Scott Perry's Blog, page 46

Stillness in the Storm

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

And yet…

In antiquity, there was a flowering of philosophical approaches to the art of living well and even flourishing while navigating such 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, and find meaning in any challenge you face.

The Three Disciplines

Stoicism, more than any other approach, is a lived philosophical practice. Epictetus, an important Stoic teacher, established three core practices, or disciplines. 

“The Discipline of Perception,” sometimes called the Discipline of Desire, has to do with how we see our situation and acceptance of our fate.
“The Discipline of Action,” has to do with our attitude and approach to any moment with altruism and for the common good.
“The Discipline of Will,” sometimes called the discipline of ascent, 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 and tranquility in any circumstance.

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. — Marcus Aurelius

Practicing the Disciplines

Acknowledging things as they are through the discipline of desire or perception is the first step. Stating what is going on without value judgment or strong emotive language helps decatastrophize situations. This allows us to avoid clinging to unhealthy emotional reactions.

We can then set an aim that enhances the prospects for all concerned through the discipline of action. Stepping into a better possibility with intention and integrity helps stave off anxiety while leaning into uncertainty.

We can find meaning in any moment and significance in any situation. The discipline of assent helps us engage with our agency over our thoughts and actions, develop excellence of character, and cultivate virtues like humility, patience, and resilience. 

Through the three disciplines, we become better human beings. We promote flourishing for ourselves and others through adversity. We discover that life is not happening to us but through us.

Elsewhere in his journal, Marcus restates the three disciplines this way:

Everywhere, at each moment, you have the option:

to accept this event with humility
to treat this person as they should be treated
to approach this thought with care, so that nothing irrational creeps in

What situation are you in now? How can you employ the three disciplines to lean into adversity with clarity, compassion, and character?

Let's make things better together!

Scott Perry - Difference Maker at Creative on Purpose.

Download the Creative on Purpose Handbook, and let's go!

If these are ideas you can get behind, please share this with others!

This Too Shall Pass

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

And yet…

In antiquity, there was a flowering of philosophical approaches to the art of living well and even flourishing while navigating such 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, and find meaning in any challenge you face.

The Three Disciplines

Stoicism, more than any other approach, is a lived philosophical practice. Epictetus, an important Stoic teacher, established three core practices, or disciplines. 

“The Discipline of Desire,” sometimes called the Discipline of Perception, has to do with how we see our situation and acceptance of our fate.
“The Discipline of Action,” has to do with our attitude and approach to any moment with altruism and for the common good.
“The Discipline of Assent,” sometimes called 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 and tranquility in any circumstance.

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. — Marcus Aurelius

Practicing the Disciplines

Acknowledging things as they are through the discipline of desire or perception is the first step. Stating what is going on without value judgment or strong emotive language helps decatastrophize situations. This allows us to avoid clinging to unhealthy emotional reactions.

We can then set an aim that enhances the prospects for all concerned through the discipline of action. Stepping into a better possibility with intention and integrity helps stave off anxiety while leaning into uncertainty.

We can find meaning in any moment and significance in any situation. The discipline of assent helps us engage with our agency over our thoughts and actions, develop excellence of character, and cultivate virtues like humility, patience, and resilience. 

Through the three disciplines, we become better human beings. We promote flourishing for ourselves and others through adversity. We discover that life is not happening to us but through us.

Elsewhere in his journal, Marcus restates the three disciplines this way:

Everywhere, at each moment, you have the option:

to accept this event with humility
to treat this person as they should be treated
to approach this thought with care, so that nothing irrational creeps in

What situation are you in now? How can you employ the three disciplines to lean into adversity with clarity, compassion, and character?

Let's make things better together!

Scott Perry - Difference Maker at Creative on Purpose.

Download the Creative on Purpose Handbook, and let's go!

If these are ideas you can get behind, please share this with others!

Articulating Adversity

When things go topsy turvy, upside down, or sideways, the usual reaction is to dig in. We insist that things go back to the way they were, or simply sit in stunned silence, and wait for someone to do something about it.

These reactions are dangerous. They prevent us from seeing the many opportunities within any unfortunate or even dire situation.

A response that helps us start to take more meaningful and helpful action is to articulate what's really going on. Take a pause, put the moment in context, and decatastrophize the experience. Express the situation plainly and objectively.

Describe what's going on by stating only the facts without any value judgments . No strong emotive language allowed. This helps move us from the anxiety of "what if?" thinking to the agency inherent in "what's next?" thinking.

Less catastrophic and more constructive language helps everyone cope and opens the door for collaboration and a creative approach to solving whatever predicament we're in.

Solving difficult problems is what human beings have always done best. It leverages our social nature and our capacity to reason. It helps us make things better by endeavoring together.

