Penny Casselman [00:00:08]:
Welcome to the Pivot with Passion podcast. Hi. I'm Penny Castleman. 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, and welcome.
Penny Casselman [00:00:49]:
I'm wondering if you have heard the news lately. There is an epidemic. And no, I am not talking about COVID or RSV or the flu, but I know that together, we can overcome this epidemic because this epidemic is a choice. We collectively need to stop settling for fine. This concept is one I am hanging my hat on. I will stake a claim in that we need to stop settling for fine. And, I include myself in that statement because fine is a door. This is the analogy I'm gonna use.
Penny Casselman [00:01:36]:
Fine is a door for us to close when we don't wanna talk about something. How's your day? Fine. How's your house? Fine. How's your project? Fine. That four letter f word slams the door shut on any further conversation. What hides behind that door is an avalanche of other things, other emotions, other feelings, other desires that we hold back from showing probably most people, partially because it's acceptable to say the word fine. It is in one ear and out the other kind of response. But today, I really wanna dig deeper to see if we can't Keep the door open and embrace new possibilities for what's on the other side.
Penny Casselman [00:02:33]:
I said at the beginning that this epidemic is a choice. One of the most detrimental things that we can do is to say that we don't have a choice. But I wanna throw a big stop sign in front of that because we always have a choice. I've said this numerous times, but you may not like the alternatives. You may not even be able to see the alternatives or have the courage for alternatives, but you have a choice. And the minute you take that off the table, life seems a little less bright, a little less happy, a little less everything, honestly. I want you to think about making choices to claim the phenomenal life that is waiting for you. Now you may have heard this phrase before.
Penny Casselman [00:03:26]:
Being broke is hard. Pursuing your dreams is hard. Pick you're hard. Or another example, staying in a job you hate is hard. Looking for a new job is hard. Pick your hard. Now hard might not be the phrase that I would use in this instance. However, it's more the juxtaposition that we need to pay attention to.
Penny Casselman [00:03:51]:
It's showing us in each of those examples, there's always a choice when it comes to the type of life you want to live. Now fine might be acceptable for you today. But my challenge is, will it always be acceptable? One day might be okay, maybe even 1 week is okay, but 1 month, 1 year? This year, I've chosen to explore watercolors. I enjoy doing art projects. Usually, they're more of the DIY around the house. However, I've always been fascinated by painting, and watercolors seem like a pretty low investment in place for me to start. Not to mention, I found this really cool lady who has an Instagram, and she is constantly doing these watercolors that are gorgeous and simple. And she makes me believe I can do them too.
Penny Casselman [00:04:51]:
I will definitely link to her bio in the show notes. Just watching her do a project brings me a little joy. I digress. But Let's say I was going to paint something for Valentine's Day, and I didn't have green in my watercolors. Okay. That's fine because I'm probably gonna be using the red, the black, and the white. So green is not an issue at this time. So, yeah, it's fine that I don't have it right now.
Penny Casselman [00:05:24]:
But is that acceptable in a month? Shamrocks are gonna be pretty hard if I can't paint them green. And even further out, Christmas trees, at least if I'm painting nature scapes, their green. So then I have a problem. That might be a very simplistic view of how fine cannot be fine over time. But I think the same thing happens when we respond to how's the house? It's fine. What? Okay. Well, what about in a month or a year? That veiled fine response is definitely holding back something that you're not being verbal about. What if you made the choice today to let go of the word fine, and instead, insert fantastic as your word of choice.
Penny Casselman [00:06:18]:
What would that look like? What would happen in your life. It's time for a clarity cocktail. The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little, Thomas Merton. When I read that, I was like, dang. In 10 words, Thomas Merton summed up the entire epidemic that we are facing. The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little. And what's a temptation? Easy is a temptation. Anything easy is cozy.
