HPP Episode 13 - Interview with Jeff Goins

Jeff Goins is the best-selling author of five books including The Art of Work and Real Artists Don't Starve. Jeff believes we all have a creative gift to share with the world – our art. Today, Jeff and Kevin take a behind-the-scenes look at tribe as it relates to purpose and passion.Listen to the full episode now:

• Every story of success is a story of community, as Jeff likes to say, and Tribe is a conference about creatives, communities, and connecting people. Learn what Jeff's idea of a perfect community is – and you might be surprised that he calls it an 'excuse.'
• Jeff distrusts when someone says they found their calling. Find out why he believes finding your calling is a lot like finding your path, and you will spend your life walking it. You might not know where it ends, but you know it will take you somewhere good. Jeff also explains the three things you must consider before you begin walking a path: demand, skill, and passion.
• Jeff shares an amazing story about why he will never deliver one of the greatest demands people make: clarity. He talks about one of the things Mother Theresa believed about clarity, and takes it a step further to explain where clarity comes from. More importantly, he explains why it's not something another person can give you.
• Are you a 'conference consumer?' Do you know someone who attends conferences regularly, leaves with a notebook full of action steps and ideas, and then never applies them? Jeff talks about how to get the most out of conferences, and you might be surprised to know that you shouldn't be applying everything you learn. Find the One Thing and do it.
• You know when you talk to someone amazing, you need to take away from it as much as you can. Jeff talks about the interesting experience he had with a mentor who taught him how to take the most away from his coaching session. It's simple and common sense, but most people don't take the final step.
• Jeff talks about his zigzagging path that led him from touring with his band in Taiwan all the way to where he is now. He talks about how myths can be true. Remember this: Believe, Behave, Become.
• Jeff closes with something you really can't miss if you're a closet creative, if you've got an idea burning in you, a desire to do something. When will you actually do it? What will be the thing that pushes you from stagnating to creating? It's something that people tell you not to have: fear.

Are you ready for more purpose in work and in life? What if you could learn from personal, intimate conversations with people who are living their lives passionately and purposefully, and making a massive impact? For 5 days, you can. Get more information - and your free ticket at NavigatingNorthSummit.com

HPP Episode 12 Interview with Thom Winninger

Thom is an author and a brilliant mind when it comes to purpose, meaning, gifting, and opportunity. He and Kevin talk about some topics on how to use your gifts, and more importantly, how to FIND your gifts. They also discuss what happens to you and your life when you do.Listen to the full episode:

• Thom talks about liminal space, that painful place between two points. Do you try to avoid your liminal space? Do you run from it and what the wisdom of recognizing it could bring you?
• There was a time when Thom came up against a big patch of liminal space. It came right in the middle of a very successful career. He found himself on stage, in front of an audience who thought he had everything, but he had nothing. He was empty. Learn how it changed him.
• If you listen to your true self, if you are intentional in your thoughts, you can discover your gift. From your gift is what points to your purpose, and your purpose is what directs your life. Want to know what simple exercise you can do daily to find your gift? Thom shares what he does every day.
• Everyone has a gift. It's the thing you can do that you can't explain, something that comes to you without effort. Thom explains how you know your gift when you apply it, and the reason why some people seem to have limitless energy when applying their gift.
• Do you know the difference between possibility and opportunity? Thom explains how you have probably been wearing yourself down to nothing chasing one of these, and not opening yourself to the other.
• Do you understand what divine intent is? And do you realize that divine intent wants more of you than you ever thought possible? Kevin and Thom discuss those 'inklings' that influence your life.

Get Thom's book at YourTrueDNA.com- for free! Pay only shipping before October 24th.There's also something exciting coming up at the end of this month - the very first Navigating North Summit - and Thom is one of the featured conversations that we're including! You can get a free ticket, and listen to Thom, and 14 other experts on living a life of purpose.

