The Blog

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,...

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...

Institutional education and occupation don't encourage difference-making or decision-making. They're designed for conformity and compliance. Keep quiet, do what you're told, don't ask questions, and follow the herd are implicitly and explicitly baked into most schools and jobs.

It takes courage...

Are some decisions better than others? I think so.

But let’s be clear, decisions are different from outcomes...

A bad decision can lead to a desired outcome, and even the very best decision cannot guarantee a result.

If I speed through a red light unscathed, that doesn’t mean I made...

As the year winds up, I’m reflecting on the past 12 months and planning for the next.

What about you?

How have things gone this year? What’s next for you and the difference only you can make?

Leveling up and making a living by making a difference is fraught. The age of pandemic...

How do you define creativity?

For me, it’s simply the act of bringing something into the world that didn’t previously exist. A bird building a nest, a plant bearing fruit, a volcano spewing ash and lava—all are creative acts.

We witness creative activity throughout nature and...

Do you ever catch yourself wanting more and better? Not just wanting to have more and better but wanting to be and do more and better?

I know I sure do. Isn’t this the promise of the pursuit of happiness?

But how often does the pursuit of happiness result in a...

I used to be very results-driven. I defined my value based on how close I came to achieving my goals.

Most often, these goals were not really mine. They were defined for me by institutional education and occupation. Familial and societal norms reinforced these pursuits.

I began to see things...

Have you ever experienced a disconnect between intention and impact?

You can't speak or write as much as I do and not experience it (with some frequency). Something is said or done and is not received as intended, resulting in confusion, hurt feelings, or outrage.

What to do?

Acknowledge and...

Don't get me wrong, priorities matter. For years my Gmail signature line read, "Scott Perry, Husband, Father, Teacher, Musician." I created this on purpose to help me keep my priorities straight.

But how many things are you prioritizing? The thing about prioritization is that it only works when...

What does it mean to be authentic?

I'm not asking for the dictionary definition. Dictionaries aren't as authoritative as they make themselves out to be. They're always catching up to common usage.

Too often, authenticity is conflated with doing whatever you feel like doing or saying whatever you...

 I'm a weirdo.

Thinking back, even my earliest memories were about searching for something I couldn't quite define or describe and looking for signposts and maps to direct me there.

What about you? Do you find yourself in a coddiwomple? Purposely stepping toward a vague or...