by: Agent Kevin Miller

NOTE: This is a fairly long, intense, controversial message on convictions. The purpose being that convictions are a PRIMARY, necessary ingredient of most successfully self-employed people. If you can handle the personal, invasive nature of what I’m posing below, you’ll come out with possibly THE KEY…for your free agency.

Ready?

This past weekend I had the fortune to spend three days with 15 guys, all fervently pursuing the calling God has on their lives. Defined by…as our lead guide Gary Barkalow (www.TheNobleHeart.com) says, “The affect of who you are on others.” Or paraphrased by me for the sake of this post…how you uniquely impact, influence and serve others. What your heart is for people.

I facilitated one session of the event and felt led to focus on ‘convictions.’ Getting people to have and communicate their convictions…is one of my…convictions. Part of my calling actually. So, here is a quick case for, and a request for…convictions:

A Case For Convictions

DEFINED
Let’s define it really quick – conviction: a fixed or firm belief

Get that? It’s a BELIEF. Not a salvation issue. Not an absolute truth. Not a right or wrong. And in such, there is no place for self-righteousness. My feeling that you should not jump off the roof of my house is not really a conviction (belief), it’s absolute truth. Gravity. If you jump into a pool, getting wet is not a belief, it’s a fact. A truth. As a believer in the Bible, Christ claims He is the Son of God and salvation is through Him. It’s a truth you either accept or reject. No middle ground. Thus it doesn’t fall into mere belief or ‘conviction’.

It’s also not PERSONAL TASTE or OPINION. I live in an area where it doesn’t rain much, because I don’t like rain. No belief or soapbox. I don’t drink beer because I don’t like the taste. I wish I did actually. But…I don’t. Just me, nothing more. I prefer wood furnishing over metal. I have nothing invested in this, it’s just something I like and choose.

POISONED
In our culture today, the only thing people stand for is…nothing. To have a belief, value, soapbox and conviction on anything personally and to share it is viewed as intolerant, narrow-minded, naive, self-righteous, judgmental…

Much of the reason is that convictions have been abused by people with a heart for themselves more than for others. Last night while on a date with my wife Teri in downtown Colorado Springs, there was a street menace preacher. Some poor soul on a street corner loudly speaking things of God and faith. It was abhorrent. And the truth is, he wasn’t ‘preaching’ to serve God or anyone around. He was doing it for himself. He was serving his own desire and errant attempt to earn a star in his heavenly cap or pay his penance. I don’t know which, but it was one of the saddest things I’ve seen in a long time.

Point being, he had a conviction to make a joke of himself on a street corner and the purpose was NOT to serve others. It was to serve himself.

Second problem, we have two cultures of the dreaded self-righteous that have done near irreparable harm to convictions:

• The church
• The enlightened

The church. ‘Christians’. I don’t think I need to dive into that dead sea to make my point. Self-righteousness flourishes and is as far removed from the Christ they claim to serve than a hotdog is from the next bunch.

The ‘enlightened’. These are the main critics of the former group, and just as abounding in self-righteousness in their intellect and self-realization. These folks eat healthy, live clean, have a wealth of knowledge on many subjects, well educated, affluent, question the norm…

They are both sickening in their own right and I sadly fit into BOTH groups. Their arrogance and misused authority are the primary poisons that have destroyed the beauty and necessity of true convictions.

Again folks, I have been a primary perpetrator of self-righteousness, and I’m ashamed of it. My wife was the second woman I respected who flat out, in sincerity, said I was an, and I quote, “Arrogant ass.” There is just no good way of looking at that. I apologize to all who I’ve poisoned during my 40 years. And I’m still not totally free from my tendency toward AAness.

