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The excerpt above is from Chapter 1 of The On-Purpose Person: Making Your Life Make Sense. I wrote those words in 1991. They struck a chord with readers then even as they do today — decades later. Countless readers say to me, “Kevin, you wrote my life. I am the person in the first few chapters.”
Decades later and over 300,000 readers or listeners of this book, and these words still break my heart. The message is more relevant than ever as people search the world trying to make sense of what is too often senselessness.
I wrote from my experience of emptiness from years before when I had a “good life, but too little inner peace.” Like the troubled youthful version of “the man,” (the main character in this modern parable) those same emotional viruses are apt to seep into my spirit even today.
The difference, however, is I’m better prepared and equipped to more rapidly recognize and address what life throws my way. The benefit I gain from tools such as Want Lists and Tournaments, and Ideal On-Purpose Days (weeks and months), and other life and “time management” methods help me not stay stuck. Even so, they still fall short of the mark.
My 2-word purpose in life is “I exist to serve by Being On-Purpose.” Until I knew my purpose, all the time management tools and techniques couldn’t vaccinate me from the raw emotions I experienced in outer success and achievement while a gnawing sense of emptiness washed over me within. In fact, I found myself even further frustrated and distanced from the real me. It seemed the more I “managed” my life, the further I got from who I truly was. Impersonating the person I was “supposed to be” was so disingenuous and soul-sapping that I constantly was wondering, “Who am I, really?”
A Spiritual Vaccine
As the creator of the ONPURPOSE.me online tool, I have to see it through the lenses of technology, business, and teamwork involved in producing an online service. Above all, however, discovering one’s 2-word purpose is a spiritual vaccine against mass exposure to fears, hopelessness, despair, worthlessness, and the evident emptiness of modern life. COVID-19 taught us that vaccines may prevent us from contracting the virus or may dampen the severity of its effect on our health. But we still have a responsibility to safeguard ourselves.
Meaninglessness is the most virulent of all diseases of the soul. Any hope or effort to overcome it is poured into a bottomless bucket. Knowing your purpose, however, is more than a bucket with a bottom — it is a bucket over a freshwater well that never runs dry. In life, you will thirst, but with purpose you’ll never remain thirsty for long, for you know exactly where to gain refreshment.
Life Is Meaningful
Despite what might seem like evidence to the contrary, life is meaningful. Step back far enough and you’ll see that life is conspiring for your benefit, not against you.
Your 2-word purpose is the best means to tap into the meaning of life with specificity and authenticity. ONPURPOSE.me provides the most true and accurate understanding of yourself you’ve likely ever had. Knowing your purpose is easy. Being on-purpose, however, is not! You can either be on-purpose or off-purpose. You innately know the difference and you can’t delegate the on or off decision.
Hopefully, you’ve found your 2-word purpose. Now what? Become an on-purpose person in creation. Read The On-Purpose Person. Start aligning your purpose and your life so you, too, can be on-purpose.
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Yes, I want to find my purposeBe On-Purpose!
Kevin W. McCarthy