This helps us organize, structure, and process the experience to provide an opportunity for finding meaning and understanding in the challenges we face while we organize and work through them.

Let's acknowledge and accept what's actually happening so we can affiliate, set our aim, and take action that helps enhance the prospects and prosperity for everyone.

Things were okay before, but thanks to an unexpected turn of events, we now have an opportunity to exit this situation better-off than we entered it.

Scott Perry - Difference Maker at Creative on Purpose.

Download the Creative on Purpose Handbook, and let's go!

If these are ideas you can get behind, please share this with others!

 

Navigating Challenging Times

Everything is  just fine most of the time, and so are we. That's why so few challenge the status quo. Human beings like to know what's expected and where they stand.

And then...

Things get topsy turvy, turned upside down, or go sideways, and the status quo is no longer the status quo. As creatures who find comfort in "another one of those," this can create uncertainty and anxiety.

Here's a four-step process that can help you navigate challenging times.

Acknowledge - State what is going on now as plainly as possible. Avoid language that includes value judgments and strong emotive language.
Affiliate - Find the others. Who are the 3 - 6 people you already know that you can convene to assess the situation? Work together to make things better?

Aim - Decide the destination and intention of where you want to get. What does that look like? How will you feel when you get there?

Act - Having assessed the situation, gathered the right people, set a goal, take a deliberate step into possibility every day.

When you decatastrophize a situation and convened a small group to set a small goal and take a small step toward it every day, something special happens. In what was once overwhelming, you now see opportunity, and what once caused anxiety now cultivates excitement.

What challenge are you facing today? How can you acknowledge it objectively? Whom can you ask to affiliate? What's your aim? When do you act?

Do the work with and for each other with intention and integrity. Whether you hit your target or not, the effort will be worth it and reveal even more possibilities for what's next.

Let's keep flying higher together!

Scott Perry - Difference Maker at Creative on Purpose.

Download the Creative on Purpose Handbook, and let's go!

If these are ideas you can get behind, please share this with others!

 

Make America Create Again

Disclaimer - This isn't about politics.  It' s about coming together to make things better.

The Situation

Too many of us deny or have lost touch with our creative instinct and drive. This is sad, and this is wrong. It's time to reclaim and reconnect with our creative capacity to build a brighter future for everyone.

Step into Possibility

Creativity is a fundamental human impulse. Everyone is a creative.

Creativity is an effort to make change happen. Creatives see what is and what can be.

Creativity curbs false certainty and judgment and fosters curiosity and consideration.

Creativity is how we solve interesting problems and overcome challenges.

Creativity, at its best, is a collaborative enterprise done with and for others. 

Creative enterprise unites us and builds trust.

Creative projects done with intention and integrity enhance the prospects for all.

Creative work reflects who we are and who we seek to be.

Creative activity generates purpose and passion.

Creative pursuits build character and provide meaning.

Creatives are difference-makers. Creativity matters.

Ready?

What change do you seek to make? Who can you invite into a creative endeavor that opens doors, turns on lights, and earns affiliation and enrollment in a journey to improve things?

Let's work together to step into possibility and make things better. It's time to be creative on purpose.

Scott Perry - Difference-Maker at Creative on Purpose.

Download the Creative on Purpose Handbook.

If these are ideas you can get behind, please share this with others!

Help start the conversation, find the others, and spread the word. Click here and let's go!

Integrated

I spent much of my life trying to achieve "work-life balance," which means I spent most of my life deeply frustrated.

For the past thirty-five years, I've been engaged in multiple roles every day, including husband, father, teacher, musician, writer, and coach. I used to believe each role was a bucket and that all the buckets had to be filled equally.

Even if I grouped all those roles into two categories, personal life and professional life, balance was never achieved.

Work-life balance is a delusion and an invitation to shame and suffering, at least in my experience. What about you?

Things really turned around for me when I decided to show up everywhere simply as myself. What I mean is, I started living my values in every situation. This reflects my virtue. Whatever I find myself doing and whomever I am doing it with, I represent both who I am and who I wish to become.

Finding the points of intersection and alignment in my roles and duties along with the facets that complement each other helps me achieve integration. I'm not defined only by the role I'm playing or what I'm doing. The content of my character, who I am, matters at least as much. In my mind, it actually matters more.

I no longer feet like Scott Perry, husband when with my wife, or father with my sons, or guitarists on the gig, etc. I now simply show up as the Scott Perry I am now, and through the relationship or task at hand, leverage it to become a better version of me. 

Why? So I can better serve the soul or situation in front of me so that I can leverage that involvement to become a better version of me. It's a virtuous cycle that enhances my life while I try to do the same for others.