OFFENSIVE
Convictions WILL step on toes, because they do in essence force you to state a claim for what you believe to be healthier and against what you believe to be unhealthy, and you undoubtedly have folks who believe in what you see as unhealthy. That’s the rub. To have a conviction that can help someone, you have to risk offending someone. I believe TV is overall unhealthy. Point blank, end of story. I love a great story, I like to be entertained, I have 7 kids that would enjoy it. But, we’ve never had TV, never will and we maybe watch one movie per week. I believe it’s best to be a character in life, not a spectator. And I don’t want media pumped into and influencing my home. Now there you go. Some will read this, it will CONVICT them, and they’ll lessen their TV watching to get rid of their TV. They’ll spend more time with family and working on their dreams and exercising and choosing activities that are healthier. Others will feel offended, judged, guilty…

That’s just the nature. But you can’t help some, if you don’t offend others. I wish it were easier, but it’s not. So stay safe and ineffective, or be dangerous and of worth.

Remember that guy…Jesus Christ? He spent his ministry sharing His convictions. It saved people. And got Him killed. You can’t do this safely. So what are you called to? Saving your own butt and keeping it clean? Are you a Christian and you nod your head in church when they speak of ‘persecution’ and say you’d die for your faith? You wouldn’t deny your Lord even if threatened with death? What if Christ has called you to share a conviction in an effort to help another? What if it doesn’t go well and you are persecuted? Hmmm….

Though you can help the persecution with this:

LET THEM KNOW YOU CARE
Everyone’s heard it, “People don’t care how much [or what] you know, till the know how much you care.” If you take your conviction and hit people over the head right away like the dreaded street preacher I mentioned, you’re pissin’ in the wind. Don’t bother. You have to do the work of proving your care for someone before your convictions will have merit. Which again is what dilutes the efforts of the 3 Musketeers I mentioned above; the ‘self-serving’, the ‘church’ and the ‘enlightened.’

You share convictions to serve, and you do it out of love.

NECESSARY
Convictions are necessary and glorious. They are needed more than the air we breath. Show me a movement that made the world a better place and gave health to the unhealthy, and I’ll show you one person who stood on that conviction out of a true heart to serve and love others.

True convictions are communicated and offered with a heart to serve and love. To as I said above, bring health to something unhealthy. Again, don’t get hung up on right or wrong or ‘sin’ or salvation.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITY
You have experienced mistakes in your life. You have regrets (or at least you should). You have had an unhealthy area that you became aware of, got counsel on (probably at the hand of someone else’s convictions) and became healthy in. And it’s a huge freakin’ deal! You might have been killing yourself with your diet, you changed it and found healing and new life, and now you have great value to offer someone else who is killing themselves!!

To be in the presence of a person suffering as you were, and keep what you were gifted with to yourself, is akin to being an accomplice to suicide. That’s not an exaggeration. Dwell on it a minute. And again, I’ll own up to my own admission. I’ve seen couples first hand who were killing their marriages with obvious acts of unhealth, where I had been given an gift of awareness, and I said nothing. NOTHING! Why? I LOVED MYSELF MORE THAN I DID THEM. That’s not a belief, that’s absolute truth. I didn’t want them to offend and possibly have ill feelings toward…ME.

How often do we have knowledge that we know could help, and we let folks to straight to hell-in-a-handbasket because we’re too damn pansy to risk an offense. “Hey, Bart is now divorced/in prison/dead, but at least I didn’t say anything offensive and that would possibly have made him upset with ME/ME/ME/ME!”

Isn’t that what we do as a culture? Isn’t that what you do every day? Yeah, me too. Disgusting isn’t it?!

Again, it doesn’t mean you mouth off at every chance you get. You don’t rape people with your convictions. You woo them.

BOLD
Convictions must be communicated boldly and confidently to take root. Not loudly or obnoxiously. It can be quiet and firm. And it should have at least a hint of humility as fertilizer for it to flourish. I can boldly communicate my convictions on nutrition and against the American diet, even as I attest to my own journey and struggle and failing. But it’s not a place for timidity or wishy-washyness. It will merely skip off the surface like a flat stone thrown over water.

