Scott Perry's Blog, page 34

Stepping Into Possibility

Embrace Uncertainty • Navigate Adversity • Make Things Better

Stillness in the Storm

Life in the ancient world was full of adversity. If you lived to adulthood, you likely endured war, famine, plague, natural disaster, or some combination of these.

And yet…

In antiquity, there was a flowering of approaches to the art of living well and even flourishing while embracing uncertainty and navigating these difficulties.

One of the most enduring of those traditions is Stoicism. Within this tradition is pragmatic wisdom and a practical, straightforward approach to stave off anxiety, cultivate resilience, build identity, and find meaning in any challenge you face.

The Three Disciplines of Stoicism

Stoicism established three core practices or disciplines.

“The Discipline of Perception” has to do with how we see our situation and accepting our fate.
“The Discipline of Action” has to do with our attitude toward a moment and encourages altruism.
“The Discipline of Will” has to do with mindfulness and cultivation of character and virtue.

These disciplines provide an easy-to-understand template for executing the art of living well. For the Stoics, this included cultivating equanimity in any circumstance.

Modern psychology has adopted and adapted these disciplines and other Stoic ideas to help people overcome trials and trauma.

Marcus Aurelius, a Roman emperor who employed Stoic exercises to help him navigate the challenges of executing his duties, summed up the three disciplines in his journal this way.

“Objective judgment, now, at this very moment.

Unselfish action, now, at this very moment.

Willing acceptance—now, at this very moment—of all external events.

That’s all you need.”

Let’s employ the three disciplines to lean into a challenge you’re currently experiencing with clarity, compassion, and character. What’s a situation you’re in now that you’d like to step into with greater consideration and courage?

Ancient Wisdom for Navigating Modern Challenges

Work that matters is challenging. Stepping into possibility in endeavors that make a difference is fulfilling and fraught. Almost everything is beyond your control. Fortunately, you possess everything you need to thrive while you strive.

The process shared below is based on time-tested ancient wisdom and vetted by modern psychology, as mentioned above. It’s an approach that’s easy to understand, execute, and weave into the life you’re already living.

When you feel like life is happening to you, these disciplines remind you that life is happening through you and empower you to live your legacy.

Practicing the Disciplines

Step 1 - “What’s now?”

To navigate through a challenge, you must first acknowledge and accept what is happening now. This helps you avoid acting on unhealthy and unhelpful emotional reactions. State what’s going on without value judgment or strong emotive language to de-catastrophize situations.

Step 2 - “What’s next?”

Stepping into a better possibility with intention and integrity helps stave off anxiety while leaning into uncertainty. Decisions are not outcomes, but they can influence them. Unpack your choices. Define which is the most likely to move you into the possibility you’re aiming for and take the next smallest possible step into potential.

Step 3 - “What’s it for?”

You can find meaning in any moment and significance in any situation. We are inherently social and creative creatures born to work together to creatively solve challenging problems. Align who you are with what you do and work with and for others who share your values and need your talents to enhance their lives. 

Takeaway

Engaging your agency over your perception and actions develops excellence of character and cultivates the virtues of humility, patience, and resilience. This is how you build identity, forge meaning, and find fulfillment. Serve from the inside out.

This is a distilled process unpacked more fully in the Stepping Into Possibility Workshop and  Onward: Where Certainty Ends Possibility Begins.

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

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What is freedom really?

What is freedom?

I find this question difficult to answer. Many, including me, too often take freedom for granted. It's not just a privilege we enjoy. It's an entitlement promised by Declarations and protected by Constitutions.

And yet, many historically were (and still are) not allowed to partake of these freedoms.

Why is that?

While freedom and liberty are interchangeable terms, I wonder if teasing apart the distinctions might not help us get more precise about what freedom is (and is not)?

When we pair the word freedom with prepositions like from, to, and for, we are usually talking about rights. Freedom from want, freedom of speech, and freedom to assemble are examples. But these are really liberties promoted and protected by governments. They are rights that can be extended or taken away by others or institutions.

I think it's more helpful for difference-makers like you and me to think about freedom in its more personal and interpersonal applications. Here, freedom is less about rights, privileges, and entitlements and more about restraint, respect, and responsibility. While some argue that freedom is the ability to think, speak, and act without constraint, I wonder if this isn't freedom at all? It sounds more like self-indulgence.

Perhaps the antidote to this kind of freedom run amok is to understand that the freedom to explore and pursue our aims as individuals or groups should only extend as far as they can without impeding others' ability to do the same?

Isn't it possible that you are free to choose beliefs and activities that impede your pursuit of happiness?