Penny Casselman [00:07:04]:
It's familiar. It's low effort. And often, people give up when that easy becomes hard. And when that temptation becomes difficult, we settle for too little. I guarantee if you can't see this for yourself somewhere in your life, you have seen it in others. You've maybe had a friend who is struggling with something they're trying to accomplish, and you think, oh, they're so good. They don't know how good they are. If they just believed more in themselves, took another piece of action, how amazing would that be? Or maybe you have kids, and the same thing might apply.
Penny Casselman [00:07:50]:
As a side note, I'm also putting all of my clarity cocktails in the show notes because I know when I listen to podcasts, ass. I'm often not sitting with a pen and a piece of paper. You can just go check out the show notes, then copy and paste this quote all over the place because it is such a good reminder. So I'll leave you with it again. The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little. And my friend, you are capable of so much more if you choose to pursue it. And now back to the episode. Cheers.
Penny Casselman [00:08:36]:
Circling back to the idea of stop settling for fine, we just have to be honest with ourselves. Fine is a nonanswer. And especially when it's loaded with tone or context, It's often that we just don't want to express what's really going on, or it could be a complete Flip someone the bird response. How are you? I'm fine. You know what? I've done that once or twice. When we are faced with a question and we choose the word fine, it's just that we don't want to express fully what's going on. For instance, if I fall in front of colleagues, They might come rushing over to me saying, oh my gosh. Penny, are you okay? And I'll look at them and say, I'm fine.
Penny Casselman [00:09:30]:
When really, what I'm thinking and wanting to express is I am so embarrassed right now. Thank you for your concern. I did not hurt myself and maybe turn around and pretend this didn't happen. Now for brevity, fine may communicate all of those things, but you see how fine is just a stopgap, a filler, an almost nonresponse for any question that you might get. I want to provide 2 ways that you can fight the good fight and help stop this epidemic of settling for fine. The first way is just stop using the word. Seems simple. Right? The more I talk about this word fine, it is starting to feel like nails down a chalkboard.
Penny Casselman [00:10:26]:
The more I talk about this concept, stop settling for fine, it is a four letter f word that needs to be wiped off everyone's lips. 2nd, pick a new word, and here's a little exercise that goes with it. When you pick a new word, imagine what in your life has changed to get to that word. So let's use the example of a house or if you live in an apartment wherever you reside. How's your house? It's fine. Oh, yikes. That does not sound warm and fuzzy. So what would happen if someone said, how's your house, and you said, great.
Penny Casselman [00:11:09]:
Oh, what makes a fine house turn great? You could make this into a game that you play. Think of the last time someone asked you a question and your response was fine. What would happen if you picked a new word Instead. What would have to change in your life for you to get there? What excitement comes up? What joy? What possibilities present themselves when all you have done is picked a different word. You haven't even changed any actions yet. This is just an exercise to get you percolating with some new ideas. Now you might be saying, Penny, this sounds a little corny, or this is challenging or it's difficult, and I wanna tell you don't worry because it takes almost 0 effort for you to find someone willing to commiserate about accepting a fine life. A majority of people in this world accept and settle for fine.
Penny Casselman [00:12:18]:
And how do we know this? It doesn't take much to look around and see those people who are successful in any regards. They didn't settle for fine. They chose a better word to help them envision exactly what they wanted. An when things got difficult or challenging, kept pursuing what they wanted. Here's what I know about you, my friend. You are capable of more than what you have right now. You are deserving of more than what you have right now. In fact, I want you to write the word fine on an index card and then pull out a red marker and put a big red x through that word and post it where you'll see it because it will be a visual reminder that fine isn't your best.
Penny Casselman [00:13:18]:
Fine is not exciting. Fine is a four letter f word. It will remind you that If you are looking to make a change in any area of your life, having an attitude of fine will never get you there. If you're fine with the house you're living in, you will never describe it as great or fantastic or phenomenal because you will have settled for fine. So in recap, stop using the word and pick a new word and start to imagine what in your life needs to change in order to move you in that direction. As always, my friend, I want you to walk away today inspired by possibility. I want you empowered to make new choices, and I want you excited for your future because you deserve everything you can imagine. Until next week, go be phenomenal.
Penny Casselman [00:14:27]:
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. 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 with passion.