HPP Episode 11 Interview with Joe Pine

Joe Pine is the author of The Experience Economy and several other books. He and his partner Jim head up an organization that teaches businesses not just to sell, but to be the authentic, experience-based organizations that speak to customers' wants and needs.  How does purpose play into this? In every single way.Listen to the full episode now:

• Joe explains what his purpose is in business. Some refer to him as a futurist, but that's not exactly correct. Joe sees things as they are, but that things business owners and managers do see yet.
• Joe's book, The Experience Economy, is a staple of the business world. He shares why business has shifted to the experience customers have. Why is it that way? Why is Starbucks so successful? He explains.
• Stores like Target, Sears, and even Macy's are struggling to survive. Discover why they are floundering in a time when customers embrace brands. They are making one excruciating error in thought. They merchandise.
• Do you want to know why consumers care what businesses believe? Joe reveals the thought process that goes into what people care about – transformation and world view.
• Do you know what 'authenticity' means? You probably know what it doesn't mean. Joe explains the three things that affect authenticity, and the strange contradiction that exists with today's business. The whole idea of authenticity is an experience, not the reality.
• People want to distinguish the fake from the authentic. They want to connect. Joe discusses how this desire drives them to search for real offerings from genuine companies. Most importantly, if you aren't purpose driven as a company, they will know.
• Joe shares one of his own mentors who really inspired him in terms of thriving and flourishing. Joe explains how he took this from a personal level to a business level.

If you feel like you don't have purpose at work, or you want to clarify your purpose at work, we have a free 5-day email course you can take with daily challenges and action steps to help bring the meaning you are meant to have into your everyday. Go to kevindmonroe.com/workpurpose.

HPP Episode 10 - Interview with Garry Ridge

Gary Ridge is the CEO of the WD40 company and author of Helping People Win at Work, a Business Philosophy Called Don't Mark My Paper, Help Me Get an A. Gary tends to take a contrarian position on business and purpose at work, but he's also very practical.Listen to the full interview!

• Kevin and Gary talk about how a need for purpose doesn't always happen in our youth. It's something that we develop over time, and Gary shares his own experiences from a radio DJ to the CEO of WD40. But his real purpose is helping people create positive, lasting memories.
• Learn how Gary's purpose came from something the Dali Lama said, and how it includes Billy Joel and Elton John. This is something that enriched Gary's life and shaped how he discovered what his purpose is now, and how it relates to the WD40 company.
• Gary talks about tribe, but he addresses it much more deeply than the general use you hear in audience building and purpose. He also has an interesting saying: "Profit is the applause." Find out what that means.
• Gary's company has been tracking employee engagement for nearly 20 years. They started where everyone else is, around 40%. But now they've been at 90% plus for several years. Kevin shares one story he heard about employees who refused to leave work for lunch because they wore uniforms.
• There were many people who have shaped the way Gary thinks. He and Kevin talk about the way Gary 'cherry-picked' ideas, messages, and strategies from all the different people to create the amazing culture of WD40, and more importantly, his own life.
• Gary talks about what helps him continue to navigate his true path amidst all the facts of his busy life. What can you cherry-pick from this to apply to your own life?

If you feel like you don't have purpose at work, or you want to clarify your purpose at work, we have a free 5-day email course you can take with daily challenges and action steps to help bring the meaning you are meant to have into your everyday. Go to kevindmonroe.com/workpurpose.

HPP Episode 9 - Interview with Julie Bauke

Julie Bauke doesn't mince words when it comes to having purpose at work. Her book is Stop Peeing on Your Shoes, and in it she talks about the seven mistakes that will screw up your job search. The title sounds like just another career advice book, but as it turns out, Julie communicates so much more than just how to land a job. She and Kevin discuss how your purpose should drive your work, and how to find purpose IN your work.

• Julie is the Chief Career Happiness Officer… not just of her own job, but of the universe. She believes it's possible for anyone. She talks about how many people have high degrees of career happiness, a shocking number, and she talks about what career happiness is. The simplicity of it might shock you.
• Julie digs into each of the four criteria in the Career Happiness Formula that lead to career happiness. She also talks about the correlation between purpose and happiness, and what happens when people's focus isn't on the actuality of purpose, the metrics, the meaning.
• Leadership is essential – you don't leave a job; you leave a boss. Julie and Kevin discuss some of the other reasons your job might not be right for you, and how your sense of purpose might be withering where you are. Have you ever said something like 'I don't know what I want to do, but I know I don't want to do this'?
• You can't always jump from where you are to where you want to be. Often it happens in a series of steps toward that goal. When you're looking for purpose at work, one of the best things you can do is look for that next step when the big leap isn't available yet.
• Every 'yes' you've committed yourself to is also saying 'no' to something else. You must cultivate the ability to say no to things that aren't in line with your purpose and goals, so that when the opportunity you want comes along, you have enough room for a big yes.
• Career success and career happiness don't always correlate. Julie goes into insightful detail on the trappings of money and titles, lifestyles, and how difficult it can be to walk away from it. You have to ask yourself: is appearing happy more important than being happy?
• Purpose at work isn't always exactly what you think. Perhaps your work is a means to an end: it gives you the paycheck you need to pursue your purpose in your free time. That's not something to discount; it's just as valid as intertwining your purpose with your work.
• Julie lost her husband 9 months ago. She talks about the way she dealt with the loss. Like everyone else, she grieved. It was hard to move on. Learn how Julie did it, and what motivated her to do it.

