Scott Perry's Blog, page 24

Milena Regos - "Listen to what your heart wants to do."

Insight and inspiration for flying higher in the difference only you can make from guests who have appeared on Creative on Purpose Live.

This week's wisdom comes from a conversation with Milena Regos, founder of UNHUSTLE. Tune into the entire conversation here.

[Scott] "If there was just one final tip, quote, exercise, or piece of advice that you had for someone that, like you, would like to do work and live in a more alignment with their purpose, and do work that is more purposeful, what would you tell them?"

[MILENA] "Connect more with your heart and your soul and your body intelligence as opposed to spending all this time just in your head. You know?

And we do that by taking time to be alone. Spending time in nature. Moving, journaling, meditating, you know, whatever it is, just take it.

We are... We're overwhelmed with information and you can't come up with good ideas when you're constantly bombarded with information that half of it's not even relevant.

So just take some time to breathe and just listen to what your heart wants to do."

[SCOTT] "Love it, love it, love it, love it" 

Milena delivered a powerful call to action to stop conflating productivity with progress and to tap into your intuition. Are you heeding the call of your inner wisdom today?

Scott Perry, Chief Difference-Maker at Creative on Purpose.

(BTW, you can watch this and every other entire interview in the Creative on Purpose Broadcast Archive. To learn more and access for free, click here.)

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The Power of Transience

I don't know about you, but I spend waaaaayyyy too much time waiting. 

What about you? Do you spend too much time waiting? What are you waiting for?

If I'm honest, most of the time, I'm waiting for the "right time." Does that ring true for you too?

What's that about?

When is the "right time?"

If I'm really honest, what I'm actually doing when I'm waiting is hiding.

Hiding from what?

I'm hiding from my responsibility to step into my power and my ability to initiate and invest in developing my potential in the difference only I can make and serve others.

When is the right time? 

 "While we wait for life, life passes."—Seneca

Time is always passing. Letting it pass you by is a choice. Sometimes it's a healthy choice. We need time to rest, replenish, reflect, and refine.

But there's also a time to engage, enact, endeavor, and excel.

The inevitable passing of time ensures transience—that everything is impermanent and temporary (and that includes you and me).

Doesn't that mean that whatever we do with the time we have is, ultimately, of no consequence?

An alternative is that our time will end is at the heart of life's value. Any meaning your life has come from what you do with the time you have between exiting the womb and entering the tomb.

What time is it? The time is always now. Now is the time. Is time on your side? That depends on what you do with it.

Are you using time today or is it using you?

Scott Perry, Chief Difference-Maker at Creative on Purpose. 

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Are you lost?

Are you lost?

Your first response might be, "Of course not. I know just where I am. I'm [INSERT LOCATION HERE]."

But on a soul-level, your journey of becoming, defining where you are is more complicated.

If you're rethinking or nearing the end of your occupational or familial role, defining where you are (and where you want to go) can be really confusing, overwhelming, and fraught. It can make you feel lost, lonely, and insufficient.

If this is you, I want you to know, it's not your fault.

Most of us grow up in an educational system that provides a clear roadmap to a compulsory destination and demands compliance and conformity about how we travel there.

When we complete school, we enter the world of work where the expectations and rules of engagement are essentially the same. Do what you're told, stay on task, and don't ask questions or deviate from the norm.

Oh, and to ensure we don't come together to discuss and question these systems, they bake in competition. It's hard to collaborate and create a better way forward when we're trying to outsmart and outmaneuver each other.

The first mountain of our life's journey is all about the roadmap and external validation.

But what do you do when your occupational or family raising duties come to an end?

Enter confusion, overwhelm, and fraughtness. The first mountain doesn't provide a roadmap for where to go if you've fallen off or reached the summit.

Good news. There's a second mountain. A mountain that, if you choose to see and scale it, provides greater meaning and fulfillment. A mountain we climb in community and in service to something greater than ourselves.

But there's no roadmap to negotiate the second mountain. You need a compass, a guide, and fellow travelers.

