Your Purpose is Always With You So Focus on Your Message w/Jonathan Milligan

00:00:00,820 [jennifer_francis]: Today,speaking with Jonathan Milligan, he is an author, a blogger and an online business coach. Hi Jonathan, Thank you for being here.00:00:11[jonathan_milligan]: Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.00:00:15 [jennifer_francis]: now you're an author. Currently you have a book called Your Message matters, How to rise above the noise and get paid for what you know. I don't want to start there because I'm familiar with your work and I learn to blog, reading your book and listening to it an audible. So, first of all, I want you to introduce yourself to the audience, so and tell me what you do for an audience what 00:00:56 [jonathan_milligan]: Sure. well, I appreciate you, have me. and uh, my story is that I started as a high school teacher and was looking at like what I wanted to do. Um, as my career. I wasn't quite sure. After a few years I went on a journey, to give you the short story, I started falling into this idea of being able to share the things I was passionate about online with all the technology, the the ability we have to share things that we were passionate about. I started with blogging and then I got into podcasting like you're doing here right now. And yeah, I just started sharing things that Um, I was passionate about and started building an audience around that and eventually started learning how I could actually earn money around the things that I was passion about. And so today that's what I, I get to do. I help people who. Maybe they want more freedom. Maybe they want a uh lifestyle that allows them to work from anywhere and learn how to help people across any kind of topic or niche. 00:02:04 [jennifer_francis]: Mhm.00:02:04 [jonathan_milligan]: So that's what we do. 00:02:07 [jennifer_francis]: Okay, I'm thank you for sharing, and one of our biggest. one of the biggest lessons I like to impart is that we all have a passion and we all have a purpose, but sometimes we are looking for, we looking for it. So some a wise woman told me that Wes in purpose. Can you explain that because I know you know that 00:02:35 [jonathan_milligan]: Yeah, so this was a big aha for me. I, I mentioned earlier that I was a high school teacher. Both my parents were educators. And so it's it's [jonathan_milligan]: natural for a kid to fall into what his what your parents do. 00:02:48 [jennifer_francis]: Mhm, 00:02:48 [jonathan_milligan]: But after a couple of years I realized that I just didn't know if it was like the perfect fit for me. I, I love the kids, but I wanted to do something more entrepreneurial. and so I. I went on a journey to ▁quote, find my purpose and tried a bunch of different things, And then I came across the concept Like you talked about that. Actually, your purpose is always with you, And what that means is that your purpose is how you were created. All of us have unique gifts and abilities and value. Sometimes we don't think we do, but it's it's buried down there somewhere and if we take a moment to start looking inside as opposed to out there, that's when we can begin to connect what our our real purposes. And so for me I was looking for my purpose and a job, a title, a position, a career. And what I ▁ultimately discovered was my purpose was with me all along. All I had to do was do the work of trying to 00:03:54 [jonathan_milligan]: uncover what was unique about me that I could use to help other people. 00:04:00 [jennifer_francis]: right, right, and would you agree that part of that purpose Um is serving where you are? 00:04:09 [jonathan_milligan]: a hundred percent. It's my mom used to tell me when I was a kid, and even [jonathan_milligan]: as I became an adult, she said, Learn to bloom where you're planted. That's a place to start. Is deciding that you can help write where you are right now, regardless of your situation, regardless of how busy you are. You know, we all can be busy at times, 00:04:31 [jennifer_francis]: Mhm. 00:04:31 [jonathan_milligan]: Um, especially if we've got. We've got kids, or we've got people that were, were, um, helping and family, and just everything that's going on. You can still serve others right where you are. Yes, for sure. all right, So I'm going to let you spend some time talking 00:04:48 [jennifer_francis]: about your book and tell me about it. Tell me why you thought that it was necessary to write this book and I do. It's absolutely necessary. I havebeen through it like it's a textbook. so tell us about it. 00:05:03 [jonathan_milligan]: Yeah, so I wanted to write a book that was an encouragement to people And the this book is not just a marketing book. There's lots of marketing books out there, and yes, there are some tips for people if they want to learn. How can I turn my passion into a business? There are some tips in there, but the first half of the book is really about taking you where you are right now, taking someone who says I don't know what I have to offer. I don't know if I have any value to bring anyone. I don't know if I have any gifts. I don't know if I have a message, but I know I have this desire to do something and it's designed to help them walk through a framework that I like to teach to help them uncover what their message or their passion can be. And so that's the first half of the book And it's why it's titled. Your message matters Because I want someone to know whether you're a dad, you're a single mom, whether you're a blended family, whether uh, you're an executive, It doesn't matter where you're at, You have a gift. You have a gift that needs to be shared with others. Especially in those that are around you. It's a great place to start. And so that's what the book is about Is helping you first identify that. Then the second half of the book is okay. How could we use some of what we have available to us today? Just like we're having a conversation right now and we're miles apart from each other, Yet we're able to connect and collaborate together and have this conversation. All of us have that opportunity that didn't exist twenty years ago to maybe blog if we want to write, or we could podcast if we want to share, or we could start uh videos. if we want to do a Youtube channel. All those things are at our We have the ability to do that today and I just want to be an encouragement in share with people that you can make a difference, serve others and make an impact with the gifts that you have. 00:07:09 [jennifer_francis]: Okay, thank you and two things. One is a lot of time. We’re very fearful of… it took me six years to start the spots because I was scared. it wasn't that I didn't know how to. I would just scared. And then the second thing you, I was listening to your podcast Actually today and you mentioned something about being a farmer. 00:07:32 [jonathan_milligan]: Hm, 00:07:33 [jennifer_francis]: Can you explain those? Can you talk about those two things? Fear...imposter syndrome and being a farmer? 