Scott Perry's Blog, page 58

Free Will Is a Seductive Delusion

Is “what happens next” due to fate or the exercise of your free will?

It's comforting to believe you control what happens next. But do you? What if what happens next has already been decided? What if everything that happens is fated?

"My formula for greatness in a human being is amor fati: that one wants nothing to be different, not forward, not backward, not in all eternity." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Why not love fate? A life that is fated does not imply that it just happens to you. Life also happens through you.

In a fated cosmos, you may be a tiny cog in the machinery of the universe, but you still have a vital role to play.

Past events alone don't determine your future. You can, and should, be an active participant in your life now. How your life proceeds may be fated, but it also reflects your character. Why not do your best and let what unfolds be what it will be?

Acceptance of what happens next is the path to well-being in your endeavor. This doesn’t make you a doormat. It’s a measure of your character. Accepting what is allows you to decide what’s next with deliberation and determination.

Hardship is inevitable. Suffering is a choice. Attachment to past outcomes and future expectations are the path to suffering. Suffering is self-imposed punishment and imprisonment.

The past is fixed. The future is uncertain. Only in the here and now, the present moment, do you possess agency.

If you can not absolutely know or control what happens next, why not act "as if?" Step into what's next with intention and integrity “fate permitting.”The result of your effort is not the reward; the reward is the opportunity in front of you.

Fate or free will? The answer matters less than the quality of your choice and virtue of your effort.

Keep flying higher!

Scott

This is an excerpt from the book, Endeavor: Thrive Through Work Aligned with Your Values, Talents, and Tribe.

Where Art Goes to Die

Art transforms culture. Art elevates and enhances generations. Philosophy and jazz are just two examples of art that changed the culture in which they were born.

Yet when these arts were dragged into the halls of academia to be dissected and disseminated, they died. Sure, you can argue that within the halls of academia philosophy and jazz are on life support. But in the popular context, they are all but extinguished.

This isn't a rant against teachers. Teachers matter. In fact, teachers are vital. If you want to learn anything worth doing, you must learn from those who already do it. But you don't have to go get schooled in an academic institution to learn about the art of living or how to swing.

In fact, I'm asserting you shouldn't.

In order to systematize, institutionalize, and monetize a subject, academics take it apart, prioritize the pieces, and codify them into a curriculum. They put the subject under glass. Nothing thrives under glass or this kind of analysis.

A once beautiful expression of culture promoting unity and meaning suddenly becomes the purview of experts and elites. Under these circumstances, how could art not fall out of popular favor? How could it not cease to matter?

Art is a natural human impulse developed by being done with and for others. Art changes those who make it and those it's for. Academia, like all institutions, encourages conformity and standardization and impedes curiosity and innovation.

Do you want the engineer designing the bridge you're crossing or the doctor taking out your appendix to be trained by a reputable institution? Of course! But how many game-changing philosophers or jazz musicians come out of academic institutions?

Keep flying higher!

Scott

What's the Point?

Contemplating life's big questions can make you really uncomfortable. But if you seek meaning and significance, it's worth it.

Here are some that I've asked myself many times:

What is the meaning of life?
Why am I here?
What's the point?

And the answers I arrive at are never final. They change with the situations, the scenery, and the souls I'm surrounded by through each season of my life.

Here's a process you may find helpful for assessing your current level of satisfaction with important aspects of your life and how well balanced it currently is.

There are questions worth asking yourself and processes worth considering.

What questions are you asking yourself today? What process are you using to answer them?

Keep Flying Higher!

Scott

BTW, in my upcoming book, Endeavor: Step Into What's Next with Integrity and Intention, I begin with these three questions:

What does it mean to be human?
What does it mean to be happy?
How can I be more of both?

Endeavor also explores a process for thriving through work that aligns your values, talents, and tribe. The core concept is that your life is enhanced by enhancing the lives of others.

Access excerpts and sign up for free chapters and updates at the book site.