Roadmaps demand obedience and direct you where others have been. A compass cultivates empowerment and earning confidence as you find your own way.

Taking a DIY approach to a second mountain journey is possible, but it's more efficient with a trusted guide. 

And an affiliation of fellow travelers makes the journey more effortless and enjoyable.

Are you lost? Maybe it's time to reconsider which mountain you want to climb and how to begin?

Scott Perry, Chief Difference-Maker at Creative on Purpose. 

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Saurabh Mithal - "You don't need a certificate."

Insight and inspiration for flying higher in the difference only you can make from guests who have appeared on Creative on Purpose Live.

This week's wisdom comes from a conversation with Saurabh Mithal, founder of Passionately Curious. Tune into the entire conversation here.

[Sauabh] "The first thing I would say is there is no age for you to change or to accept yourself. Whether you are 11 years old, 25 years old, 60 years old, 85 years old, it doesn't matter. So first thing, like, thinking it's too early or too late is just another way of that voice inside your head stopping you from doing what you want to do."

"The second thing is, you don't need a certificate, or a degree, or a course, or a curriculum, or anything to get started. If you feel you want to be a musician pick up the guitar, pick up the piano, start playing. If you want to be a writer, pick up the pen or get at the keyboard and start typing."

"Third thing, your family and friends are going to be the last people who will subscribe to your work, so don't try to show it to them and ask for validation. Build your own audience. Like, go to, if you are an avid book reader, go to bookstores and talk to people there."

"You will find your first 10 friends in places you hang out at and those 10 true fans will bring the 100, and those hundred will bring a thousand."

"But if you expect your family, and friends and your Instagram and LinkedIn audience to bring your ten true friends, that might be very difficult. And then do whatever doesn't kill you."

"Like if it doesn't kill you, just do it. Take a workshop. Start a podcast. Write your blog. Write your book. Join Akimbo, and, yeah!" 

Saurabh delivered three powerful ways you can begin. How might you act as if and "born ready" today?

Scott Perry, Chief Difference-Maker at Creative on Purpose.

(BTW, you can watch this and every other entire interview in the Creative on Purpose Broadcast Archive. To learn more and access for free, click here.)

If this resonates, please share it with a friend!

Have you forgotten the journey?

I was introduced to Homer's Odyssey in the 7th grade. I read and reread it many times, captivated by the bravery and cunning of Odysseus and the fantastic trials he and his crew endured.

The story arc of The Odyssey follows the hero's journey. It's a tale about someone called to an adventure who undergoes a decisive crisis and returns home transformed.

Like other sagas that follow this template, it's a story of sacrifice, serving, and becoming.

A recurring theme in The Odyssey is perseverance in and remembrance of the journey—setting a generous and worthwhile intention and committing to it fully every day.

For the crew of the Odyssey, remembering and pursuing their goal is tested by several trials: capture at the hands of lotus-eaters, a battle with a cyclops, storms summoned by the gods, and seduction by sirens.

Is difference-making any different? Have you ever forgotten your journey? I know I have.

Sure, the hijacking of our intentions, attacks on our attention, source of our tempests, and cause of our distractions may not be as fantastic. But our journey of becoming is just as fraught.

What to do?

Remember the journey.

Difference-making is a commitment to making things better with and for people you care about and engaging in that endeavor with integrity and intention.

You may have noticed that the world we live in doesn't provide much training or support for this kind of work. 

That's why the difference-maker's journey requires the commitment and courage displayed by Odysseus illustrated in this line.

"I will stay with it and endure through suffering hardship, and once the heaving sea has shaken my raft to pieces, then I will swim."

But difference-makers must also cultivate curiosity, creativity, and community to help them solve interesting problems and lead worthwhile causes. 

There are other skills the heroic and thriving difference-maker must cultivate, but you get the idea. The difference-maker's journey requires learning and honing skills, mindsets, attitudes, and postures that aren't taught in school or on the job.

