Penny Casselman [00:00:08]:
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 edit. 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.
Penny Casselman [00:00:49]:
1st and foremost, let me say if you celebrate Christmas or another holiday around these times. I hope you were able to enjoy some downtime, pause to look around and be grateful and thankful for everything that you have and that you were able to find moments to just pause, reflect, and be present. I know that for me, it was almost nonstop for about 48 hours of family, family, family, which was lovely and so nice to catch up with people, to see everyone together and to just have fun. My wish is that you got to experience some of the same now. Did you know that 80% of Americans want to write a book and less than 2% actually execute on their dream and publish their book. So in 2020, I was one of the 2% that actually finished and published my book. And I'm not even sure if I've mentioned it on the podcast yet, but my book is called How to Get a Free Boob Job and Other Insights from a breast cancer adventurer. If you've ever wondered if I'm pretty transparent with what I've been through and where I'm currently at in life, that should give you a little glimpse into, oh, hell yes.
Penny Casselman [00:02:25]:
I put it all out there for people to learn, consume, and get a glimpse into what my life was like during that time. It was October of 2020 that I finished my book, and I quickly moved from writing and publishing to a check mark on a list and saying, what's next? As you know, 2020, yeah, not the greatest year to introduce anything to the world other than a new vaccine to keep us all safe, but a book? When I first started writing, I had visions of having a book signing and gathering friends and celebrating my accomplishment. But what ended up happening is I had a Zoom party, that's air quotes party, with some of my supporters, and that was kinda it. That was the fanfare. And even months years after publishing my book, I would just brush it off and say, yeah. I wrote a book. Everybody can write a book. I'm nothing special.
Penny Casselman [00:03:38]:
But that's where I wanna say hold up a minute because I had completely dismissed and did not take the time to fully embrace and celebrate what I had done. Because when I was in the thick of it, it was 1 task after another task. Approve the artwork, get the sign offs, respond to the publisher. And so when I was rounding the final stretch of getting this published, my knuckles were dragging, and I truly was looking forward to just getting a check mark on my to do list. And I bring this up today because as the year is drawing to a close very rapidly, and as we get further and further away from accomplishments that we had last week, last month, 6 months ago, heck, 11 months ago. They start to feel like it was just a check mark. It was just something I did, and I'm moving on. But if we don't stop and pause, life feels like this long slog of disappointment because there's always 1 more thing to do.
Penny Casselman [00:04:59]:
I mean, just think of laundry and dishes. You no more get your laundry completely done. And within 24 hours, there's dirty clothes to be addressed. What? Yes. It never ends. And in life, our to do lists, our checklist. They never end because we're never done living until we're done living. So if we can't pause along the way and celebrate things in our lives, my friend, there is zero chance that you will ever experience a magical red marker moment that takes you to a place of pivoting with passion.
Penny Casselman [00:05:49]:
And I think everyone deserves, a celebration. Everyone deserves to shout out their accomplishments and congratulate themselves on everything they do. Even if listening to me today, you can't think of anything to celebrate, Great. Hang with me, and I'll offer up some ideas of how you might start a celebration practice for yourself. It's time for a clarity cocktail. I'm a sucker for an inspirational quote. And this week, I went on the hunt for 1 to address celebration, and I love this quote from Oprah Winfrey. The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.
Penny Casselman [00:06:47]:
I love this quote because it reminds me that celebration is a muscle, and you'll find that the more you use the celebration muscle, like Oprah said, the more there is in life to celebrate as we close out this year and look to a bright new year ahead. I can't think of a better focus for 2024 than to learn to flex your celebrate muscle more. So there are many kids in my neighborhood, and I've had the absolute pleasure of watching many of them grow up to be teenagers. But as I watch them grow up, you would see their parents giving them high fives for learning how to roller skate or ride a bike or running without tripping and catching a ball an even finishing dinner because, you know, picky eaters and things. And I believe we should try to bring that practice back as adults. Yes. You might know how to ride a bike and use roller skates, but why not celebrate when you take a bike ride and actually use that skill. How about high fiving yourself when you strap on your roller skates or roller blades and go for a spin at a park.
Penny Casselman [00:08:10]:
All of those things take effort. They take talent, and you can choose not to do any of them. So why not celebrate when you do? The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate. And I completely embrace that idea. And here's one little note, one little observation I can share. If you've ever purchased a new car, you probably find yourself driving around and seeing versions of your car everywhere, and that is based in a psychological phenomenon. So it happens to all of us. But the same thing happens with celebration.
Penny Casselman [00:08:58]:
Right? The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate. If you start seeing one reason to celebrate, you will probably start to see, areas of opportunity to celebrate popping up all around you. And heck, I don't know about you, but I really like a good party. And 1 fun item that I always have at my desk is this pair of purple glitter clapping hands. And I know you've seen these. They might give them out at birthday parties or any other type of event that might have a celebration, maybe a wedding, but they're just these plastic little hands that when you wave them back and forth, make a clapping noise. I always have them near my desk as a reminder to celebrate when I do something and no one is around to see it. So my wish for you as we close out the end of this year is to reflect on ways that you can celebrate your life.
