Creative on Purpose Blog

The world is full of people who malign, disparage, frustrate and ignore you. How do you handle that?

I’ve put up with a fair number of *ssholes in my time. Whiners, posers, liars, and assorted other bad actors are a daily diet in all of our life’s endeavors.

I used to really...

Do you ever wonder if you could show up more fully in your life and make a bigger difference?

Me too.

The fear of dying with the difference only I can make still inside became very real to me when I nearly got run over while jogging across a crosswalk during my daily run to the cemetery and back....

Equanimity is one of my favorite words.

First of all, it's fun to say. Seriously. Say it aloud several times. It's a word that ping-pongs around your mouth like a pinball. It starts with hitting the back of your mouth, careens to the roof, and bounces off your closed lips back to the top...

Origin stories are often told as if they were well-planned road trips. The truth is, most meaningful endeavors are born of chaos, confusion, challenge, or crisis.

The epiphany that ended my odyssey to define what and who Creative on Purpose is for came thanks to a misstep that almost...

It's frequently called a second act. In his book on the subject, David Brooks named it in the title, The Second Mountain. Fr. Richard Rohr calls it "the second half of life" in Falling Upward.

Whatever you call it, some of us at some point decide to move from making a living to living a...

It took me almost three years to unpack what and who Creative on Purpose was for. That's a long time to spend alone in the desert seeking insight.

While engaged in this walkabout (or was it a coddiwomple?), I developed tools for maintaining my commitment to my endeavor while protecting my...

Which comes first, purpose or passion?

The short answer is, "Yes, and..."

If you're like me, you were brought up to believe that purpose and passion are to be found within us or through work you're born to do.

What a crock.

Scientific surveys indicate that only about 20% of those asked can...

People like us, who seek to make a difference through work that matters, love to learn. We buy books, attend talks, enroll in online courses, and scour the internet for know-how. But is that really learning?

It sure feels like it. All of these activities remind us of how we were...

Humility is a paradoxical thing. Claiming to possess it reveals that it is lacking. More than any other virtue, humility is less about acquisition and more about the daily pursuit. And a daily discipline of embracing humiliation is a healthy way to remain on the path.

"I have prayed for...

If you're reading this, you're an aspiring or advancing difference-maker. What's going on in your endeavor right now? What needs to happen next to continue developing your potential and delivering on your promise in your enterprise?

Here are three questions to help you re-center,...

How do you provide meaningful feedback that helps others help themselves?

It feels generous to turn on lights and open doors for others. However, more powerful advances are made when switches and thresholds are revealed, and someone turns on lights and walks through doorways of...

"Fortune favors the bold" (from the Latin proverb, "audentes Fortuna iuvat") may sound like trite or even dangerous advice. Yet, it's a motto employed by military units, family crests, and even universities across the world. It resonates strongly enough with me that I adopted boldness as one...