And that's part of the journey. See and step into your power to connect, lead, and make change happen. To heed the call of adventure and serve others by sharing the difference only you can make. 

Have you forgotten the journey? How can you get back on or stay the course today?

Scott Perry, Chief Difference-Maker at Creative on Purpose. 

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The Midwife of Your Potential

A mentor once told me that a coach turns on lights and opens doors for others.

That never really rang true for me.

Yes, a good coach (or teacher, or leader) helps you see what you don't see. A great one makes it impossible for you to unsee it. The best generously and empathetically amplify and leverage that tension to encourage you to take action and step into your potential.

But how do the best guides create and hold space that invites you to explore the edges of your understanding and ability with curiosity, courage, and commitment?

The maieutic method.*

You could also call it the Socratic method—a question-and-answer approach to self-discovery that unveils latent truths that reside within us.

The etymology of maieutics perhaps provides an even richer definition, "act as a midwife."

The best way to help others see, step into, stay in, and share their power isn't to tell them or show them how. You empower others most effectively when you witness, reflect, and invite them to recognize, embrace, and engage the power already within them.

The best teachers, coaches, leaders, and mentors don't turn on lights and open doors for you. They help you recognize that light switches and doorknobs are available and encourage you to find them.

Where do you seek empathetic antagonism? Who is the midwife of your potential?

* h/t to my LinkedIn pal Amara Rose for turning me on to this delicious word.

Scott Perry, Chief Difference-Maker at Creative on Purpose. 

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Let Your Life Speak

Have you ever been admonished? I sure have.

An admonition is a scolding. A signal that you're bumping up against expectations.

But an older meaning of admonition is to exhort—to strongly urge to a duty.

A good admonition reminds us that we've forgotten something important and true. A great admonition gives us no choice but to heed its call.

One of my favorite admonitions is the Quaker exhortation, "Let your life speak." It's a reminder to let your highest truths and values guide everything you do.

In his book, Let Your Life Speak, Parker J. Palmer reframes the Quaker idea as a call to vocation—a journey of self-discovery through service. An invitation to live your legacy and climb the second mountain.

For most of us, if we heed the call at all, the urge to ascend the second mountain of vocation (a journey of sacrifice and soul) comes well after we've spent significant time scrambling up the first mountain of occupation (a pursuit of status and stuff).

Which mountain are you on? Are you letting your life speak? Does what you do align with who you truly are? With what you're actually good at? And where you really belong? 

Heeding vocation's call is a daunting task, especially since we don't talk about values or vocation at school or on the job.

What to do?

If you're going to seek and scale the second mountain, you'll probably need a trusted guide and fellow travelers. Taking a DIY approach to second mountaineering makes an already fraught endeavor more so. Traveling in community ensures, at the very least, that the trek will be easier and more enjoyable.

Are you ready to let your life speak and live your legacy?

Here's a final admonition—don't die with the difference only you can make still inside.

Scott Perry, Chief Difference-Maker at Creative on Purpose. 

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Andrea Sampson - "Step into the idea you have."

Insight and inspiration for flying higher in the difference only you can make from guests who have appeared on Creative on Purpose Live.

This week's wisdom comes from a conversation with Andrea Sampson, founder of Talk Boutique. Tune into the entire conversation here.

[ANDREA] "We all have ideas that can create an impact in this world and we often don't take the time to articulate those ideas. We think they're not important or we think that somebody else has already done them or we think that that it's a small thing."

"But what I've come to know really, really clearly is that while there are so many things out there in the world that are already being done, each one of us has our own unique specific thing that we can offer, whatever that thing is, and to look at it differently. And that will help. That will help in a broader way."

"We don't always know the impact we create and we're not meant to. It's not really important that we know. It's important that you step into the idea that you have. And that is really who you are."

"Now, that's a big idea so what I want you to do is to make it smaller and just think about what is the topic that you want to impact and what is your unique 'how' in activating that. And then the 'why?' You're doing it. What is the purpose? What is the impact that you could create if you were to do that how with that what?"