KEY TO FREE AGENCY

Go look at your bookshelf, the nonfiction books you think are just killer. Go look at your DVD collection of favorite movies and those that inspire you. Go read Fast Company or Inc. or Entreprenuer magazine that touts all the rock star businesses.

What you’ll find at the heart is…a conviction. A belief.

Yet here go most folks who want to do something great and worthy, be self-employed and free, and they are looking for an opportunity.

They’re looking in the wrong place!

Look to your convictions. We can take your conviction and MAKE an opportunity. A conviction is the fuel that will overcome ANY obstacle put in your way and truly serve others. I’m typing in my office on the second floor of my straw bale house that consists of probably 50 supposed truths that many wise people cited and told me my way WOULD NOT WORK. My convictions saw me through and here I sit.

Again, a conviction is a belief that commits you and can serve people. ‘Serve’ being the operative word. If you are think that ear rings in men are wrong, there is really no serving in there. That’s merely personal taste and opinion. Some of my uber conservative Christian brethren would like to say it’s a sin to pierce ones self. If so, go back up to the definition. They are then stating a supposed truth. Conviction is personal belief in something…healthier. And for the record, my wife thinks my ear ring is sexy, so I’m wearing it. If she thought a sideways ear-to-ear mohawk was sexy, I’d be running to the barber (that’s one of MY convictions).

YOUR CHARGE: GROW SOME COJONES & SPEAK. NOW
SO…right now, let’s do something together. Speak a conviction. Speak 10. I’m pretty sure that many of you have a list of convictions that you live out as a part of your life and your families. But you may have believed them to be ‘personal’ because you didn’t want to ‘judge.’

If you keep your knowledge from me, you are robbing me. And DON’T JUDGE! Be humble and compassionate and caring. And resolute.

Do it out of your care for others, but I’ll affirm that your free agency might very well be riding on this exercise right here.

Remember, you do it in love, but with absolute understanding that you WILL step on toes. As a matter of fact, I’m not posting my own list in the comments until someone steps on my toes!

Note: If you sit back and realize you don’t have any convictions, you are in unfortunate, but good company. Having and sharing convictions is not the norm anymore. Wait as the comments come in here and see if any light a fire under you.

Ready…set…go!

[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/freeagent/FreeAgentUnderground092711_IDareYouToPostAConviction.mp3]

Right-click here to download the episode or listen on your mobile device

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Filed Under: All TPMN Episodes, Free Agent Underground Show, Uncategorized

by: Agent Kevin Miller

by: Agent Kevin Miller

One of my dearest friends on the planet, spiritual mentors and a guy who convicts me, is Ronnie Freeman. I did a really great interview with him recently on Free Agency that I’ll post when I get around to it…

If you listen to the podcast, his song “Break Away” is the intro and outro.

Anyway, he has a great song called “If You Believe.” My wife says it came from a rant I went on with Ronnie one day on the front porch. Maybe so. But the first line in the song says, “If you believe it’s really gonna rain today, where’s your umbrella…are you gonna roll the windows up?”

We really DO what we believe in. What we place our faith in. If we don’t do something, then we don’t really believe. We usually blow it off as a ‘lack of faith.’ But truly, I think that’s a false perception. An atheist does not lack faith at all. They have HUGE faith…just not in a G-O-D. But in something else.

So with work and life, let’s look at it. Jack will be our character. Jack has a desk job at a mid size company. He commutes 45 minutes to work, so he only has time for a brief kiss on the head to each kid before he’s off. Work is not terrible, but it’s no secret he’s there to earn an income, that’s it. He’s good at what he does, but doesn’t feel it serves any grand purpose other than some sense of achievement (pat on the back) and reward (money and status). It consumes the majority of his life. By the time he’s headed home, there is little time to fully plug in past the urgent things. He’s further and further out of touch with the context of his wife and kid’s lives. And this…bothers him. More and more all the time, though it’s not overly acute.