Unleash the Assertions!

Certainty and confidence are tools of the status quo. They cultivate fixed mindsets, false beliefs, and inertia. Certainty and confidence discourage imagination, innovation, and investigation. Even worse, they dissuade the human instinct for curiosity, courage, and creativity.

And the world needs more curiosity, courage, and creativity now more than ever.

It's time to abandon our addiction to certainty and confidence. It's time to question our firmly held beliefs. It's time to embrace curiosity, courage, and creativity. It's time to bring our assertions.

Assertions are ideas we hold true based on our observation and experience. When we put them forth to be “tested” we not only open the door to empathetically engage and understand someone else’s observation and experience, but we are afforded the opportunity to iterate and improve our good ideas and abandon our bad ones.

Assertions employ our curiosity and courage and help us avoid the pitfalls of certainty and over-confidence. Assertions help us stop talking at, to, over, past, around, and through each other and instead engage in collaborative conversation with each other.

What do you assert today?

I assert that you can fly higher. Please do.

Scott

The Virtues of Enrollment (and the Perils of Inertia)

It begins, like an itch, with awareness. You see a challenge or an opportunity.

You pay attention. The itch intensifies. You begin to ask questions like  "What's going on here?" "Is this worth paying attention to?" and "I wonder what happens next?"

It's time to decide. Are you scratching the itch or ignoring it? Are you going to enroll in this endeavor? If you do it can change the way you feel, see, or engage with the world. If you don't, one thing is certain. Nothing will change.

Inertia is the tool of the status quo. The status quo is a force that keeps you humble, hiding, unfulfilled, and asleep. Enrollment is the tool of the change agent. Enrollment is a force that drives the ruckus maker, the potential developer, and the wide awake.

So what's it going to be today? Inertia or enrollment?

It's your journey. Choose well. 

And keep flying higher!

Scott

 

Are You "Winning" in the Game of Life?

In the game of life, are you playing a finite game or an infinite game?

James Carse's short book about this is worth tracking down and reading.

The Finite Game Approach to Life

A finite game has clear rules and ends with clear winners and clear losers. 

Winning a finite game of life means following the rules. Do as you're told, get schooled, get a job, get promoted, get married, have kids, get a big house, buy a lot of stuff, etc. This game ends in fortune and status.

That is if you win.

But in order for you and your "team" to win, others and their team must lose.

You know people who are playing the finite game of life. Are they the happiest, healthiest, and most human folks you know? 

A finite game isn't very satisfying because it's out of alignment with our natural impulse to present, grateful, and serve others.

A Different Approach - The Infinite Game of Life

An infinite game has a different intent, to be able to keep playing. This can only happen if those you are playing with can keep playing too.

In the infinite game approach to life, the point is for all to thrive and prosper. To do that means everyone playing has a vested interest in helping the other players thrive and prosper as well.

The object isn’t “winning” or “getting it right.” All you need to do is get it right enough to be able to play again tomorrow. If you're intentional and play with integrity, you'll do so and be both wiser and more skilled.

You enhance your life by enhancing the lives of others. Aligning your interests with those of others leads to greater fulfillment and happiness. Everyone wins.

Conclusion and a Question

You're already a player in the game of life. Which game are you playing?

Keep flying higher!

Scott

“Here, I Made This. I Hope You Like It….” Feedback Vs. Criticism

This is the third chapter of The Stoic Creative Handbook. Want more free chapters? Visit: http://www.TheStoicCreative.com.

The Stoic Creative: Embrace Your Purpose, Engage Your Courage, Share Your Excellence

Creating is simply the act of making something new. However, simple doesn’t mean easy. The creative process can be lonely, intimidating, and fraught with self-doubt. Then comes the hard part...sharing what you made with others.

Do I Have to Share?

That depends. We’re all creatives. We make things, right? We make conversation. We make plans. We make promises, and we make babies. We have absolutely no problem making or sharing these creations. However, when we intentionally create something that will evoke a reaction or even a transformation in others, when we start acting like artists, things change.

