So, You Think You Don't Need a Purpose Fit™ Action Plan?

Feb 10 / Donald Jenkins, CEO, MPDC
In a November 2019 Inc. Magazine article, basketball icon Earvin “Magic” Johnson was cited for his decision to reject Nike’s shoe deal at the age of nineteen. Magic was the number one draft pick coming out of college, and all the shoe companies offered him money, but Nike offered him stocks. He stated, “I didn’t know about stock. I’m from the inner city. We don’t know about stocks.”

Since retiring, Magic has proven that he’s also a superstar in business by amassing a net worth of more than one billion. However, his shoe deal with Nike could have made him a multi-billionaire today.

Controlling Destiny

Magic’s story is a classic example of never saying no to a proposition until you’ve been educated about your objections. His decision to go with Converse seems to be the obvious choice and chances are that many people would have made the same decision under normal circumstances.  

However, his story also teaches a powerful lesson on controlling destiny. At the time, Nike was a startup trying to break into an already crowded shoe market. Major brands like Converse and Adidas were high-performing stocks which gave them liquid negotiating power.  

All Nike had was a design team who wanted to control the destiny of the company. Their ambition set the tone for how they existed outside of running shoes. With a rising talent by the name of Michael Jordan, they used the strength that comes from purpose to rescue the Nike brand and cement their dominance in the shoe industry.

In the world of Purpose Development Coaching™, Nike is known as a Purpose Fit™ brand because they proved that existence is what drives performance. Today, they are outperforming every shoe company in the world. Magic's decision about his destiny was based on the performance of well known brands, but Nike decided to control it's destiny with a vision to exist outside the running shoe market. 

Performance Coaching vs. Existence Coaching™

Performance coaching has been around for years, but we pioneered Existence Coaching™ as a more effective method for driving performance. Performance coaching is about metrics for achieving goals. However, Existence Coaching™ is about Purpose Management™ metrics, which are needed to rescue yourself with the strength that comes from purpose.

Before I knew Existence Coaching™ through research, it became an intricate part of my life after going through the crisis of ending a 20-year marriage that left me homeless, broke, and ready to give up on life. The pain from my crisis forced me to check out on my highest growth potential, which caused my performance to suffer each day.  

To get my performance back on track, I had to transition from crisis management to Purpose Management™ so I could rescue myself with the strength that comes from purpose. It was the only way to avoid the temptation of being defined by my circumstances and emotions. 

Looking back, I can see how my decision to add meaning to my existence gave me control over my destiny. Even though I was tempted to check out on life, engaging in Purpose Management™ helped me check in to my highest growth potential to avoid an epic failure in my performance. 

KEIs or KPIs

Controlling destiny is not a matter of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Destiny starts with decisions about Key Existence Indicators™ (KEIs). Performance indicators are actions measured over a specified time, but existence indicators are daily decisions to make the most out of time and growth potential. 
From sports to careers, KPIs are used to measure one's actions to achieve goals. However, without KEIs, the risk will be high for checking out on your highest growth potential, which undermines your actions to achieve at high levels.

My KEI experience inspired me to formulate a mantra that I live by today. I learned that the degree of success in the future is dependent on the degree of purpose in the moment. Performance indicators are important, but existence indicators control your degrees of purpose in the moment so you can increase your degrees of success in the future. 

If you think you don't need a Purpose Fit™ action plan - think again! Saying no is confining yourself to crisis management in six critical areas where existence and performance matter (See chart below). 
It's easy to see how KPIs matter for career endeavors, but useless when you are experiencing a crisis in one of the spokes. By default, the risk is high for crisis management to undermine your performance for each spoke of the wheel.

To prevent crisis management from derailing your performance, you need to be Purpose Fit™. It's the key to making the transition from crisis management to Purpose Management™ so you can use the strength that comes from purpose to rescue yourself out of a crisis. 

So, before you say no to creating a Purpose Fit™ action plan, please remember that moments are made with KPIs, but destinies are cemented with KEIs. I cemented my destiny to pioneer the Purpose Development™ industry when I added meaning to my existence in a crisis. The design team from Nike cemented the destiny of the brand when they crafted a plan to exist outside of running shoes.

At some point, you must decide whether you want to live a life of crisis management vs. Purpose Management™. When you forego the opportunity to create a Purpose Fit™ action plan, crisis management will be the life you choose. 
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