He’s thought about going after some of the things that really inspire him and give him meaning. But even the thought of pursuing something or investing in some initial steps feels daunting and overwhelming and lonely. He’s succumbed to the reality that he just doesn’t have enough faith

The truth is, Jake has plenty of faith, and it’s in the perceived security of his life. He places his faith in that each and every day with his actions. Frederick Buechner says that if you want to see what someone believes…just watch where their feet take them.

Here is a Facebook discussion page where I posted this question:
“What are life values that you would like to make more of a priority? That…if circumstances allowed, you’d commit more to? Such as…more involvement in family (spouse/kids/other), more attention to personal health and wellness, pursuing an increased spiritual life, helping and serving humanity in some way, etc…”
– read all the responses here

‘Jake’ has faith in his job and that it is something he should be grateful for. He has faith in his finances….as long as the job continues he’s paying the bills and money isn’t tight. Some is going into a retirement fund that he feels he will have to rely on. If he lost his job, he’s pretty confident he’d get a severance package that would tide him over till he found a comparable job with another company. He has faith that his kids are growing up like most kids, without their Father as the primary caregiver, but they’ll be OK. Similarly he and his wife spend about as much time involved in each other’s lives as most couples he knows and he has faith in that.

So ultimately, he has placed his faith in the norm and the culture. Which is perfectly logical! We were born into this culture and the culture supports itself in it’s mutual, unified acceptance.

Just as an atheist has placed their faith in The Big Bang Theory; that a great explosion took place in space and ultimately gave us the world we know today that works with incredible design and accuracy. Which in essence is like saying, “I believe a tornado could pass over a salvage yard and launch out a completed 747 airplane, intact, engine on, coffee burning, pillows fluffed and in flight!” That’s more faith than I have…my lesser faith will go with the Big Guy in the sky…

Jack has in essence said, “I believe the outcome of life as we know it will turn out OK, and that’s where I’m placing my faith, by choosing to continue and participate in the same actions day after day.”

Choosing to do differently, is placing that faith elsewhere. In another belief system. One that puts values, purpose, meaning, service, legacy, balance, wellness and relationships at a premium. The faith in culture, Jack’s faith, risks these things. A new faith in values, purpose, meaning, service, legacy, balance, wellness and relationships will possibly risk the perceived security and consistency of Jack’s faith, AND…will drastically rock the boat of the norm.

But imagine fisherman who head out to sea to catch big fish. The sea may be rough with risk of storms and hardship, but…catch one big fish, and they can head home sooner and stay home longer! However, little by little they gravitate to calmer waters. They only catch smaller fish, which means it takes most of the day to catch enough fish to sustain their families. The lack of waves keep them from working so hard, but over time they become weaker and less frail from working out their muscles. Their sense of risk and adventure and triumph has lessoned too, and many of the men are becoming despondent and seeking out hard drink, carousing with women and mind-numbing entertainment in an effort for some adrenaline.

You get the picture, eh?

But come on, think about it? We do, what we believe in.

YOU…are doing…what you believe in. Does that sicken you like it does me? To put it that way?

“I’m putting my faith and belief in that freakin’ donut?” Oh man, that’s harsh.

What do you believe in? State it, then do it. What else is there?

[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/freeagent/FreeAgentUnderground092011_LetsBeHonestItsWhatYouBelieve.mp3]

Right-click here to download the episode or listen on your mobile device

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– Call in feedback to 615-200-TAKE (8253)

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– Leave a comment by clicking on the title of this episode and looking at the bottom of the page.

by: Agent Kevin Miller

People with the thought of being self-employed often begin by looking at ‘good opportunities’ out in the market.

“Hmmm…now what is a good online opportunity where I can make money while working from home?”

OR

“What’s a turnkey business (franchise) that I can buy that will pretty much guarantee a decent level of success and quick revenue?”

Sure, they might have some thought to what they know about and like a bit, and try to match that up, but it’s just a side item to what will make money and not be to hard and complex or RISKY.

