Crossing the Threshold - Readings and Reflections from Onward

Welcome to Season 13 of Creative on Purpose Live. This season's going to be a little different. Instead of the usual conversations with guests who are making a difference worth sharing, this season I'm sharing readings and reflections from my upcoming book, Onward: Where Certainty Ends, Possibility Begins. It's available now for presale on Amazon. Now, these episodes will help you embrace uncertainty, navigate adversity, and step into possibility and the difference that only you can make. I'm your host, Scott Perry, author of Endeavor and transformation specialist at Creative on Purpose. You can visit creativeonpurpose.com to learn more about our Difference Maker community and coaching program dedicated to helping people like you make things better through endeavors that matter. So again, what I'm going to be doing in this season is reading from Onward, which is back from all the editors and uploaded to Amazon, awaiting publication, working on the paperback and the audiobook now. And what I want is just share some of the messages that are inside Onward so that we can help each other step into possibility in the moment that we're in. We are still in the throes of a pandemic, racial unrest, entering a very divisive political season. There is plenty of uncertainty in the world right now for all of us, plenty of adversity as well. And my intention here is to just share some of the messages that are inside Onward and my book that's being published in November of this year, so that you can get started making the difference that you want to make, so that you can start making things better through whatever endeavor it is that you are dedicated to, that's dedicated to making a difference within, for the people that you care about. So with that caveat aside, we're going to go ahead and dive into today's reading, and then I'll just reflect a little bit on on that. So this is all coming from the introduction of Onward: Where Certainty Ends, Possibility Begins. Here we go. Before. Do you remember when you were a fearless difference maker? As an infant, you observed people around you making strange noises back and forth. You had no idea what this talking thing was, but it was fascinating, and it It looked like fun. So you decided you wanted to do it too. By trial and error, you turned gurgles and gagas into intelligible words. Over time, those words got strung into sentences, and over even more time, into stories. Through sheer will and determination, you changed yourself from a non-talker into a talker. You used this approach to learn how to walk, read, write, and every worthwhile skill you've developed since. Did you stop being a curious, creative, and courageous change agent at some point? Why? It's time to re-engage your childlike sense of wonder and willingness to do things worth doing as if you can already do them. Let's go. The status quo is not the enemy. The status quo is not the enemy, but it is in the way. We find comfort in knowing where we stand and what's expected. Cultivated, cultivated first by biology and evolution and encouraged by institutional and societal pressures. An instinct to embrace the status quo is quite natural, and yet we also possess the opposing urge to develop our potential and realize our promise. You can be and do better, not just for yourself but with and for others. That you and your situation are sufficient doesn't preclude your desire to strive to be better and to try to make things better. The posture and mindset of a difference maker balances these opposing ideas. I am sufficient even as I strive. Crossing the Threshold. In the archetypal hero or heroine's journey, the first test is the refusal to call— of the call to adventure. You're the hero or heroine of this handbook. This is that moment in your story. I understand you have responsibilities, insecurities, anxieties, and a range of other reasons you should stop reading and just continue as you were. But whether you just saw it or were just reminded of it, you have a choice: continue to let life happen to you Or decide that it's time you let life happen through you. You cannot unsee what you now see. Time to decide: are you staying put or stepping into possibility? Adventure awaits. Ready? Onward! So that's readings from the introduction. I'll go ahead and just also share a special note that will be included in the first edition of Onward because it was written during this time of pandemic and racial unrest and societal and economic upheaval. A note about the pandemic edition: Onward began to take shape when everything was more or less okay for most of us. According to research, the world's population has never been healthier or more prosperous. As I began sharing the first chapters of this handbook with the Creative On Purpose community, the world was in the throes of a pandemic, racial unrest, and economic turmoil. It's never been more important to see our situation clearly and act boldly than it is right now. Even in this moment, especially in this moment, we can— each can choose to see differently and step into a better possibility. We can choose to engage in worthwhile efforts with and for each other right now. Adopting a difference maker's mindset and posture helps forge meaning and find significance in any circumstance. Even the one we're in as I write this preface. We've never needed to embrace uncertainty and each other and work together to make things better for everyone more than now. The principles and practices shared in this handbook are easy to understand and weave into the life you're already living. They'll help you and those you care about exit any situation better and better off than you entered. The Way Out is through Onward. So there are a couple of readings from Onward. I hope that it whets your appetite a little bit. You can pre-order Onward right now on Amazon. Just type in Amazon Onward and Scott Perry. I'm sure it will turn right up. This idea of crossing the threshold is something that really resonates with me, and it was interesting that just earlier today I began listening to some seminars that David Whyte, the poet, is sharing in a seminar he's created called a shade— I think it's called Half a Shade Braver. And a threshold is a doorway, and a doorway represents a decision, a choice. Are you going to stay on this side of the threshold where everything is familiar, even if it's not necessarily the best situation or the healthiest way to be? Or are you going to step through this threshold into the possibility of better, of making things better by engaging with intention and integrity and going through this doorway and helping determine, being an agent of your destiny? And so the thing about the threshold is that once it's been pointed out to us we have a decision to make. It's up to us. Are we staying put or are we moving forward? And so the call to action here at the beginning of this, of "Onward" in the introduction, is to point that although we are comforted by knowing where we stand and where we belong and what's expected of us on this side of the threshold, that we have always potential to develop and promise to deliver. And we can't do that by staying and remaining the way we are. We have to break the status quo of ourselves and our situation so that we can rebuild ourselves and move into the possibility of making things better. And the invitation is to, well, first point out that the threshold is there and that I'm inviting the reader to step through with me So the reader is the hero of this book, and I am Obi-Wan Kenobi, I am Gandalf the Magician, I am the guide that is walking alongside and sharing wisdom and insights and provocations and questions in the effort of trying to help you, the reader, step into possibility and develop yourself and your endeavor, whatever meaningful work you intend to excel in, work that is done to enhance the lives of others, because you know that this is the way that you develop yourself, develop your character, develop your virtue, and that you improve yourself through these endeavors that serve others. So that's the first episode in Season 13, which is dedicated to just sharing some of the insights that I'm packaging in this book, Onward: Where Certainty Ends, Possibility Begins. I hope that this is interesting to you. If it is, just go to amazon.com, put in Scott Perry and Onward, and you can pre-buy the, the ebook. The paperback and the audiobook will be available when the book launches in November. If you have questions or comments, always happy to see those here. And for those of you that are in the Creative On Purpose community, which anybody can become a member of by simply going to creativeonpurpose.com and opting in for the newsletter. You'll be getting some special bonuses and some additional excerpts from, from Onward in the days to come. So really definitely appreciate everyone's time and attention. We definitely appreciate you tuning in and lending me some of your valuable time and attention. I hope today's broadcast Motivates you to lean into an endeavor that matters with consideration, creativity, and courage. And to continue this conversation, visit creativeonpurpose.com and sign up for a weekly dose of insight and inspiration for making things better through endeavors that matter. You'll receive access to a community of difference makers, special events, and every replay of this broadcast. Hope to see you inside. Hope to see you next Thursday for the next episode of Creative on Purpose Live.