If you're interested in learning more about the career happiness formula - you can read our full blog post here!If you feel like you don't have purpose at work, or you want to clarify your purpose at work, we have a free 5-day email course you can take with daily challenges and action steps to help bring the meaning you are meant to have into your everyday. Go to kevindmonroe.com/workpurpose, and start today!

HPP Episode 8 - Purpose at Work

You spend a third of your life working. Have you thought about that? What about when you add commute time? How about those times you sit there when you aren’t working, but you’re thinking about it? Are your thoughts darkened on the weekend by the knowledge that Monday is coming? It shouldn’t be, and today Kevin talks about how to find purpose in your work.Listen to the full episode now:

• Do your mind scream that you aren’t fulfilling your purpose in your life? If you’re on a hamster wheel in your professional life, then you MUST listen to this episode. Kevin starts with a very personal story about his father, a member of the Greatest Generation. He told Kevin: find work you love doing. And he lived that example.
• The very first man, Adam, was given work to do, even before the Fall. Kevin discusses how work changed before and after, from a delight to thorns, thistles, and sweat. He talks about a misunderstanding he’s had about a popular saying, ‘find work that you love and you will never work a day in your life.’ It’s not true, at least, not the slothfulness of it. What SHOULD it mean? Find out.
• Kevin talks about his six keys to finding purpose at work, starting with WHY you work. Whether you’re a cashier or brain surgeon, there can be purpose in what you do. Kevin’s father wasn’t a bus driver; he was an entertainer. You can do the same work as someone else, but why you do it can change everything.
• Your job can be drudgery if you forget one important thing: what is your work making possible? It’s not just what the work achieves, but also, what a job allows you to do when you aren’t working. Similarly, who benefits from your work, directly or indirectly?
• Did you know that having a best friend at work is critical for happiness there? It’s just as important as those who benefit from your work. There are times when you find purpose and meaning at work, or when purpose or meaning at work find YOU.

If you feel like you don't have purpose at work, or you want to clarify your purpose at work, we have a free 5 day email course you can take with daily challenges and action steps to help bring the meaning you are meant to have into your everyday. Go to kevindmonroe.com/workpurpose.

HPP Episode 7 - Interview With Danielle Strickland

Danielle Strickland is an officer in the Salvation Army, an ambassador for Stop the Traffick and Compassion International, and the author of five books. She’s a wonderful speaker, and her depth of faith in insight in the Bible will delight you.Listen to the full interview now:

• Danielle talks about the simple practice that she has with her son about how he is made. She asks him, ‘Who made you, and how did He make you?’ The simple answer her child gives is the same answer that can liberate you from so much pain, shame, doubt, guilt, and more. If you hear nothing else, listen to this.
• Danielle named her son Moses. Find out how her understanding of the journey, trials, and growth of Moses in the Bible has shaped her own life, and why it made a big enough difference for her that she decided to name her son after the leader of the Israelites.
• Hear the interesting story of the parallels Danielle sees between her good friend and Moses. It begins with her phone number being two digits different from a local legal brothel, moves on to cupcakes, and ends with visiting 68 brothels week, as a neighbor.
• Danielle wasn’t always on the solid, purpose filled path she’s on now. She suffered from addiction. She was in a jail cell, and one visit from someone special began the radical change that took her from rock bottom to where she is now.
• Danielle talks about her own daily ritual that keeps her honest, in tune with who she is and how God made her, and what her own support group looks like. She also talks about how she does her part in doing this for others.

Please visit Danielle and be inspired by her work. Also, help out the Higher Purpose Podcast by subscribing and leaving a review. Help us grow so we can help others find their purpose in life and fulfill it.Want to read more? Check out our blog post about how sometimes, what you really need is a neighbor. 

