Penny Casselman:
Welcome to the Pivot with passion podcast. Hi, I'm Penny Casselman. I believe everyone is deserving of a phenomenal life, and that life starts when you grab a red marker and claim what you truly desire. Regardless of where you came from, where you're at, or where you think you're headed, life is what you make of it. And when you learn to pivot with passion, your world explodes with opportunities. Go grab your favorite beverage, and let's shake things up as we explore how to pivot with passion. Hello, my friend. If you are a new listener, welcome to the podcast.
Penny Casselman:
I am thrilled that you're here. Now. If you've been with me for a little while now, you know that my origin red marker moment story happened the day that I chose to leave corporate America. And if you're new, you can catch the full story in episode one. But setting the stage, you see I was stuck. And I am talking stuck with all capital letters that stuck in the job. I had completely stopped dreaming. I couldn't see beyond tomorrow and had no interest in what could possibly be next for me.
Penny Casselman:
I found myself every day driving in and staring at a hamster wheel of dread. I certainly don't want you to think I'm complaining. I'm coming from a place of perspective and honoring what I have been through. But when I look back at that situation, it took an ulcer diagnosis to finally embrace what I knew to be true deep down. And that was this I could choose to create a new path forward, but I was surrounded by so many trees, I could not see the forest that I was in. I spent months suffering in a place that I did not belong because I could not see beyond each single day. There is some truth to that adage that you have to reach rock bottom before you can pick yourself up, because that is exactly how I felt the day I chose to declare that fine was no longer good enough. I picked up a red marker that day that felt as big as a semi, and after a quick flick of my wrist, I tossed it around like it was a toothpick.
Penny Casselman:
There was that much relief and excitement that I was choosing a new path forward. I believed in my heart that whatever I envision, I can make happen. Given the season of holidays, I like to end it with D-A-Z-E where it seems everything gets ramped up in terms of effort and commitments and expectations. And I know it's challenging to get excited for tomorrow, let alone the week after or even the new year. Today, I'll share with you how I was able to pivot with passion and help you harness the same secret I used to get unstuck and moving my life forward in a most phenomenal way. It's time for a clarity cocktail without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning. Gloria Steinem when I found this quote, I got a few goosebumps.
Penny Casselman:
You see, I am not a good homebody. Now, let me clarify. I like and need to be alone at times to recharge. But I like vacations and traveling and meeting up with friends. And as I'm sitting here recording this episode, I am so excited about my upcoming vacation to New York City. Yes, I have not been there with my girlfriends for years. This is a tradition. We are pulling back out of the archive because things like life and kids enter the picture and choices have to be made.
Penny Casselman:
Things get put on hold. But we are back at it this year, and I cannot express how excited I am to go on these vacations. We usually plan things, but we always make sure to leave room for some urban trail magic so we are not mapped out by the minute what we are going to do. We have some ideas, and then we walk around the city and kind of just see where it takes us. We're always dreaming of an amazing trip. We're imagining all the magical possibilities that are waiting for us once we land. And side note, on December 1, I'm putting a countdown timer on my phone, on my desktop, everywhere that I can count down the days until I jet off this quote. Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities.
Penny Casselman:
Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning. If you find yourself feeling stuck, imagine if you approached your life with the same joy and optimistic expectations that you create when you plan a vacation. Then you could dream bigger. You could create energy on demand. Now, I'm guessing here I'm not the only one who, when you're notified a package is being delivered or you have a vacation countdown, that you can literally feel the energy in your body telling you how excited you are. Imagine harnessing that energy and begin to plan for success in your life and whatever it is that that looks like for you. For me, right now, success is having control of my workday and my schedule. I also know, however, that my definition of success will change over time.
Penny Casselman:
And that's okay, because that might mean I'm growing and expanding and have bigger goals or I'm dreaming bigger than I ever thought possible. If you are feeling stuck, maybe it's time for a new level of excitement. Because, my friend, life isn't simply what happens to you. It's what you do with what you've been given. Now go grab your red marker. And now back to the episode. Cheers. Circling back to that feeling of stuck, that point where you feel you've hit rock bottom.