00:07:42 [jonathan_milligan]: yes, and this was why I was passionate to do the book in the first place. Because what I realized was it wasn't always the know how. How that was stopping people from getting started. It was that belief that I don't know if I can do this. I don't feel like I'm an expected anything. I don't feel like. who am I? I don't even have my own life together. How am I going to do this? And so the first part of the book really dives into why your message matters and helping you understand that. But um, I talk about two things in the beginning of the book. One is something that I label Present Courage and everybody you admire. you can trace their story back to a moment of present courage. We could trace your uh journey back to that moment where you finally said. You know what? After thinking about this for so long, No, it's not going to be perfect, but I'm going to start a podgs 'cause I want to help people and you're helping people. your listeners are are being helped by you because you took that moment of present courage. And that's something that I think we need to acknowledge Is that there are people waiting for us that need our help, but they're waiting for us to take that moment of courage. So that's number one. Number two is you should look at this journey like a farmer, and the illustration I give is that a farmer, let's say a brand new farmer buys a brand new field and he starts ploughing his field. He e, he : spends all day planting his seed. He goes to bed tired that night, but he goes bed excited about what could potentially be a harvest right, and so he wakes up the next morning, rushes over to the window, pulls back the blinds. The curtains looks out there and it looks exactly the same as it did the day before, and that farmer says. See, I knew I couldn't be a good farmer. Now we know that that story is ridiculous, right 00:09:41 [jennifer_francis]: Mhm,because it takes a while for a farmer to get a harvest. But for us when 00:09:47 [jonathan_milligan]: we start a new podcast or we start a blog, or we start helping people, and we feel like we. we're not making a difference. We need to measure our actions instead of our results. Just like a farmer, would a farmer waits until the fall in the harvest to 00:10:00 [jennifer_francis]: Mhm, Yeah, okay, Mhm. 00:10:04 [jonathan_milligan]: measure the results. Meanwhile he's taken action every day. 00:10:08 [jennifer_francis]: Yeah, Yes, I really do like that and it really gets into the matter as opposed to just get over your fear or you just do that, so ireciate that. So what is Jonathan grateful for today? 00:10:23 [jonathan_milligan]: I tell you, I, I'm a grateful for a lot of things. and boy, you know, the times we live in now we should be grateful for just another day. Um, it's it's been a trying time for lots of people. But the the things that I'm probably the most grateful for our, my family in the special moments that we have, and I think it's important if you have family members around you. It's so easy to take them for granted 00:10:51 [jennifer_francis]: Yeah, 00:10:51 [jonathan_milligan]: because we, we are, we just we live with the people all the time. You know, we can get um on each other's nerves. at times. sometimes we treat the people who are closest to us the worst because we feel like we can, and that's not always a good thing. And uh, I think what I'm more grateful for than anything are those simple moments like 00:11:14, [jennifer_francis]: Mhm. 00:11:15 [jonathan_milligan]: sitting in the backyard and seeing a sunset and having a conversation or sitting in the backyard and seeing a sunset and having a conversation or pulling out an old board game and spending the night away from T. V. pulling out an old board game and spending the night away from T. V. playing a board game with your family and laughing. It's like those are playing a board game with your family and laughing. It's like those are the things that I'm truly grateful for 00:11:28 the things that I'm truly grateful for 00:11:31 [jennifer_francis]: Yes, Yes, definitely thank you. All right, so could you tell us how we could get in touch with you? Um, you are a coach, an online business coach. So um, if you could tell us how we could get in touch with you and also mention your po cas, because I think it would be very helpful too. 00:11:48 [jonathan_milligan]: sure. So the podcast is the same name as the website. It's called Market Your Message, so you can find it at marketyourmessage.com you want to find out more about the book on Amazon, Most bookstores or you can go to yourmessagemattersbook.com For more info there, so those are the two places where you could find me. 00:12:12 [jennifer_francis]: Thank you and one piece of advice before you leave to a solo mo. Really struggling right now with what she may be a purpose, and I'm going to tell you why I ask you that I, a single mama, three boys. I had a very good job and I felt a calling to leave the job. I didn't know where I was going, someone who is just struggling, knowing they shouldn't be here, but be over there. 00:12:40 [jonathan_milligan]: Mm. Here's what I would say. Um, be gentle with yourself recognize this season you might be in. It depends on what age your kids are, If your kids are young and you aspire to do something aspirational. And yet you're working. You're managing your kids. You've got school. You got all these things. Just be gentle with yourself in the season of life you're in and recognize that each season of life brings its own challenges, but it also brings its own opportunities. And so you know, as your kids get older, My, my oldest is now in college, and my son is a senior and so we're we're. We're Um. In some ways it's like Oh, W, the kids grew up so fast, and and you can just look at the negative side of kids growing up and moving out, or you could also look at the positive inside and say what does this make possible? And so I think a good question is given the season I'm in. What does this right now make possible, 00:13:50 [jonathan_milligan]: and allowing yourself to to recognize that you can do something, but also be aware of the season that you're in, and and don't grow frustrated with yourself if you're just in a. Really busy time in your life right now. 00:14:06 [jennifer_francis]: Okay, thank you very much. Anything else? 00:14:11 [jonathan_milligan]: No, I just say thank you for letting me come and share and uh, I, I love that you're serving these solo moms. and um, it's It is a much needed area of just support and advice and help And I just want to say I'm so grateful for moms. and uh, you know, I am grateful for my mother. She still is very instrumental in my life talking to her all the time,

and that is a worthy occupation to be pouring into your kids. 00:14:45 [jennifer_francis]: Yes, thank you very much and thank you for coming. I really appreciate talking to you. 00:14:50 [jonathan_milligan]: Yeah, thanks for having me.