We come by this naturally, as kids fresh out of college are bred to find a ‘nice job’ or a ‘cushy job’ with sights on a corner office, nice perks, benefits, flex hours and maybe good Christmas bonuses and a wealth of vacation days. Risk and purpose are absent.

Yet here is the bold-faced truth. The vast majority of self-employed people who have succeeded in achieving a business that:

• Supports their lifestyle values,
• Is sustainable and consistent,
• Creates an abundance of money,
• They stick with long term (and pass down to their kids),
• They feel has a beneficial purpose to people,
• They continue to work in even after they no longer need the income from it,

…did NOT begin by looking for an opportunity.

What they did have, or grow into, was this. The ultimate, no-fail franchise:

Calling – they felt an overly strong desire and need for freedom in some area, and saw self-employment as the best vehicle to allow for it. They were usually more frustrated than most at the confines and realities of being an ’employee.’ They had desires and beliefs that superseded committing to ‘the grind’ and merely existing and enabled some risk. Bottom line, they felt called to more. Which is ultimately a result of knowing themselves better than most…being in tune with who they are.

Conviction – that calling become more than a ‘luxury’ or ‘option A’ or even ‘long term goal’. It became a necessity that trumped ‘conventional wisdom’ (definition of conventional is ‘conforming or adhering to accepted standards’). Something gave them faith in the endeavor and it went from “Maybe I should/could” to “I must.” I’m sure you have convictions in your life that you’ve taken action on. At some point you decided to actually get married, or buy a house, or lose weight, or make a drastic move or life change. Something caused you to go from thinking about it and pondering it, to committing and DOING it. Regardless. I did a show on this yesterday after posting a Facebook discussion on “What convicted you?“

Commitment – they took action without a fall-back plan or easy out. They didn’t spend time looking back, and they didn’t just dip their toe in the water and ‘try it out’. They believed, and they went forth. They revised and changed course along the way. They may have even had a catastrophic failure along the way. But you don’t ultimately quit on a conviction. If it’s important enough and you have faith enough…you persevere and do whatever it takes. If a loved one is in trouble on the other side of the world, you’ll fly, float, swim, walk, hike, bike and crawl to get to them. A flat tire or blown engine or broken leg won’t cause you to question the conviction, eh?!

Counsel – they didn’t go it alone. There was a mentor or teacher or partner in the mix. Ask any ‘successful’ free agent if they did it all on their own, and you’ll get a hearty, “Oh wow…no way. I depended on _________ and ________” and they’ll give you their list. But generally a key person or few that were more than a wall to bounce things off of, but were invested to a good degree.

Community – beyond specific counsel, they have a group of fellow free agents that they commune with. Find a free agent at lunch with a group, and chances are 95% it will be with other free agents. Why? They live a different lifestyle, very counter cultural, and tend to flock together. They strengthen and encourage and help each other. They trade info on what’s working and what’s not. And they started hanging with that community right away, not after the fact. They needed the lifeline and nobody else understood the perspective.

So there you go, the five pillars of your no-fail franchise opportunity.

The good news is that it’s available for everyone and anyone.

Who.

Chooses.

To.

Believe.

Believe in themselves, the end game, and that there is and should be and must be…something better than the norm.

The other good news, is that it will cost you. Why is that good? Because we don’t ultimately value what we doesn’t cost us, and you have it within you to pay the price for this. We all, ultimately DO…what we BELIEVE IN. If you don’t like your current circumstance but are daily agreeing to it and not pursuing something more (even on the side), then you prove that you ultimately believe in what you have now. Yes?

So…feel like you want to believe in something better and truer? Do something about it. If you buy the above franchise, you can’t fail.

[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/freeagent/FreeAgentUnderground081611_TheOneNoFailFranchiseOpportunity.mp3]
Right-click here to download the episode or listen on your mobile device

If you have some thoughts on this episode you can:
– Call in feedback to 615-200-TAKE (8253)
– Email me at [email protected].
– Leave a comment by clicking on the title of this episode and looking at the bottom of the page.