Scott Perry's Blog, page 26

Beth Fitzgerald - Your gifts are not for you.

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 executive coach and business strategist, Beth Fitzgerald. Tune into this entire conversation here.

[SCOTT "People that are tuning into this broadcast see themselves as difference makers. They either aspire to make a bigger difference in the world or they want to advance in the difference that only they can make.

If you had one parting piece of advice around influence to share with someone, what would that be? What would you do to encourage them to take a small, bold step into their potential and possiblity?"

[BETH] "That's a great question. I would say this. All of us have been gifted with a superpower, right? And so, whatever your gifts are, Scott, they're different than my gifts.

And so, however you view it, whether it's the universe, or a creator, or whatever, we all have our own gifts. But the important thing to know about those gifts is they aren't for you. All right?

They're not for you. They're for somebody else.

And so, if you never created this podcast, you would not be sharing your gifts with the world, right?

And me as well, you know, I have the same hesitation when I go to hit send on a post that I'm not completely loving. But I'm putting my gifts out there.

And so, I would say to anybody who's listening, you have super powers that you were gifted with. But they are not for you. They’re for the rest of the world. So, the rest of us who want your superpower so that you can share them with us.

I strongly encourage you to be brave. Face your fears. Walk into that uncertainty. Walk into the place where you do have influence and the power to influence others and bring that gift to us because we need it."

Beth delivered a powerful call to action to see, step into, and share your gifts. How might more fully embracing your super power help you influence the results you seek with and for those you serve?

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 Resolution Solution

I've been a personal development junkie since I was a young teenager. With a nagging sense that I could be and do more, I was drawn to self-help books, fantasy novels, and biographies of inventors and influencers. All provided promises, pathways, and programs for nurturing my potential.

And for a long time, I was a dyed-in-the-wool resolution fanatic. New year's resolutions, of course, but any start date would do. My birthday, the first of the month, any-old Monday, each was pregnant with possibility if I just started a new habit to pursue my desire to be and do more and better.

Alas, like many, my success rate with sticking to and achieving resolutions was abysmal. I often failed early, nurturing feelings of guilt, shame, and self-loathing.

What to do?

Rather than starting afresh at the start of any year, month, or week, I maintain my course based on my vision and mission. My current vision is co-creating a world where everyone can forge identity and find fulfillment through work that aligns who they are with what they do and where they belong. My mission is to leverage coaching and community as a compass to help people like you live your legacy.

I also find that setting aside time for weekly reflection and intention setting is helpful. At the beginning of each week, I do this as a "Monday on Purpose" exercise. I reflect on how well I accomplished what I set out to do the previous Monday and what I want to achieve by the beginning of the following week.

Finally, I create a decision-making measuring stick—three words against which I measure every decision to ensure I'm not getting lost or in my own way. My current words are:

Integrity - aligning who I am, what I do, and where I belong
Intention - make decisions with purpose, on purpose, for a purpose
Impact - enhance my life through endeavors that serve others

I'm not sharing this as a prescription. What works for me may well not work for you. My invitation is to craft a system or strategy for gaining traction and momentum in the difference only you can make.

We need your insight and inspiration to help us make things better.

Where are you now in your endeavor? Where do you want to be next week, month, or year? What routines and relationships will help you see and navigate the inevitable challenges that come with work that's worth your time, attention, and effort?

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

If this resonates, please share it with a friend!

Surrender

How are you?

There's abundant uncertainty in the world. What's your relationship with not knowing what's next? Have you considered surrender?

Surrender isn't giving up or giving in. Surrender is letting go of what was not yours in the first place.

What if, just for today, you let go of your expectations for the future and embraced what's going on right now with a little more curiosity?

What happens if, just for today, you try holding your assumptions and agendas a little more loosely?

What if, just for today, you engaged with yourself and those around you with a little more compassion?

What if, just for today, you accept both your personal relevance and cosmic insignificance?

What if, just for today, you practiced empathy, trust, and worthiness from the inside out?

How might surrender help reframe yourself, your situation, and what you decide to do next with and for those you're with?

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

If this resonates, please share it with a friend!

Fatima Kamenge - Where charity begins.

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 purpose driven innovator and trend analyst, Fatima Kamenge. Tune into this entire conversation here.

[SCOTT "If you only had one last idea to share with the folks that are wanting to have a little bit of a happier and healthier relationship with abundance what would that be?

[FATIMA] "Start with you. In French they say, 'La charité commence à la maison.' As in charity begins at home.

Start with giving yourself a little bit in a way that is without guilt, without shame, with abandon. Give to yourself in the way you would want the world to give to you. And once you build that muscle of receiving and also giving, in that practice, then take that and give the same way you give to yourself to others.

And there's a Christian thing about treat give unto others as you would give unto yourself, or something like that. It's in all religions.

You have to start by treating yourself well before you can learn to treat others well. So, yeah. "

[SCOTT] "I love it. Abundance, charity, and grace from the inside out."

Fatima delivered a powerful challenge—to treat yourself as you treat others. How might you start inverting the golden rule and start practicing empathy from the inside out 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!

Thankfulness

I've written before about the power of practicing gratitude—appreciation for the simple, everyday conveniences, experiences, and pleasures bestowed upon us.

Today, I'm more interested in thankfulness.

What's the difference?

Admittedly, not much. Most of us use these terms interchangeably.

And yet...