HPP Episode 6 - Interview with Dan Miller

Every once in a while, when you scanning your email, there’s a subject line that jumps out at you. Even more so when it’s from someone you know, and goes against what you know about them. Today, Kevin talks with purpose-driven Dan Miller, whose headline said simply, “I’ve drifted from my why.” Discover how Dan drifted from his purpose, and how he got back on track.Listen to the Episode Now!

• Learn about how Dan realized he had become a commodity marketer instead of a coach and leader who helps people discover their own purpose, their why, and what they’re supposed to do in this life.
• Dan shares the very moment when he realized he’d gotten off track after a discussion with one of Dave Ramsey’s employees who reminded him, during a three-minute conversation, the way he used to teach.
• Do you believe that asking ‘why’ five times can get you to the heart of the matter? Dan shares how he asks the question why to find the source of a problem, and he talks about the time he turned it around on himself to challenge himself.
• Do you feel like if you get that dream job, get enough money not to worry, or achieve the station in life where you get respect you’ll be happy? This is your comfort zone, and Dan talks about how he can’t stand his own comfort zone. It’s not where he wants to live. Ask this: Why am I doing what I’m doing?
• Sometimes your drift is unnoticeable. You begin looking for external things and you begin to lose clarity. Dan teaches you how to look internally first, and how he has done the same to get back in line with his original ‘why.’
• Is it the why that changes over your life, or is it your understanding of your why that changes? Dan discusses how his own why has remained the same, and how his understanding of it has changed through his drifts and returns. He explains how he has had many iterations of reaching his why, and how he could do it as a used car salesman.
• Dan tells the story of a pastor who was mistaken in his why, and how he went from preaching in the same church for twenty plus years and is now a famous painter.
• Everyone needs a mentor. Dan shares who his mentors are, and he talks about why you don’t even need to know the person who is your mentor.

If you’re enjoying this podcast, make sure to subscribe and leave a review! Want more information? Check out the blog post!

HPP Episode 5: Interview with Paul Sohn

Paul Sohn has just released his latest bestseller, Quarter-Life Calling. Today, he joins Kevin as they discuss being driven versus being called. They also discuss what to do when you’ve reached a point in your life where you feel like you should have a calling, but don’t. Listen to the full episode here, or download it from your favorite podcast player!

• Paul talks about being vulnerable, sharing, and how it feels like getting naked. People understand it when you’re real and transparent in sharing YOUR story.
• Paul explains what a quarter life calling is – it’s a midlife crisis that happens a lot earlier. Paul shares his own quarter life crisis; he was ‘living the dream.’ But he felt miserable deep down, and it only got worse.
• Have you heard of the be-do conundrum? Are you supposed to be something, or are you supposed to do something? Paul explains the concept of the primary and secondary calling, and it’s unique and specific to each person.
• Paul explains how being and doing should affect how you live your life. Often, the first place to start is with your own health. You need energy and stamina to carry out your calling.
• Millennials are hungry for purpose; they want to be a part of something greater than themselves. When you think about the transitions they’re going through, it’s a tough time. And it’s those experiences in their 20’s that can leave them empty, or with purpose.
• Inspire, equip, and empower: Paul focuses all his efforts on this as he raises up the next generation of leaders. He talks about the organization he’s launched in his calling to help the 20-somethings.
• Kevin points at the concept that first connected him with Paul, servant leadership. For many of us to do good work, we need to do it through service to others. Paul describes how that looks in his own life.
• Despite having your life in line – your calling, your health, your purpose – you will still have off days. Paul talks about how he deals with those. He also explains how he’s changed in the way he looks at the challenges he faces.

Interested in going more in-depth with this topic? Make sure to check out the blog post on our site. Learn how to name your calling.We hope you’re enjoying the Higher Purpose Podcast. If so, consider subscribing and leaving a review! And share it with someone in your life who might need encouragement and purpose. They’ll thank you for it.

