The Ever Forward blog has moved. I'm now posting here:

http://www.petertcrowell.com

 

I hope you'll stop by for a look!

 

Thanks.

 

Peter

Jesus told his followers to be "perfect as the Father is perfect."

At first glance this seems pretty outrageous, but glance again.

If you have perfection as a goal, excellence as your standard, you
will always have work to do. You'll face your own inner obstacles:
those fears and preconceptions that hold you back. You'll face
circumstances beyond your control, which you'll have to meet with
creativity. If you're not sitting still, you have work to do. Your
life will be, by definition, a work in progress.

Operative word: work.

Maybe you're trying to build something. Maybe you're like me and
you've set your sites on attaining creative freedom through getting
paid to do what you love on your own terms. Maybe, like me, you're
willing to spend the rest of your life trying to make that happen,
even if you can only spare 30 minutes a day. (You can spare more than
that. Sleep less.)

For me, this is the perfection Jesus was talking about: to live in
freedom, supported by my creativity.

Awesome dream. Build that.

Jesus was just commenting on getting the most out of life. He was
saying, "You've always got something you can be working on." What he
meant was "Your life is asking something of you."

Asking what? The answer is in your circumstances. Whether it's your
job, your relationships, your dream, there is always further to go,
more to discover, more to achieve. As long as you are alive and
kicking, perfection remains a process. It's synonymous with living.

Or it should be.

If you feel pulled toward something greater, more fulfilling, more
awesome, set out. If you don't, maybe you're not aiming high enough.
If you don't, no matter what you've achieved, I'm guessing you're
capable of more.

Ever forward.

The point here is to have life to the full. Of course that doesn't mean a life without struggle or a life without challenge. It does mean having a perspective on struggle and challenge that help you to grow, to improve your your surroundings, and to contribute in positive ways when change is needed.

Or to simply enjoy a good thing while it lasts.

This message is all over the place in the Christian gospels. Jesus himself said, "I came that they might have life and have it to the full."

But you don't need to be religious to participate in this idea. All you need to do is begin the process of learning who you are, of discovering what you have to offer, and of revealing that to the world without fear or hesitation.

Apply this to your work life and you will thrive in your career. Apply this to your personal life and you will thrive in your relationships. Apply this to your creativity and you will thrive in your projects.

God wants us to thrive. If it does not help you thrive it is not of God. If it does, it is.

Ever forward.

The deathbed perspective is a great way to evaluate the decisions you make. When faced with risk or opportunity, consider how you will feel when you look back from your deathbed at the choice you made.

If there is an upside to death, it might be the surgical precision with which it can help you sort your priorities.

Ever forward.

Awesome is a great word. It used to mean "eliciting awe," and implied a mix of inspiration, fear, exhilaration: like I felt the time I used my pocket knife to free a huge buck deer that got it's antlers tangled in the ropes supporting a pine tree. It was awesome.

When I was a kid, awesome took on "lower-case A" status and came to mean "cool" or "really good." All the kids were saying it and that use has stood the test of time. I have a coworker who uses awesome to indicate satisfaction with the successful transmission of an e-mail.

But I think awesome is becoming new again. Today if often means something like "stands out in a very special way." It carries the implication that you're being super effective just by being yourself. And that's the key: being yourself is a very important part of it.

This is encouraging. It means that every single one of us can and should be awesome. It means that being awesome is no more difficult than simply being who you are, striving for your dreams, developing your talents, overcoming your fears, spending your energy trying to bring out into the open as much as possible of what you have to offer.

Do that and you will elicit awe, that mix of inspiration, fear and exhilaration. Keep doing it and you'll find yourself surrounded by others who do too. That's where we're headed: from Awesome, through awesome back to Awesome again.

Ever forward.

Success shadows failure where ever it goes. People who never give up understand this. The people who work every day to bring what they have to the world keep doing it because they understand this truth. Sure they experience failure, defeat, discouragement. They may even get overwhelmed. But they endure because of an abiding sense of possibility.

Failure and discouragement imply their own opposites. If you fail, it's because you stuck your neck out. If you're discouraged it's because some inspiration motivated you to try.

Be warned. You are being hunted. Success hounds your steps intent on devouring you and showing you that you were right to keep going.

Ever forward.

Is it easier to not live up to your potential? What about all the envy and armchair negativity that goes with it? Tuning out with television can take the edge off, but the sense of unrest and frustration that comes from rotting potential is always a grating, uncomfortable feeling that never really goes away.

Is there some benefit in not bothering to be awesome? Is it really harder to strive for your best, most creative, most incredible?

I really don't think so.

Ever forward.

Whether you're working on the project of your heart's desire or getting chewed out by your boss, you have chance to make something great of your circumstances. It depends on three things:

Your sense of self
Your alertness to opportunity
Your idea of great

Ever forward.

Don't be a pushover. Be someone who creatively pushes back. Rubbing up against personalities, against the unimaginative, against the threat of losing your job: these things are the context you've been given to polish yourself and deepen your maturity.

This is your mythical adventure.

Express yourself fully, then let go. Then refine how you express yourself and try again. Realize that this or that project is not who you are, but it is a chance to show who you are. One way or the other you're doing that.

You spend at least eight hours in that place, with those people, doing those tasks. This is your chance to become a champion human being. And it might even lead to a promotion.