SOHO (small office, home office) start-up or running business owner. You just can't know enough.
Carrie is a great model for creating on-purpose work at home business. Sitting in the front seat and I could see it in her eyes. She's having the time of her life doing good while doing well with maintaining defined personal boundaries and a strong commitment to her marriage, family, and clients.
For years, I've been teaching that life balance is a myth. Carrie shared those nearly identical words with those in attendence. Coincidentally, my On-Purpose Minute on Tuesday was entitled: Do You Want More Balance In Your Life? (Be sure to look for the link to my poem: A Balanced Life.)
Here's my recommendation to you, visit Carrie's website (click the banner below). Subscribe to her email and video messages. You'll find that she brings a fresh encouragement and spirit similar to me when it comes to being true to yourself and taking the leap into business ownership.
Watching Carrie in action was educational and engaging. If you are a fan of On-Purpose and fit the target audience of wanting to be a work from home business owner, then jump bare feet first over to Carrie's website and get a little cyber sand between your toes.
Brand Backstory:
Carrie shared that in 2003 her husband, aka Mr. Barefoot, tagged her as the "Barefoot Executive" while she made the career transition from high school teacher to stay at home business executive / owner. She was running around the home conducting business in her barefeet and he lovingly made the observation. Carrie made note of his term of endearment. Three years ago, she birthed her business of helping others make the great escape from the corporate world.
I had to chuckle when she said, "I'm from Texas. We understand branding. It is the way we keep track of our cattle and keep people from stealing them." It was a great reminder that business branding is rooted in some pretty practical stuff! With Carrie's help perhaps you, too, can leave your footprints in the sand... on-purpose, of course.
PS - yes, Carrie Wilkerson spoke to us in her jeans and barefeet!
PSS - Special thanks to my friends Wendy Kurtz and Roy Reed for organizing and inviting me to the event at the Disney Entrepreneur Center.
Wendy Kurtz is President of Elizabeth Charles a niche PR firm that helps authors, speakers and executives get their message and medium into the media and into people's lives.
Roy Reed is a Partner in Consensus Communications, a strategic public relations firm whose currency of choice is trust.
To kick off the New Year, I've gathered a handful of On-Purpose Minutes and Business Minutes relevant to the popular New Year's toast for a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year. Rather than it being a mere sentiment, why not make it a reality or at least invest your self in making your good life even better?
Put your good intentions into action! For each aspect of this New Year gesture dig deeper by clicking on the provided links to relevant Minutes.
Happy On-Purpose New Year!
Kevin
A Happy New Year
Happy is rightfully a great word to be associated with New Year's Day. Much like time itself, happiness is fleeting, yet so desired. Who doesn't want to be happy? The term "Happy New Year" embraces the chronological odometer as it turns and makes a fresh start for 2011. Relish the reminder.
Comparing Christmas Day to New Year's Day reveals an interesting shift of words and implications. We will say Merry Christmas, but the word most reverently associated with this Christian holy day is joy, as in the song, Joy to the World. Joy can be one's reality regardless of whether circumstances are happy or unhappy. Trading in happiness is a far less stable currency of emotion. Joy is the gold standard.
Three years ago this over 50 former athlete turned business advisor, author, and speaker was resigned to wearing "my fat suit." This is going to sound awful, but I was so accepting of my extra pounds that I used to say, "Unless I have a cancer, I probably won't lose this weight." Ugh!
Fortunately, that changed in March 2008 when I was booked by Dr. Wayne Andersen (sight unseen) to be the keynote speaker at the Take Shape For Life National Convention. I did the program, lost the weight, and haven't really looked back at my old weight since. Admittedly, the holidays are the hardest part for me because I get so out of my normal routine; it is a festive time; and I'm addicted to sweets. So today I am back on the TSFL program!
Faithful Fish is an on-purpose business founded by Chelsea Eubanks from
the loss of many loved ones within a brief time. Rather than let it
send her world into a crisis of confidence and despair, Chelsea decided
she could prosper by being true to her interests while caring for others. CLICK HERE to read her story and to shop her clothing line of classic polos, shirts, hats, and outerwear.
Often the most meaningful businesses are birthed from solving a
problem that touches us personally. If you've ever met an insurance
agent whose father died early and the insurance policy left behind cared
for his mother and college education, then you've likely met a
successful and committed insurance agent. Scars may mark us, but we
determine if they are distinguish or disfigure us.
What lesson can you learn from Chelsea?
Allow me the pleasure of plugging Faithful Fish in this On-Purpose Business Minute:
Charles, 19, and Anne McCarthy, 17, our son and daughter head from Amicalola Falls State Park, just north of Atlanta, GA., to go on a 30-day hike on the Appalachian Trail (AT). Judith has been sick so I took them up and walked the first three miles with them to Frosty Mountain. This video picks up the start of their adventure on the Approach to the AT. The back story is below the video.
Please
enjoy this 5-minute video and then I invite you to use the comments section below to share what adventure you would do if you were brave.
Back Story: Charles has been hiking the AT since he was ten when he went to Camp Deep
Woods for Boys, a truly life-changing experience for him thanks to
Kells Hogan, the Camp Director. At the Christ
School Outdoor Program, Charles continued his love of outdoor
adventure and training. Anne, on the other hand, is a novice hiker but a
game competitor.
