Penny Casselman [00:00:00]:
You know I love my red marker moments, and I will tell you that when you catch yourself pausing and starting to appreciate the experience, the sensations around you in recapturing that spark, that is a red marker moment. That is a moment where you are saying, fine is not good enough. I want to get back that excitement, that joy, that awe in what I'm doing. Welcome to the Pivot with Passion podcast. Hi. I'm Penny Casselman. I believe everyone is deserving of a phenomenal life. And when you learn to pivot with passion, your world explodes with opportunities.
Penny Casselman [00:00:48]:
Go grab your favorite beverage and let's shake things up as we explore how to pivot with passion. Welcome. I am thrilled that you are here with me this week. If you're in the United States, the topic that we're gonna cover today is very timely because we just came off of the 4th July holiday, which is celebrated with lots of sparklers and fireworks and fun. And I do hope that wherever you are listening from, that this past week, you were able to find some fun, to see some sparkle in your own life somewhere. But here's the thing. Most people are okay with fine. It's fine.
Penny Casselman [00:01:38]:
My life is fine. Yes. My weekend was fine. But because you're listening to this podcast, you are not 1 of those people. Full stop. You won't settle for fine. Now there might be areas in your life that are, quote, fine right now, but you have your sights on amping them up a little bit. The topic I wanna dive into today has to do with the spark.
Penny Casselman [00:02:08]:
What happens when you feel you have lost your spark for what you're doing, for your life, for an activity, what happens? How can you regain that spark? In meditation, they will say, use your child's mind, because the world is brand new to kids. Every time they turn their head, everywhere they look, they are taking in something new. And unfortunately, as adults, we get accustomed to seeing what's around us. I remember I took my niece, she must have been about 4 years old, to Target. I lifted her up and I put her in the little seat at the front of the cart, and I took about 3 steps. And I had to stop because I wasn't sure what was going on. All of a sudden, her mouth dropped open. Her hands shot straight to the ceiling.
Penny Casselman [00:03:13]:
And with wide eyes and her hands circling around, she goes, this store is beautiful. Maybe like me, you can walk into a Target store and not think it is the second coming of unicorns. Right? But what she took in, the colors, the sounds, the items, the people, everything to her was beautiful. And honestly, I probably saw thought the same thing the first time I went into a Target. But over time, we habituate activities that routinely come in and out of our lives. We habituate what we see around us. I know for me, sitting in my office every day, there are many things surrounding me that I don't even notice any longer. Today, I want to talk about how we can quit accepting fine as a constant state of being.
Penny Casselman [00:04:22]:
And I want us to start recapturing the joy, the excitement, the awe that is found all around us in our every day. Because I promise it is there if we just pause long enough to notice. It's time for a clarity cocktail. Today's clarity cocktail comes from Robin s Sharma and she says, goal getting matters. In writing down the brave acts and bold dreams you intend to accomplish will provide the spark to get them done. As you hear me say every week, there are so many things about this quote that resonated with me, especially on this week's topic of what to do when your spark seems to have vanished. The first thing that we come across in this quote is her recommendation to write it down. But she takes it a little further, and that's why I wanted to share this with you because it's not simply writing down your goal.
Penny Casselman [00:05:44]:
It's more nuanced than that because she goes on to say, in writing down the brave acts and bold dreams you intend to accomplish. If we think about an example, let's say your bold dream is to retire when you're 60. That's pretty bold. Heck, yes, write it down, but then also include the brave acts that it will take for you to retire at 60. For instance, learning how to honor what I want. Because if I say I want to retire at 60, but my actions aren't in alignment, it's never gonna happen. Another example could be, you wanna be a triathlete. Side note, that would never be me.
Penny Casselman [00:06:37]:
Or maybe, like me, you want to remodel your kitchen. Both of those are bold dreams, because neither 1 of them is small in concept. In each instance, however, there are going to be brave acts that are required of you in order to make that bold dream a reality. My challenge is, can you take 10 minutes this week and write down a bold dream that you have, the clearer you can paint the picture, the more real it will become. And if you missed last week's episode, hop back over there and take a listen because it had to do with how we can use the power of illusion. And that is what this bold dream is until you have it, until you create it, until you bring it into the world. So with 10 minutes this week, paint a clear picture of a bold dream that you have, then complement it with what brave acts will you have to move through in order to make it happen? Now this is not a to do list, a tick list of all the things, but turn it inward. What will you have to become? What brave action or thought will you have to embody in order to make that happen? Like I mentioned before, maybe it's learning to honor what you say or maybe it's practicing saying no thank you to things that take you off track.