Therein lies the rub. All artists are creatives, but not all creatives are artists. Artists create with intention and motivation. They put their creation out into the world. They ship and they deliver the goods.

Artists must share their creations. That's the only way they will get the feedback required to develop and improve their art. Aspiring and advancing artists must hold their work out to an audience. "Here, I made this. I hope you like it." And when they do, all bets are off.

What Happens Next

“A thing is neither better nor worse for having been praised.” – Marcus Aurelius

Sure, they may love it. Hopefully, they’ll at least like it. If not, perhaps they’ll say, “That’s nice.” But they may very well say, “I don’t get it.” Or, “What’s the point?” Maybe even, “I hate it!” How does that feel? Depending on how much you’ve invested in your art it could hurt a little, or it could be devastating!

Tips On Turning Pro

So you made it. You were clear on your intention and motivation. You invested every bit of your talent and emotional labor. You held it out to others and said, “Here, I made this.” And, to yourself, quietly said, “I hope you like it.”And they didn’t. Not a bit. “What the hell is that?It sucks!”

Time to separate the dilettantes from the real artists, the amateurs from the pros. Here’s how:

Make sure you’re clear on what it’s for. “Art for art’s sake” is an amateur’s hustle. Art has a purpose. If you don’t know what your art is for, you didn’t make art.

Make sure you’re clear on who it’s for. Art must have an audience. It is your job to find it. If you think your art is for everybody, it’s actually for nobody, and it’s not art.

Make sure you’re clear on the change you’re trying to make. If your creation is made simply for attention or to make a buck, then it’s not art. Art connects, communicates, and changes those who come into contact with it.
Okay, Now What?

You’re clear on what it’s for, who it’s for, and the change you seek to make. You put it in front of the right people and...?

They didn’t love it. They didn’t like it. They didn’t even get it! Is that their fault or yours? It’s easy to say, “Heathens! You don’t know art when you see it!” But, it’s very likely that you didn’t do your job fully.

Did you do all the work? Did you do it well or at least well enough? Are you sure this is your audience? Did you share it properly? Did you need to deliver something else?

Don’t let these questions swirl around in your head. Ask your audience! Remember, it’s for them! If you’re looking for recognition or praise or hoping to get picked, or perhaps even to make a little filthy lucre, then you did not have the right intention or motivation!

Mean People Suck

Just in case you weren’t aware, haters gonna hate. There are trolls, hacks, cranks, and critics out there. They don’t like themselves and they sure as sh*t ain’t going to like you or anything you share. They’ll go out of their way to make you aware of their disdain. Unsolicited criticism is not helpful and not worth your time or emotional labor.

Being a hater is its own karmic consequence. If you can, empathize. If you can’t, smile and say, “Sorry, but if you didn’t like it, I guess I didn’t make it for you.”

Get Back to Work

What to do next? Get back to work! Take a step back. Hold it out in front of you and take a long objective look. Should you scrap it and start over? If not, what’s worth keeping? What should be eliminated? What needs refining? Decide. Then get back to work. That’s what artists do.

An artist, who is a pro, understands that quitting is not an option. Artists pick themselves up, dust themselves off, gird their loins, and get back in the arena. It’s an infinite, not a finite, game. It requires patience, practice, and persistence. Shun the fixed mindset. Adopt a growth mindset.

Here are a few more parting thoughts. A sense of humor doesn’t hurt. Humility is essential. Purpose is required.

That’s it. Good luck. Have fun...and most importantly, get to work.

Oh yeah, and enjoy the process because that’s all we have. Remember the wise words of Samuel Beckett, “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”



Key Takeaway from Chapter 3 and an Exercise

Key Takeaway

Before art can be significant, it must have a proper motivation and intent. What’s it for? It then must be created with skill, emotional labor, and a clear purpose. What is the change you seek to make? Finally, art must be performed or placed in front of the right people. Who is it for? You then must take note of the response.