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

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What I've Been Reading - Summer 2021

This article contains affiliate links. At no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase, Creative On Purpose receives a commission. Thank you!

Books are efficient and cost effective learning tools. They are my go-to source for inspiration and information in my endeavors. Here are four books that currently inform my journey in developing Creative On Purpose.

The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence, & Persuasion Through the Art of Storytelling, Annette Simmons

Practical insights and ideas that you can employ right away to make a bigger difference by telling better stories that connect with the right people. 

The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life, 20th Anniversary Edition, by Parker Palmer

We are all teachers. Parker's work provides insight and inspiration for transformative teaching done with intention and integrity.

The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self, by Martha Beck

Inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy, Beck takes readers on a journey of becoming happy, healthy, and whole through a process that's easy to navigate.

The Theater of War: What Ancient Tragedies Can Teach Us Today, by Bryan Doerries

Doerries shares a process for thriving through adversity by employing ancient stories that are relevant, counterintuitive, and timeless.

These four books, more than any other of the dozens I've recently read, have had the biggest impact on my journey in building the Creative On Purpose brand and developing and delivering on its promise to help others fly higher in endeavors that make a difference. You can find them and other helpful resources in the Creative On Purpose Bookstore.

Let's keep flying higher together!

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

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

Derek Sivers - "Say no to almost everything."

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 Derek Sivers, author of Everything You Want.

[Derek] "When you're overwhelmed, if you're spread too thin, if you've said yes to too much, the idea is you've got to raise the bar all the way up. And if anything that you're presented with is making you feel anything less than "Oh hell yeah. Oh my god, that would be amazing!" If it's anything less than that, you just say "no."

So you say no to almost everything. And the reason is that most of us feel that we're supposed to fill up our time. But because you've filled up your time now you don't have any time to throw yourself in completely when you find something amazing.

So, instead, you say no to almost everything, so when that rare one out of a thousand thing comes along, then you can give it the biggest damn, "yes" and you will have space and time in your life just throw yourself and do it completely.

And ultimately I think that's better for your career, for your life, for your peace of mind. I think it's more impressive to kick major butt on the things on the occasional rare thing you say "yes" to instead of kind of half-assing everything else along the way so yeah that's the hell yeah or no philosophy."

If you want to go further, I share a few thoughts on creating a zest barometer here. When you're feeling exhausted or overwhelmed why is that? Are you doing the wrong thing or doing the thing wrong?

Scott Perry, Difference-Maker Coach 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.

Who You Are and What You Do

“Tell me with whom you consort, and I will tell you who you are.”—Goethe

Maybe you’ve seen the Jim Rohn quote about being the average of the five people you spend the most time with? How’s your score?

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”—Aristotle

So much of what we do is done unconsciously and by rote. Zoom out for a minute to look at your daily activities. Which impede progress in your endeavor?

“Progress is not achieved by luck or accident, but by working on yourself daily.” — Epictetus

How might you bring more intention and integrity into cultivating the daily relationships and routines that tell us who you really are? What small step can you take today, and every day, to spend more time on the right things and do them with and for more of the right people?  

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

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

In media res

In media res, Latin for “in the middle of things” is a literary device employed by storytellers across time and genres. An early example is Homer’s The Iliad, which begins in the thick of the Trojan War. A more recent example is Martin Scorsese’s film, Raging Bull, which opens with the protagonist, a once-famous boxer, now a bloated nightclub owner prepping to go on stage.

Employing in media res in telling my story about why I run at the cemetery has proven very effective in connecting with readers and listeners.

I felt a slight tug as the passenger-side mirror of the blue Subaru brushed against the fabric of my running shirt.

It didn’t register right away. I remember looking up and seeing a “Love Your Mother” sticker with an illustration of the earth on the car’s bumper and the driver’s outstretched hand waving. I waved back. That’s what you do in a small town here in rural southwestern Virginia.

A loud honk startled me. Another car was trying to turn right onto the road where I stood midway through the crosswalk. Jolted out of my mystified state, I waved at that car and finished jogging across the intersection.

That’s when it hit me. I’d just come within a few inches of being hit by a car on my daily run... (Read the full story here).

What does in media res have to do with difference-making? Plenty.

Transformation stories connect not through a chronology but through emotion. While our rational brain wants to tell a linear tale that appeals to our younger thinking brain (the prefrontal cortex), starting in the middle creates a visceral association that speaks to our older, quicker, reacting brain (the amygdala).