While both gratitude and thankfulness involve the experience of appreciation, thankfulness takes it one step further. Expressing that appreciation.

For me, gratitude is most often a singular and internal experience.

Thankfulness, on the other hand, is shared and external.

And these distinctions make all the difference.

Thankfulness is a way of being AND doing. Thankfulness connects. Thankfulness spreads.

Who can you share some thankfulness with today?

 

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

If this resonates, please share it with a friend!

The Gift of Presence

The life of a difference-maker is rewarding, for sure. It's also challenging. There are endless opportunities, distractions, interesting problems to solve, and connections to consider.

The irony is, how you lean into navigating these "challenge opportunities" is what makes the work we do so fulfilling.

How do you work on the inevitable problems that arise without letting them work on you?

Today I invite you to give yourself the gift of presence.

What does that mean?

Difference-makers like you and me are most often forward-facing and future-focused. We are generous (often to a fault) and frequently give until we give out.

Cultivating presence is about seeing and staying in the here and now while we engage in making change happen with and for those we serve.

How can you consciously invite moments of stillness and spaciousness into your daily efforts to make things better?

When do you pause and zoom out for a moment to bring some context and objectivity to doing the work? 

What do you do to hold space to refill your tank? A few minutes of box breathing? Meditation? Stretching? Body scanning?

A moment of presence reminds you that right now, in this very moment, everything about you, your situation, and those you find yourself with are perfect in every way. 

You serve others best when you serve yourself first. Serve from the inside out.

Check in with yourself right now. How are you doing? Give yourself the gift of presence.

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

If this resonates, please share it with a friend!

Michael O'Brien - What it takes to get there.

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 Michael O'Brien, Chief Calm Officer at Pause Breathe Reflect. Tune into this entire conversation here.

[Michael] "My message, I hope, is very relatable—that you can have complete success. That you can be the best version of who you can be.

You don't have to compare yourself to the famous people online. You can get there, and it doesn't have to take a near-death accident like I had or something else to make that happen.

So part of its vision. Part of its inspiration from a whole bunch of other people. And faith that I will get back up again, even if it's a bit of a wonky mess next week. You know, keep trying to take steps to prevent that from happening."

Michael delivered a powerful call to action that you can get there in your endeavor with vision, inspiration, and faith. What's your vision? Who's inspiring you today? How are you leveraging faith in what you're striving for?

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 what you just read resonated, please share it with a friend.

Enoughness

Many forces conspire against our inner-narrative about our own worthiness.

Sure, there are the expectations promoted by society and the media. And then there's indoctrination by institutionalized education and occupation. But there are also evolutionary and biological imperatives driving our feelings of inadequacy and insufficiency.

Human beings are programmed to embrace the status quo. We want to know where we stand and what's expected. It feels safe to fit in and stay put. Our social, political, and economic systems simply pull on levers already within us.

And yet...

We're also curious creatures with an instinct to explore and an impulse to collaborate and create. We forge meaning and build identity through working through problems and leaning into challenges.

How can you embrace both the need for the comfort of what is and the wanting of what could be?

Enoughness.

That you, your situation, and those around you are fine as you are does not negate your instinct to explore your potential and step into possibility with and for others. 

You are sufficient as you strive.

Gratitude for who you are and what you already have helps you embrace enoughness, cultivates presence, and reminds you of your integrity—your undivided wholeness. In the stillness and presence of your enoughness lies your power to choose the potential you wish to step into and whom to do that with and for.

How might embracing the fullness of your wholeness and enoughness right now help inform and inspire what you are building and who you are becoming?

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

If what you just read resonated, please share it with a friend.

How to Protect Your Most Valuable Assets

What are your most valuable assets?

For years, I believed my most valuable assets were external possessions like my car, home, and savings account.

It took a near-death experience to realize that the assets most valuable to me (or any other difference-maker) are internal—my time, attention, and effort.

That realization, and the impetus for it, made me rethink where I was spending my valuable time, attention, and effort. If I'm honest, I wasn't spending them wisely. If I'm really honest, I was spending my valuable time, attention, and effort as if they were limitless resources.

What about you? Where are you spending most of your time, attention, and effort?

To become more judicious about how, when, where, and with whom I was spending time, attention, and effort, I started establishing boundaries and guardrails for each. I got clear about what I do and what I don't. I also refined who I do work with and who I don't.

Instead of spending my time, attention, and effort, I began investing them.

Oh, I definitely still overspend and underinvest more often than I should, but I do so with far less frequency. And that has made all the difference. 

And here's the thing about treating an asset as an investment, its value is enhanced. You begin to do more of the right things with more of the right people. And this grows another vital asset for the advancing difference-maker, equanimity.

How might getting clear on spending vs. investing and establishing better boundaries and guardrails around your most valuable assets help you make a bigger difference?

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

If what you just read resonated, please share it with a friend.

Stacy Cassio on Collecting and Connecting the Dots

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 Stacy Cassio, Coach, founder and CEO of Pink Mentor Network. Tune into this entire conversation here.

[STACY] I have been a lifelong learner. And that is exactly how I got to this point in my life.

Connecting a lot of dots and every day, you know, finding more dots and then finding more ways to connect them.

So I love starting with the big questions because it challenges me to think bigger than this moment. Bigger than me.

And it actually, I think, has made my work more meaningful.

Stacy delivered a powerful call to action to not only collect dots but to connect them. What dots are you connecting 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 what you just read resonated, please share it with a friend.