Art is always a collaborative activity because there is always an audience. Learn to love feedback and shun criticism. Develop your ability to discern the difference.

An Exercise

Epictetus famously stated, “It is impossible for anyone to begin to learn that which he thinks he already knows.” Feedback reveals the elements of our art that have missed the mark, need further development, or should be discarded.

By the same token, unhelpful criticism is, well, unhelpful! The Stoics encouraged the memorization of short maxims to have on hand for difficult moments. “They are nothing to me,” was a line Epictetus encouraged his students to use when confronted with something unpleasant, but also unimportant.

So, when the critic delivers mean-spirited venom, simply smile and say, “Your opinion is nothing to me,” or, “I didn’t do it for you.” Even better? Smile sweetly and say nothing. This drives trolls crazy! All they really wanted was to watch you cry.

Remember, the pursuit of excellence and mastery in your craft takes courage, but it begins by taking a healthy dose of humility. Take your craft and your art seriously, but not yourself.

Go Further

When you receive well-intended and helpful feedback, be sure to say “Thank you.” Even when listening to the feedback hurts.

When you receive hurtful criticism, take Epictetus’ advice to “endure and renounce,” but also forgive. The Stoics believed that people are not intentionally mean, just ignorant and out of alignment with virtue. Keep in mind Marcus Aurelius’ reminder to himself, “Tolerate ignorant persons, and those who form opinions without consideration.”

Fail often, fail fast, and fail forward. We need your art. Ready? Me, too! Forward. March!

Everyone's a Creative. Are You Ready to Be an Artist?

A Note from the Author

This is the second chapter of The Stoic Creative Handbook. Want more free chapters? Visit http://www.TheStoicCreative.com

The Stoic Creative: Embrace Your Purpose, Engage Your Courage, Share Your Excellence

Do You Know That You’re Lying?

“Let’s start with a quick poll. Raise your hand if you’re a Creative. Great! If your hand is raised, put it back down. Now, raise your hand if you’re not a Creative. That's interesting. Keep your hand raised. Alright, if your hand is raised, keep it raised if you know you’re lying…!”

This poll is how I open my workshops on becoming a “bulletproof creative” (aka a Thriving Artist). The results are always about the same. One-third raise their hands to the opening query, another third to the next, and the final third to the last (often with nervous laughter).

We Are All Creatives

Here’s the deal: everyone is a Creative. A Creative is simply someone who brings something into the world that didn’t previously exist. Every time you make a meal, make a mess, or make amends, you’ve engaged in an act of creation. Creating is an everyday human activity.

Whether you’re a musician, writer, painter, parent, teacher, or an entrepreneur or employee, we are all Creatives. And we can all become Artists in whatever we do if we choose to develop our craft and deliver our work.

The Distinction Between Creative and Artist

Artists are Creatives who develop their craft with greater intention, but the defining difference is that Artists share their work with others. They put it out there with a specific aspiration in mind—and they do so knowing it might not work.

It takes courage to offer your work to someone. “Here, I made this. I hope you like it.” Once you do, all bets are off. It’s an act of generosity and vulnerability. It’s not for everybody.

But if you want to fulfill your potential as a Creative (and as a human being), you must strive to become an Artist. When you adopt that posture, the journey begins. If you want to experience a greater sense of flourishing and equanimity along the way, you’ll need to grasp the difference between criticism and feedback. More on that in the next chapter.

By the way, if you haven’t yet, go ahead and put your hand down… it’s time to move on!


Key Takeaway from Chapter 2 and an Exercise

Key Takeaway

You have everything you need to fulfill your potential as a happy, healthy, and engaged human being. You possess reason, a social instinct, and a creative capacity. Everything you need to develop your craft and deliver better work to the right people with a bigger impact is already in your possession!

Adopt the posture and mindset of a thriving Artist and start shipping your work. Stand where people can see you, speak your truth out loud, and generously share your gifts.