HPP Episode 4 - Interview with Mark Timm

Failing On the Quest for Higher Purpose

Our first guest on this podcast is an amazing one. Mark Timm is a serial entrepreneur. But he’s also something else: a purpose driven leader. But he’s most excited about a business he started about 5 years ago. He currently leads Ziglar Family, and he’s got some amazing insights to share for those who are failing on their own journey to finding and living their higher purpose.Listen to the episode now:

• Believe it or not, Mark Timm is a farmboy. He shares some of the lessons that his family learned and passed down generation after generation, especially what their children would need to leave with to be successful.
• Mark shares his experience hearing an inspirational speaker for the first time. It was a tipping point moment for him, and that speaker was none other than Zig Ziglar. Mark shares how he implemented what he learned in his life.
• Bringing your higher purpose to the workplace can be a challenge. But the truth is it can revolutionize the culture of your workplace in the most positive way possible. It all comes back to Zig Ziglar’s most famous quote. Do you remember what it is?
• Want to know how you can change who you are and where you’re going? We go back to Zig Ziglar for another quote. Mark recalls how it changed him from the age of 15, and how he wore out the cassette tapes.
• Mark admits that his success at work made him wonder why he was so terrible at being a husband and wife. How could he grow, sell, and manage huge businesses but not be able to do the simple task of being the man he needed to be at home. Find out what question he asked that changed everything.
• Kevin draws out the mentality of working parents that strangles them. It’s clear with Leave it to Beaver all the way through pop culture today that we aren’t treating our family as the most important business we’re a part of. Remember: if you aren’t leading your family, then someone or something else IS.
• It’s okay if you’ve gotten it wrong a lot more than you’ve gotten it right. The only mistake you can make is to do nothing and say it’s too late. And in your moments of greatest vulnerability, your loved ones will see you at your greatest strength.

Make sure to subscribe on iTunes to get all new episodes as soon as they are released! You can read the blog post where we examined the concept of Being CEO of Your Family in More detail, and you can join the Higher Purpose Facebook Community to join us for our discussion about the values that matter as a family this coming Thursday.Interested in the Seven Day Challenge? Go here!

HPP Episodes 1-3 - Join the Purpose Revolution

Welcome to the Higher Purpose Podcast! Here you'll find the first three episodes of the show - and you can read all about the 7 people challenge

Episode 1: Welcome to the Higher Purpose Podcast

Have you ever felt a disconnect between your work and your values? Or that your pursuits, even the successful ones, aren’t fulfilling you the way you imagined? If so, this podcast is for you. In today’s episode, Kevin Monroe talks about his own unusual search for purpose, and why he’s so determined for this podcast to serve you.Listen to the Episode now:

Episode 2: What is the Higher Purpose Podcast?

It’s tempting to jump right into the amazing amounts of content Kevin has in store for you, like the frameworks he’s developed for purpose along with incredible guest interviews, but there’s something we need to look at first. How will this podcast serve you well? Today, Kevin talks about the cornerstone that will guide the journey of this podcast.

• Purpose is everywhere you turn these days, especially purpose-driven leadership. But did you know that living with purpose can affect not just your mental wellbeing, but also your physical health?
• Kevin discusses why he chooses the guests he does: less than 20% of business leaders work with purpose, and of those, only a small handful can articulate it. Those are the people who Kevin has lined up.
• People often talk about purpose, but when the conversation is turned to higher For some, it takes an interesting turn. They ask, ‘are you one of them?’
• Do you believe that the quest for purpose is limited to the younger generation? Think again. There is no discrimination: not age, generation, time period, background, faith, and anything else.
• Remember when there were just three channels on the TV? In our lifetime today, we have the world at our fingertips. Entertainment, possessions, fine foods, and more; power, prestige, monetary success… our lives are filled but not fulfilled.
• Even Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg knows that purpose is about being connected to something greater than yourself.
• Money, success, and other rewards: these are not the goal. They are the by-product of the true goal, which is fulfilling your purpose. Learn what the ‘economy of purpose’ is, and why it matters to you.
• There is more to this life, than this life. Don’t fall for the lie that this life is all there is.

Become a part of the Higher Purpose community on Facebook! We’d also appreciate it if you subscribe to the podcast. If you can think of someone this podcast can help, share it with them! Until next week, think about your why. Your higher purpose.Listen to the Episode now:

Episode 3: The Seven People You Meet on Your Path to Purpose

We've got a whole blog post talking about the idea of the 7 people - so listen to the episode, then learn more by Joining the Purpose Revolution! (That's where you'll find the worksheet, too!) I hope you enjoyed the launch episodes of the Higher Purpose Podcast! If  you have an idea for a show topic or a guest, email Kevin personally at Kevin@HigherPurposePodcast.com, or leave a comment below!