"I  just kind of gave you a little bit of framework. We use this a lot with our speakers. It's a 'what, how, why' framework. But it starts with the 'what.' The topic goes to the 'how.' The process. That's you. That's all you. And then it ends with the 'why.'"

"And I thought that would be helpful for people to maybe just define the idea that they want to get out in the world and to take one or two steps towards it."

[SCOTT] "Love it. Define and deliver the difference only you can make. That's awesome.'" 

Andrea delivered a powerful call to embrace the uniqueness of how you do what you do and why you do it and take a small step into possibility with it. How might checking in with your idiosyncratic approach to the difference only you can make help you step into your potential with greater focus, boldness, and discipline today?

Scott Perry, Chief Difference-Maker at Creative on Purpose.

(BTW, you can watch this and every other entire interview in the Creative on Purpose Broadcast Archive. To learn more and access for free, click here.)

If this resonates, please share it with a friend!

The Antidote to Loneliness

 "The cure for loneliness is solitude."—Marianne Moore

How do you feel when you're alone?

Human beings are inherently social creatures. We need the presence of others as much as we need food, water, clean air, and protection from the elements.

Isolation, whether physical disconnection due to events like the pandemic or experiential due to our addiction to devices, is an obstacle to our flourishing.

Loneliness is the experience of lack that something is missing when we are alone. It doesn't feel good and can cause real distress.

But when we find ourselves alone, we can make a healthier choice—solitude.

Engaging deeply with yourself is an opportunity to reconnect with the awe and wonder of what it really means to be truly human and happy. Solitude is an invitation to remind yourself and embrace that you are sufficient and enough, even in your aloneness.

Loneliness depletes us and causes discontent. Solitude, on the other hand, replenishes and refreshes us. Even when external forces impose loneliness upon us, the gift of solitude is available.

To be sure, we each have different inborn temperaments and tolerances around how we feel when we are alone. However, we also have choices about which experience, loneliness or solitude, we want to encourage and practice.

Solitude is a time for deep reading, reflection, and presence. It's a courageous and intimate connection and conversation with yourself. 

Are you alone right now? How might you embrace and leverage this as a moment of solitude?

Scott Perry, Chief Difference-Maker at Creative on Purpose. 

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The Problem with Confidence

I used to think that confidence was something you either had or you didn't—something you were born with or weren't. And me? I had it. I was born ready.

In Latin class I learned that we get the word confidence from confidere which translates most directly as "with full (or intense) trust." For the Romans, to have confidence was to have a firm faith in others, of course, and having the same conviction in oneself. 

As someone with an inherently high level of belief in oneself, I soon discovered that an innate sense of confidence is both a blessing and a curse.

Sure it comes in handy when you're learning to ride a bike or make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But it's not so helpful when trying to advance in more involved or complicated activities like playing jazz guitar or navigating an intimate relationship.

In more technical and nuanced endeavors, what you think is confidence is more often pride or, worse, excessive pride. The ancient Greeks called this hubris, and it most often leads to what they called nemesis, an inevitable fall. This is where the Biblical proverb, "Pride goeth before a fall," comes from.

I've experienced the tick-tock of hubris and nemesis in my jazz guitar, intimate relationship, and most of my other life adventures. What about you?

If we're lucky or simply pay attention, we discover the antidotes to overconfidence—curiosity, and courage. A love of learning, solving puzzles, and embracing "not knowing" plus trusting yourself enough to lean in, find a way, and fail forward is a formula that leads to a happier and healthier relationship with confidence.

Regardless of your inherent levels of confidence, curiosity, and courage, each is a skill you can also develop through a daily discipline of practice. For advanced training, when you catch yourself being too certain and self-assured, stuck and hiding in a learning-not-doing cycle, or recklessly leaping into the unknown, think about which other skill will temper that instinct and weave it in.

Where could you stand to be half a shade more confident, curious, or courageous in your life and work? How about half a shade less? Now that you notice, how will you do it better?

Scott Perry, Chief Difference-Maker at Creative on Purpose. 

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