How You Reflect Determines How You Advance | By Dennis Ricci

Experience is not the best teacher.

Wait, what? If actually doing the creative things we love to do isn’t the best way to learn how to do them better, then what is? 

For starters, it’s important to know where a saying like “experience is the best teacher” comes from and in what context. 

In Commentarii De Bello Civili (Commentaries on the Civil War), Gaius Julius Caesar (yes, the dude who was done in by Brutus) wrote the first recorded expression of the saying: “Ut est rerum omnium magister usus—Experience is the teacher of all things.”

He drew that conclusion from his reflections on the Roman Civil War he waged in 49-48 BC against Gnaeus Pompeius and the Roman Senate. What most modern scholars conclude, though, is his writings are essentially a self-justifying account of events.

And there’s the rub. The experience you evaluate well—honestly, fearlessly, without making excuses, and with input from others—is the best teacher. 

As you engage in some form of reflection and renewal, I want to share some personal examples of how to evaluate your experiences well, in context of how you see yourself and your purpose, why you do what you do, and your dreams for your life and work.

Reflecting on How You See Yourself
Who do you think you are? 

Most likely you’ve heard that question not as an encouragement, but because you’ve done something that rubs someone else the wrong way. Have you ever thought that people, events, and circumstances attack you most when you are being and doing from your authentic self? Am I the only one?

If you haven’t taken time to gain clarity on your unique self, I promise it will be life-changing. Back in 2017, I participated in a weekend men’s retreat with my church, and our guest speaker took us through a model he developed for businesses called The Purpose Train, which led us to pursue five critical success factors:

• Identity: the track on which your business rolls
• Purpose: the engine that pulls the business forward
• Vision: the destination your business leads your customers
• Strategy: decisions on what you will and will not do to lead them there
• Tactics: daily choices you make to execute your strategy

It was quickly apparent his model was great for “personal use” when he led us to think about identity not in terms of a grand narrative, but with 2-4 words that capture the essence of our unique design. Here’s what I came up with, and what I carry with me today:

Identity/Design

Builder

Messenger

Encourager

Simple, powerful...clarity on how I’m wired and what it’s for. But here’s what’ so powerful—we pulled away with God and asked him to reveal the words. You’ll know if it’s God and not your own thoughts, or the collective opinions of others, when they resonate within you as a pure tone, with a deep, lingering sustain.

Reflecting on How You Understand Your Purpose
What makes you come alive? Having a strong grasp on your unique design goes a long way to understanding purpose, but I’ve learned that purpose is not static inside the arc of life. The raison d’etre of your gifts and talents morph over time, and always in an additive way. If you take the time to allow the discoveries and growth you experience to catch up with you, you’ll see how each season prepares you for what’s next.

From the Purpose Train model, I carry three words with me daily to express my purpose at this season of my life:

Purpose

Proclaim

Portray

Demonstrate

Proclaim and Portray are two sides of the same coin when it comes to my storytelling. Demonstrate grows out of being an Encourager. What makes me come alive is that moment with everyone I coach or instruct when the light comes on in their eyes when they discover their design and purpose, vision and dreams. 

Reflecting on Why You Create

Why do you pursue your art? To satisfy your own soul? To learn, discover? Fulfill a deep longing? Become famous? Has another artist inspired you? Or are you building a business around it?

Early in my pursuit of writing novels, I decided to do it as a discovery of something I’m passionate about: restorative justice. I believe real justice seeks to restore people and relationships and communities, not merely dispense retribution for wrongs. That belief incites a lot of tension in my own mind and heart; hence, I explore that through inventing characters and writing stories of how they navigate that tension. Here’s how I articulate my “why” for writing novels:

I believe real justice seeks restoration, not retribution, and that judgment opens the door to mercy and reconciliation. I write stories that explore and explode the tension between law and love, judgment and mercy. I write thriller novels.

This statement serves as an anchor against which to evaluate every story I write and how my beliefs and my understanding have grown and, perhaps, shifted direction. It helps me be intentional and aware about my creative growth goals and process.

Here’s something to consider if you’re building a creative business—if the business itself is your why, it’s not enough. Simon Sinek, business consultant and author of bestselling books Start With Why and Leaders Eat Last, drew a powerful conclusion through his extensive study of leaders and artists and innovators of all stripes—people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. Sinek also concludes that your vision, expressed through your work, will resonate most with people who believe what you believe.

A “business why” needs to connect with a very specific micro-niche of people who share your belief, and for whom your art represents either a solution to a felt need or the satisfaction of a deep desire. 

As an author, my why statement captures why I write and who I write for—people who share my beliefs about justice and like thriller novels.

Reflecting on Your Dreams

What inspires you to sweat and sacrifice, grind and groan, to create? What has become your creative north star? 

In a perfect world, clarity about your design and purpose fuels a prolific “dream factory,” a nonstop stream of inspirations. Big, audacious dreams provide lift to your creative wings, but they must also be put to the test, so the ones you embrace are solidly aligned with how you’re designed and your purpose in this season. One way to put your ideas to the test is the principle of creative limitation—a narrow path of what you will pursue, leaving good ideas outside and only allowing the best ideas into your creative stream. 

Selling my first novel for publication was a heady experience. I had visions of a “Real Justice Thriller Series” built around an ensemble cast of characters. I was rolling. As I was finishing final edits to my manuscript, I was interrupted by a voice, who said to me, “Someday you will write a story about Jesus in his first person point of view.” I knew who that voice was. The prospect of it was daunting. I had lot of growing to do as a storyteller before I would even consider such a project. But I had the audacity to ask, “Can I write as a thriller?” The voice’s answer: “Write it however you want. Just write it.”

I kept that encounter to myself and carried on with my vision. I wrote almost 50,000 words of “real justice thriller 2.” And then I reached a moment when I said, “I’m not feeling this. I think that story doesn’t have a sequel. So I put that work in my virtual drawer and started on a new story idea. Got to the midpoint. This time, the moment was, “I’m not feeling this. I don’t know if I want to write thrillers anymore.”

The voice returned, this time at a writing workshop in Redding, CA. The participants were gathered in a large circle, and our first activity was to introduce ourselves and what we’re writing. He said, “Tell everyone in this circle what I said.” No way! I hadn’t even told my wife! When it was my turn, the voice said, “Now.” So I did. And the room erupted. “You have to do it!”

So here I am, ten years later, doing it. Good ideas set aside to pursue the best and most difficult one.

Including Others in Your Experience Evaluation

As you pause to reflect on the past year and begin to renew for the year ahead, celebrate this amazing Epiphany Space community! Then consider inviting a “reflection partner” or two into your process. Allow their iron to sharpen yours, and vice versa. We get to “go with others” on our respective creative pursuits, which makes the evaluation of our experiences richer and more instructive.



Let’s do this, Epiphany Space!