Penny Casselman [00:10:05]:
And now back to the episode. Cheers. Circling back to the idea of remembering to celebrate. One of the mistakes that I've experienced, and like me, maybe you have this thinking that what I did didn't amount to anything worthy of celebration, thinking that it had to be some grand gesture and had to be something that was witnessed by other people. And I realized It just left me feeling defeated because that circumstance so rarely perfectly aligns with something grand, other people seeing it, and then collectively celebrating. But like I mentioned in the clarity cocktail, when you're a kid, everything gets celebrated. Not only your birthdays, but the fact that you can tie your shoes and use the toilet and ride a bike. And as you go from toddler to tween to teenager to adult, the mastery that you have found gets taken for granted.
Penny Casselman [00:11:10]:
But the question is, why don't we celebrate everything? Side note, I wish someone would high five me for tying shoes and remembering to put on my jacket and bringing gloves. But let's think about this. Let's use the example of a high jumper. Their measure of success might be if they make it over the bar or if they knock it off. But are they really celebrating the right thing? Getting over the bar, yes, deserves congratulations. But let's say when they started jumping, they were at 5 feet, and now they're at 7 feet jumping over the bar. If they don't make it over, they feel like a failure when it isn't the getting over the bar or knocking it off, it's appreciating and celebrating how high they've come. And I think that's a great example.
Penny Casselman [00:12:08]:
As adults, make sure that we are not judging everything we do on some misplaced gauge. Maybe it's not about if we get over something or knock it off. It's let's see how high we've come. So why not celebrate everything? I mean, think about it. The trash gets taken out. I clean the kitchen. I folded laundry. My friend, I've said it before, being an adult, The struggle is real.
Penny Casselman [00:12:40]:
So let's start celebrating the small things. Even if I am completely alone, and I take out the trash? You bet I can turn to the mirror and give myself a high five to celebrate that I actually did the work. And the same with folding laundry. Yes. There's gonna be more for me to do the next day. But right now, in this moment, I have cleaned and folded the laundry. High five. Yes.
Penny Casselman [00:13:10]:
Put your hand up. You can do it too. For years, I've been a student of personal development. And for a while, that's all I read or listen to podcast was how to be the best version of myself. And there's 1 thread That books and podcasts all seem to agree on, and that was cultivating a practice of gratitude in your life. And I remember when I first started doing that for myself, I came up with the same things over and over because I wasn't good at recognizing things I was grateful for. It was always The same things that I fell back on. I'm grateful to be alive.
Penny Casselman [00:13:56]:
I'm grateful for my family. I'm grateful for a car that drives, A house to live in, etcetera. But as I mentioned before, I do believe that gratitude and celebration are kind of like a handshake, and that one supports the other. And as I reflected on celebrating more, I think celebration lends itself to recognizing gratitude. And so if you have ever found yourself wanting to start a gratitude practice or wondering how to do that. My challenge would be maybe Start, a celebration practice. Before you go to bed or at the close of every day, think of 5 things that you can celebrate because I truly believe they are a handshake. And once you learn to celebrate all the small things in your life that ripples out to recognizing more things to celebrate and in turn allows you to see things to be grateful for.
Penny Casselman [00:15:08]:
So in keeping with this idea of celebration and incorporating it more into your life, I want to celebrate a few things for myself, and I thought I would share them with you. First, I want to celebrate that I have done 13 weekly episodes of this podcast. I was very concerned when I started that I would not be able to muster the strength and the focus and the work that it would take to create a weekly podcast. And I am celebrating today that I am closing out the year hitting that goal. Thank you so much for coming along this wild ride with me. Another thing I wanna celebrate is when I started this podcast, there was no one, no one following me, no one listening. I was starting from ground 0, and I have been very Purposeful in not checking my stats. Because, one, I'm a very competitive person, and I like to win, and I like to do things big.
Penny Casselman [00:16:27]:
And I knew that if I started checking stats after week 1 or 2 or 3, I could potentially become discouraged and think why bother. So it wasn't until today that I decided to check. And I am so in the mode of celebration because I have 59 followers on Apple, and I have 22 followers on Spotify. I am so deeply blessed to know that 59 plus 22. 81 people have hit the subscribe button to get alerts when I show up every week. So thank you so much. And lastly, I'd want to read a new You review that I received. Being Beth says, growing up, red markers pointed out mistakes on my tests, But Penny has redefined a red marker.
Penny Casselman [00:17:34]:
It's not about what others think or the right way of doing things. It's recognizing what doesn't fit with who I am now and pivoting towards my future self's vision. Penny gets to the heart of the matter with stories that are both inspiring and grounded with practical insights. It's real, relatable, and motivating. Aw. Thank you so much, Bing Beth. I am thrilled to know that what I'm putting out to the world is resonating with you and making an impact. I could not think of a more Celebratory, grateful moment for me to close out the year with a review like that.
Penny Casselman [00:18:22]:
With that being said, my friend, I hope you find grace and gratitude and reasons to celebrate as we close out 2023, and I cannot wait to kick off 2024 with you. I will be back here in a week with bells on. Friend, thanks for listening to this Soad 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. 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, go grab a red marker. Get excited for your future, and make your 1st move to pivot passion.