Penny Casselman:
And now you are ready to choose a new path forward, given we're still early, but almost in the full throes of the holiday season this year, one of the mistakes we often make is not asking for help, thinking that we can figure this out ourselves, which ends up leaving us frustrated, burnt out, and like a failure. In the weeks leading up to me choosing to leave corporate America, failure was the biggest feeling that I had to navigate. Because how could I be anything less than a failure if I couldn't figure out what my next move was or what I was planning to do and how I was going to get there? And honestly, any of those feelings frustrated, burnt out, stuck, failure, it just leads to staying in the same situation, having the same conversations with myself over and over again, ultimately leading to a life where I was okay with fine. Yeah, life was fine. Oh, my goodness. Did I just unwrap the dreaded four letter F word? Please, please don't tell Santa. I'm really hoping for a good Christmas this year. But upon reflection, it's no wonder that we move through life not asking for help.
Penny Casselman:
I mean, think about in school or even corporate America. Individuals are rewarded for their singular efforts, their accomplishments. All through academics, you have tests. You and your efforts are being judged against everyone else. And by the way, if you ask for help, that's also called cheating. And then in corporate America, nobody shares promotions. Promotions are you beat out everybody else based on something you did. Something you did.
Penny Casselman:
So of course, given that history of conditioning, given everything that we witnessed and experienced, of course we would think we can do it all ourselves. But somewhere along the way, we quit dreaming. And that makes me a little sad, this festive holiday season, because dreaming is so important. So often we're focused on just the next thing. Get through tomorrow, get through this test, get through this round of interviews that we often defer the bigger future picture so that we can just survive the day to day. But the question is, what if you did pause to dream? What if you felt excited about your future and generated internal energy to make it happen? Remember when I said I picked up a red marker as big as a semi and I tossed it around like it was a toothpick? That was internal thoughts all coming together to light me up and realize choosing something else is possible. And think about it. Pulling from the Clarity cocktail today and how excited I am about this upcoming vacation.
Penny Casselman:
If you can't tell, I'm super excited. Why don't we approach our lives like we do a vacation? That's why this metaphor of planning a vacation is so similar to planning your life. Granted, nowadays we do most of the work in finding where we're going to go on vacation and booking our own flights and the power of the Internet to find us the best deal. But when you think about it, we're still asking for help. I can't book a flight on my own. I need to go to a site to help me do that. I need to research on Google or whatever your search engine preference is, to find options and then see pictures and then get excited. We don't plan a vacation in a silo.
Penny Casselman:
We ask for help. And what does asking for help do? It gives us another perspective and helps us reclaim that creativity and fun that we used to toss around with wild abandon when we were kids. When I hired my first business coach, shout out to Griselda, she helped me crack open the door of possibility and open my mind to an exciting future of my design. It wasn't until I worked with her that the power of dreaming felt tangible. They say when the student is ready, the teacher appears. I had been working on personal development for years, and as of today, most of what I consume via books and podcasts are all related to personal development. And let me say that that path is definitely a journey. At times it is an adventure and one that is never done.
Penny Casselman:
I had invested probably eight years of reading books and doing things on my own, but the year that I hired her and joined some business programs was the year that my mind grew exponentially in terms of what was possible and what I really wanted. I never want to be the smartest person in the room. Maybe three decades ago, yeah, I really wanted to be the smartest person because I thought that's how I got ahead. Now I am so happy to give the reins over to others and let them guide me and school me on the next steps I might consider had I not invested in myself and asked for help. I don't think today I would have a podcast. I don't think I would be an award winning speaker. I don't think I would have written a book. So my final thought for you today on this podcast is this before you rush off to your next appointment commitment activity, know this you can pivot at any time in your life, anytime, and you don't have to do it alone.
Penny Casselman:
I believe the greatest gift you could give yourself this year is asking for help and taking a pause to dream big. Because I want you to feel inspired by possibility and excited for your future. And those don't come from settling for fine. I don't want you feeling stuck. I want you dreaming big. So when you're ready, go grab your red marker and create a life that on the daily feels like a vacation friend. Thanks for listening to this episode of Pivot with Passion. If you've been feeling stuck, exhausted or frustrated, this is your permission slip to go grab a red marker and claim the life you desire and deserve.
Penny Casselman:
If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend and then hop over to rate and review the show on Apple podcasts. Because my goal is to put a red marker in everyone's hand, and I need your help to spread the word and make that happen until the next episode. Code go grab a red marker, get excited for your future and make your first move to Pivot with passion.