What about you? Are you fractured and moving from role to role in your day-to-day? Or, are you integrated?

Let's keep making a difference together!

Scott - Difference Maker at Creative on Purpose

Like what you just read? Please share with a friend or fellow traveler or find some here!

Creativity in Times of Crisis

Crisis hijacks the healthier impulses we need to rely on when things go sideways.

What helps us the most in working through a crisis are basic human instincts like consideration, compassion, and care. But these are often replaced by contempt, cruelty, and carelessness during times of trouble.

Creativity is the antidote to caving into unhealthy responses to a crisis.

Creativity is collaborative, builds trust, encourages optimism, and fosters a sense of common purpose.

Our best moments are while facing common challenges and endeavoring together to resolve them.

Whatever crisis we're experiencing, it's not a time to panic, hide, or blame. These are moments to shine by connecting, collaborating, and working toward changing things for the better.

Who do you know that is wrestling with a crisis? Why not reach out to not only comfort them, but to invite them to collaborate on a creative way to navigate through a critical moment?

Let's endeavor better together. It's time to be creative on purpose.

Scott Perry - Difference Maker at Creative on Purpose.

Download the Creative on Purpose Handbook,and let's go!

The Antidote to Judgement

Judgment is a belief or a collection of beliefs clung to in order to maintain the status quo.

We want to know where we stand and what's expected of us, for sure. But what we really want to know is where we belong and how we stay there.

But is the status quo really serving us so well that there's no room for improvement?

What happens if we suspend our certainty and judgment? After all, most of what we believe isn't empirically true. It's anecdotal.

What if, instead of certainty and judgment, we practiced a little more curiosity and consideration toward others and ourselves?

Wouldn't that change things?

"Things themselves don't hurt or hinder us. Nor do other people. How we view these things is another matter. It is our attitudes and reactions that give us trouble." - Epictetus

Let's keep stepping into possibility together!

Scott - Difference Maker at Creative on Purpose

Like what you just read? Please share with a friend or fellow traveler or find some here!

The Virtues of Overwhelm

We live in a world full of information and distraction. In this world, overwhelm can be a real and debilitating response. Confronted with an abundance of  stimuli and choices, we may well choose to do nothing.

And sometimes, doing nothing can be an entirely appropriate response.

Overwhelm is a fraught subject, for sure!

At the same time…

Overwhelm is a result of an abundance of opportunity. It can be reframed as an invitation to make a decision and own a choice.

Just typing that, I feel tension. How about you?

And yet…

If you aspire to make a difference, that’s the gig.

If you're to level up as a difference maker, you'll have to face the overwhelm and become a decision maker.

And, here's your next chance to exercise your decision making muscle and step into possibility as a change agent.

The thing about choices is they want to be chosen. Making the best decision you can in this moment places us in a new moment with new choices and another decision to make.

Drip by drip, step by step, weighing, framing, and then making choices in service of the change we seek to make with and for the people we serve is the posture of a professional doing work that matters.

Without a doubt, these endeavors are challenging and fraught. Which is probably why they're worth it.

Let's keep making decisions and making a difference together!

Scott - Difference Maker at Creative on Purpose

Like what you just read? Please share with a friend or fellow traveler or find some here!

Less Is More

“To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom,  remove things every day.” - Lao Tzu

This is the hardest lesson I’ve ever learned. In fact, I relearn it daily. I’m sharing it with you and imploring you to pay attention. 

Less is more.

You are born into a world where more isn’t enough. This impulse is fueling the woes and suffering you wrestle with today.

As you unpack your endeavor and identify who it’s for and what it’s for, think small. Keep it simple. 

You aren’t going to transform the world overnight. Your idea won’t become an immediate change agent. Your actions won’t instantly initiate a movement. 

The cosmos doesn’t owe you a thing. But it does reward thoughtful, ethical, and determined effort. 

Be deliberate. You can lean in and leap when what’s working and what isn’t is more clear. Until then, baby steps.

Do only what is necessary and required. Efficiency is elegant. 

Less is more.

Your endeavor is not an endeavor until you have your first fans and followers who are not just enrolled in the journey you’re leading but are invested. 

Everyone must be on the hook. There must be shared interests. Stakes are required. 

The stakes shouldn’t be life or death. But they must speak to and satisfy basic needs and wants. Begin with a small offering that helps fellow travelers take an initial step toward a dream or desire. You can follow up with another. And then another.

Less is more.

Scott - Difference Maker at Creative on Purpose

Like what you just read? Please share with a friend or fellow traveler or find some here!

This is an excerpt from my best-selling Amazon title, Endeavor: Cultivate Excellence While Making a Difference.