This all started this winter when Charles posted a request on Facebook inviting people to join him on the AT. His itinerary was planned to attract others to join him for the entire hike or to join him part way. The only person who responded was Anne! Kudos to her for stepping up. Kudos to both for thinking it was a cool idea to hike the AT with their sibling.
Some think Judith and I are crazy to allow our older teens to hike the AT alone. We think we're crazy not to support them in this adventure. There is tremendous support and services along the way. This is wilderness, but not raw and unmapped wilderness. Both kids' abilities to reason and make good decisions are strong. Here's an amazing opportunity for them to work together as a brother and sister
while testing personal character and endurance against what nature can
throw their way. Leadership is about facing fears and challenges both
physical and mental. Frankly, we couldn't be more proud of them both.
We also figure that this hike will either bond them for life or one of them will the kill the other. Clearly, we're betting on the former outcome and feel the odds are heavily in our favor. I guess the theory is this: What our failures as parents didn't produce in them they are likely to beat each other into a better relationship on this trip! Tell me now who is crazy!
Thank
you fellow National Speakers Association member Jana Stanfield
whose song, If I Were Brave provides the music score. She's
gracious about granting permission for use.
For the record, I did
jog from Frosty Mtn. back to the car in just under an hour. I had a few
stops to chat with other hikers, drink water, and walk some of the
uphill sections. Then I hit the road and drove home to Winter Park. What a great day!
Do you want to see something amazing? Watch this video of the night blooming cereus that grows on a tree in our front yard.
You know the old adage, "Never judge a book by its cover"? Well, here is proof positive that there's often more to appearances. Sometimes, it just takes being around someone long enough to really see their beauty emerge.
It is funny when we say it, yet the price of not really knowing who we are as grown-ups is needlessly expensive to every aspect of our lives.
I get it! You're stretched to the max and burdened under more
commitments than you have time. Life is wrapped so tight, that you're
not sure where to begin with making your life make sense.
Now, you can test drive The On-Purpose Leader program which is based on The On-Purpose Person. Listen and watch the replay of the introductory broadcast by CLICKING HERE. You will be taken to the replay page. Be sure to click on "SLIDES" in the upper left hand corner so you can watch and listen.
The program includes four remaining teleseminars, replays, and web site support. Enrollment for this series ends: Wednesday, March 10, midnight.
As the New Year / Decade approaches, like many you're probably pondering this fresh start with an eye toward the bathroom scale and losing those accumulated excess pounds. I called this condition "my fat suit" - an extra layer of Kevin over the top of my inner athlete.
Weight loss for many of us is a place in our lives where we're out of control by some fraction or even into integers of complexity. Refusing to be resigned to the extra pounds is one thing; raising the bar on what it is costing you is another. Awareness and goal setting are important, but a system makes all the difference for success.
A Weighty Conversation is a short presentation I put together for my wife's health coaching practice. Please invest the 3 minutes to watch and consider all you have to gain by losing weight.
Judith offers an affordable solution to help you keep your New Year's Resolution to lose that 10, 20, 30 pounds or more... and keep off the weight. She heads a small and dedicated team of health coaches, who come alongside of you, so you can experience weight loss success using the Take Shape For Life system. For most people, this approach is cost neutral relative to your current food intake and the coaching is free.
Judith is offering free 25 minute consultations. Call her at 407.927.1642 or drop me an email via this blog and I'll forward it to her. I lost 50 pounds on this program so I endorse it fully.
So as the Waterford Crystal Ball in Times Squarebegins to fall, be sure to have your plans in place for a truly healthy New Year in 2010.
Be On-Purpose!
Kevin
PS: The music is from Dan Lewis, a musician friend in the Hendersonville, NC area.
My family and I have been great fans of Jim Weiss of Greathall Productions for many years.
Greathall Productions helps to produce Great Minds! Our children, Charles and Anne, grew up listening to the amazing story telling of Jim Weiss. Here's a man whose voice wraps around a character's personality to bring it to life. Jim's ability to capture the essence of meaning of a story in a few choice words is remarkably educational and entertaining. We read to the kids when they were little tykes. Afterward, we would often put on a Jim Weiss tape to lull them to sleep. We continued the practice until they got older and could read on their own. Their interest in our reading to them waned but their desire for a good bedtime story never ceased. As teens I would often pass by their rooms at night and hear Charles or Anne listening to Jim's soothing voice and fabulous tales as they drifted off to sleep. Now donning headphones, I haven't a clue what they're listening to and I'm going to bed before they are!
A cool story about Jim reveals how he owns his stories. He was a guest on my radio show. Rather than impose upon him to tell a story on the air, I brought into the studio an audio tape of Robin Hood. I gave it to the audio engineer to play coming out of a break so listeners could hear Jim. The tape played for about 15 seconds and then jammed. Jim offered to finish the story live. He picked it right up, went into character, and delivered it flawlessly. You should have seen the eyes around the studio; Alan, my co-host on the show was blown away... as was I.
Jim Weiss is truly a treasure for every generation in your family. Grandparents and parents alike will enjoy sitting with the kids listening to Greathall Productions and discussing the stories. Do yourself a favor, visit Greathall Productions, and buy a CD or ten!
You can listen to Jim's talent using the link below. The incident mentioned above can be heard at around 5 minutes into the interview.
Image via Wikipedia
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=c9f8ed0e-a4df-4aad-bd7f-a683f84349f6)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=950bddfc-0e5a-4ac1-b37d-ce4ca66a5239)
ShareThis