“If you didn’t learn these things in order to demonstrate them in practice, what did you learn them for?” – Epictetus

More on all this on the following pages. But first, do this now!

An Exercise

An essential Stoic practice is being grateful for what you already have. Not material possessions, but the everyday gifts.

Make a list of people you are grateful to have in your life: parents who provided you with life, teachers who have guided you, and friends who support you. You could list rivals and competitors who challenge you because they make you stronger and more determined.

Write down the life tools you possess such as the gift of language and the connection it creates.

Write down anything that helps enhance your life in a basic and essential way. Keep this list handy! Pull it out when you feel grumpy, frustrated, or scared—to remind yourself that even when times are tough, you’ve got a pretty d*mn good life!

This is exactly how the best known Stoic, Marcus Aurelius, Emperor of Rome, began his journal, The Meditations. He thanked his family, friends, and teachers and listed the gifts they bestowed upon him.

Go Further

To enhance the value of this exercise, connect with some of the people on your list. In person, if you’re able, by phone if you’re not. Don’t settle for a text, message, or email. Tell them that you’re grateful for them, and why. Ready for what’s next? Me, too! Let’s leap!

A Quick Look at Stoicism

A Note from the Author

This is the opening chapter of The Stoic Creative Handbook. Want more free chapters? Visit http://www.TheStoicCreative.com.

The Stoic Creative: Embrace Your Purpose, Engage Your Courage, Share Your ExcellenceThe Stoic Creative: Embrace Your Purpose, Engage Your Courage, Share Your Excellence

Struggling Creatives Are Driven by Passion. Thriving Creatives Are Driven by Purpose.

Isn’t a "stoic" someone who is passionless and a "creative" someone fueled by passion?

The meaning of the word stoic depends on whether it begins with a small s or a capital S! In common usage “stoic” describes a person who grimly endures life’s challenges. A “Stoic” is a student of an ancient philosophy that cultivates a sense of well being by developing your potential.

In other words, the common use of stoic means the opposite of what Stoic philosophy teaches!

And Stoic philosophy can teach Creatives plenty!

Let’s take a quick look at the philosophical tradition and teachings of Stoicism that will inform many of the exercises in this handbook. This chapter is an intentionally quick introduction. If you’d like to investigate this beautiful philosophical tradition more deeply, I’ve included several references in Chapter 9.

For the ancients, philosophy was not a navel gazing activity reserved for academics, but a daily practice for everyone. Every ancient philosophy tried to determine what it meant to be truly human and happy and develop systems for becoming more of both. Among the competing philosophies, Stoicism endures. Why?

Stoicism was founded in 300 B.C. by Zeno of Citium, a shipwrecked merchant who lost everything and landed in Athens, Greece. Making the best of his situation, he took up philosophy by reading about Socrates and studying with a teacher. Over the years he began to develop his own philosophy based on what he had learned. He taught and discussed it with his students in a covered portico in the Athens market, the stoa poikile (the painted porch), from which Stoicism gets its name.

Stoicism enjoyed great popularity in ancient Greece and thrived for years thanks to subsequent leaders of the stoa, Cleanthes and Chrysippus in particular. As the power of Athens and Greece faded and that of Rome rose, Stoicism continued to develop and remain popular. The primary Roman Stoic writers were a freed slave turned teacher; Epictetus, a playwright and political advisor; Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius, the last of the “good emperors” of the Roman Empire.

With the rise of Christianity, secular philosophy fell out of favor, but what little literature from the Stoics remained continued to find an audience throughout history. Stoicism is undergoing a resurgence now thanks to the many books, blogs, sites, and events that advocate Stoicism’s virtues, values, and relevance.

So, what is Stoicism and what are its basic principles and practices?

Like most ancient philosophies, Stoicism addresses “What is the good life?” In other words, what does it mean to be human and truly happy, and how do we become more of both?