How often do you begin the story of the difference only you can make at the beginning with a list of features and benefits or your brand’s origin story? Does that approach capture your ideal audience’s attention and interest? If not, why not begin in the middle of the action with the tension that encourages prospects to lean in and learn more?

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

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

Kirsten Gibbs - The Power of Promises

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 last week's guest, Kirsten Gibbs.

[Kirsten] "An insight that I've arrived at fairly recently over the last five years or so, which came from talking to lots of small businesses and trying to explain what it is that I do, I think a really helpful way to think about a business is that it is a system for making and keeping promises.

And if you think about your business like that, you will go about building it and growing it very differently."

If you want to go further, I share a few thoughts on the value of making and keeping promises in this post about commitment. What promises are you making and keeping through the difference only you can make?

Scott Perry, Difference-Maker Coach 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.

The question isn't if...

The question isn't if you can make a difference. The question is if and when you will acknowledge and embrace the difference only you can make.

Maybe you're ready to start. Perhaps you've already started. Either way, you're likely complicit in impeding your own progress.

It's not your fault.

Biology and evolution have programmed all of us to be content with what is. We find comfort in knowing where we stand and what's expected of us. Institutions and cultural forces conspire to amplify and leverage this instinct to settle for sufficiency.

And yet...

There's a wee small voice in your head whispering, "What if?" "What if things could be better?" "What if I could be and do better?" Are you listening?

To ignore this inner voice of aspiration and not heed its call obstructs your ability to live fully and well doing work that matters. And if you are leaning in and leveling up as a difference-maker, it's likely your experience is fraught and frustrating.

What to do?

First, it's probably time to stop doing some things. Stop hiding in waiting, researching, and learning. Stop hanging around people who hold you back. Stop wasting your time and attention on distractions like social media and screen staring. Stop trying to make progress alone.

And most of all, stop telling yourself stories about how life is happening to you. Life happens through you when you do more of the right things with and for more of the right people.

Fellow travelers, trusted guides, and intentional routines are the three most powerful levers available to ratchet forward progress in meaningful endeavors. Whether or not you investigate or invest in Difference-Maker Coaching, Community, or Intensives, the daily discipline of connecting with others in common purpose is the best way to get out of your way.

Are you ready to get real and get going leveling up and leaning into making a real difference? The real work begins when you get real about who you are, why you're here, what you do, how you do it and start where you are now. 

Need help? Send me an email with "Help" in the subject line. I'll send you a free resource to help you fly higher in the difference only you can make.

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

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

The Identity Trap

To be clear, identity matters. Given the current reckoning around the unfair distribution of privilege, it's absolutely understandable and necessary to acknowledge and honor those who identify as members of historically marginalized populations.

Building identity is an essential and powerful lever for developing worthiness, finding belonging, and forging meaning. Identity doesn't just matter; on a personal level, it matters a great deal for each of us.

And yet...

Identity can become a seductive trap that inhibits the pursuit of developing your potential and delivering on your promise. This is especially true when we identify ourselves around beliefs about our abilities and aspirations.

For example, "I'm an introvert" is a story I frequently hear from clients that keep them from standing up to be seen and speaking up to be heard in their endeavors. Another common thing I hear is, "I'm overwhelmed." Fair enough, even in the best of times, we can be easily confused and overpowered by circumstances and choices. But in either of these cases, defining ourselves this way is a choice, not a truth.

The danger in our identity narratives is that too often, we cling to them as immutable certainties. We place ourselves in a fixed silo that might feel comfortable and true, obfuscating what can emerge and who we might become.

Can you imagine if, as a child, you clung to an identity as a non-talker or a non-walker? What would your life be like if you decided that your status as a non-reader or non-writer was a fundamental and inherent absolute?

There is virtue in zooming in about how we identify. I wonder though if there isn't at least equal value in zooming out?

How can your identity narrative describe not only who you are but also who you aspire to be? Instead of identity silos, how might you hold space for more inclusive representations of who you are? What might happen if each of our identity stories was more expansive?

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

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

Michael Bungay Stanier - Why you need to get your sh*t together.

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 bestselling author The Coaching Habit, Michael Bungay Stanier.

[Michael] "If you are a force for good in this world, kind of get your sh*t together around how you fund that. Because, otherwise, you have people who collapse because they don't have the support they need, emotionally, or financially, or whatever else to do the work that matters in this world."

This is one of three pieces of advice I received in 2018 that I leveraged to stop thrashing and make Creative on Purpose a viable and sustainable brand. How might getting your sh*t together around how you fund the difference only you can make help you do the work better and make a bigger difference?

Scott Perry, Difference-Maker Coach 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.