The Stoics believed that “the good life” was one of “human flourishing.” The ancient Greeks had a word for it:εὐδαιμονία or eudaimonia.

All that was required for such a life was virtue. For the Stoics, virtue is the only true good and virtue is its own reward. The ancient Greek word for virtue was arete, which is translated as “excellence of character.”

Striving to achieve our potential as happy and healthy humans requires us to “live in agreement with nature.” This means not only living in agreement with our human nature as social creatures born with the capacity for reason but also with the entirety of the natural world which includes the cosmos.

Applying reason to social living for greater tranquility and thriving is central to the teaching of Epictetus who began The Handbook (based on notes taken by his student), with the following statement, “Some things are up to us and other things are not.”

Staying in the “here and now” (hic et nunc, the Romans would say), and mindfully addressing what is within and what is outside our control is at the heart of Stoic practice, as is what is within our influence.

The words of Epictetus often remind people of the Serenity Prayer: “God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference.”

Developing Stoic mindfulness to life’s celebrations and Stoic resilience to life’s challenges are achieved through exercises that apply our reason to what we experience in the here and now, and to do what is best for ourselves and others, in alignment with our virtue. Here are a few.


The View From Above – Imagining a bird’s eye view looking down at ourselves from above and beginning to zoom further and further out. This exercise helps contextualize our place in the planetary community and beyond.


Hierocles’ Circle – This is similar to the exercise above, but reminds us of our place as social creatures in service to each other. Again, starting with ourselves, we reach out to ever-widening circles of contact. Our family, our friends, our neighbors, people living in the same city or town, and so on, to the planet and beyond. As we reach each new circle, we imagine pulling those people closer to us and into the previous circle.


Negative Visualization – Beginning the day by imagining what obstacles or misfortunes we may meet and planning how we might face or handle them in alignment with our virtue. This exercise helps us de-catastrophize minor issues and perhaps see impediments as opportunities.

Gratitude for What You Already Have – Contemplating the simple gifts and benefits already within our possession. Not material objects necessarily, but basic human needs, connections, the beauty of the natural world, and another day of life to live.

This overview of Stoic philosophy is a very brief introduction to the basic tenets of Stoic philosophy and practice. There are many resources for further investigation into this beautiful and powerful philosophy of life at the end of this handbook. However, with this brief overview complete, let’s continue our journey and apply some of these ideas and exercises to developing a courageous creative posture and a thriving artist’s mindset.


Key Takeaway from Chapter 1 and an Exercise

Key Takeaway

Achieving your potential as happy and healthy human beings is difficult without a blueprint and an operating system. The time-tested approach of Stoicism has been successfully applied by slaves and prisoners, artists and entrepreneurs, and employees and emperors.

To realize our potential, we must identify, understand, and work with our strengths and weaknesses. Developing ourselves and delivering the goods will require us to handle internal doubts and fears as well as external obstacles and misfortunes.

To do this, we need to draw on our creative nature, apply our capacity for reason, and develop our social instincts. Whether or not you become a declared Stoic, you can draw upon the philosophy’s lessons and exercises to undertake this journey with a greater sense of thriving.

An Exercise

The Stoics aspired to be an ideal human being called the Stoic Sage, one who was wise and a citizen of the world. The Sage experiences natural emotions and desires but is not enslaved by them. The Sage loves others and loves fate, even when doing so subjects him or her to misfortune and poor treatment. Through all life’s vicissitudes, the Sage remains unperturbed, tranquil, and joyful.

Is becoming the Stoic Sage likely? No. Many Stoics believed no such person has yet walked the earth, but they did see glimpses of the Sage in men like Socrates and other great teachers.

Sit and contemplate for a minute how the ideal human being thinks and acts. Make a list of people who exhibit those qualities. They can be people you know, people from ancient or recent history, or characters from books or movies. Write them down and list the virtues or acts that you associate with each one. Identify your heroes, and it’s more likely you’ll become one.

Onward!