Penny Casselman [00:08:21]:
The more detail you can put behind something, the more spark will be added to fuel you to achieve your goal. Robin S. Sharma, thanks for your wise, insightful quote for today. Goal getting matters, and writing down the brave acts and bold dreams you intend to accomplish will provide the spark to get them done. And now, back to the episode. Cheers. Circling back to this episode's idea of what can you do to recapture the spark that you initially had for an activity or a goal. Now I wanna dive into a little bit of research and a technique that will help you to create that spark and hopefully propel you forward to get exactly what you're after.
Penny Casselman [00:09:15]:
There was a study done by a neuroscience group about people's vacations, and what they specifically wanted to know is when did these people feel the happiest while on vacation. Now these were all people who were taking a full 7 days of vacation. The researchers would check-in with the participants every single day and ask them a battery of questions. And what they found is that within the first 48 hours, they kept using words like first. And it was at that point that they said they felt the happiest. They were most excited about their vacation. They would say things like, it was the first time we ate at the buffet. It was the first time we saw the entire ship.
Penny Casselman [00:10:08]:
It was the first time we took a tour. It was the first time, etcetera. To them, everything was new and exciting and full of awe, but what happened after 48 hours, there was no more first trips to the buffet. It was, oh yeah, same as yesterday. There was no more awe about the ship they were on. There was no more, oh, let's go on that excursion again. Right? They had become habitualized. They had done it before, their body had already registered the feeling, and had now, the second time, third time, fourth time through, started to discount the excitement.
Penny Casselman [00:10:55]:
Now if the vacation example didn't quite resonate, here are 2 other ways that our brains tend to use habituation. Think of lighting a candle. When you first light a candle you will smell the fragrance, it will consume the room. After 30 minutes you probably barely notice the scent. Your brain quits registering at such a high level, because it has acknowledged the scent, it has made you aware of it, you've felt the feeling, and now your brain can tuck that in its back pocket while it uses its power to process other stimuli in your environment. Another example might be when you're driving somewhere and you've arrived at your destination, and then suddenly think to yourself, I don't remember driving halfway here. Again, your brain has taken the path so many times. Habituation has set in, and it kind of disregards a lot of the stimuli that you routinely seen on your path.
Penny Casselman [00:12:09]:
So in all these cases, your brain just stops working so hard, so it can free up energy for other things. So how can we trick our brain into creating that on demand spark in areas of our life where it's kind of dissipated or we feel it's missing and we're lacking enthusiasm. We're lacking joy. We're lacking that awe that we once had. Throughout this episode, I've talked a lot about finding that excited spark, those things that bring you awe. But conversely, you can have habituation happen in your brain for things that you dislike. Revisiting the research on the vacation. I don't know about you, but for me, I am presented with so many unique food options that I don't normally eat, that by the end of my vacation, I feel overwhelmed with food choices.
Penny Casselman [00:13:11]:
And I will tell you without fail, almost every single time I come back from a vacation, 1 of the first things I'm craving is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on sourdough bread. That's it. After days of restaurants and buffets and food trucks, and who knows what else, when I come home, I am so excited for that peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I found the spark for that sandwich again just from taking a break and going on vacation. Throughout my weeks months, I probably have peanut butter and jelly once a week. It's easy. I always have the ingredients, and it's quick. I guarantee I am not that excited about a peanut butter and jelly sandwich after having it every week for 2 months.
Penny Casselman [00:14:10]:
But put me on vacation for 1 week and bring me back, it is the best thing ever. When you look at areas of your life that you feel you have lost your spark or it just feels dull, or it's fine. How can you create space to get yourself out of that habit forming mode that you have found yourself in. For instance, things that you're excited about, things that you love, you want to find that spark again, break it up. Just like taking a 1 week vacation makes my peanut butter and jelly sandwich taste 1, 000 times better than it did 3 weeks straight. The same thing with activities in our own life, and here is a great example that I will share. When I have drinks with my girlfriends, inevitably, I will have to excuse myself and go use the restroom. When I come back, I am re energized to sit down and spend time with them.
Penny Casselman [00:15:17]:
Just that short little 5 minute break gives me enough space and pause to find that spark and get energized by being surrounded by my friends. If I hadn't taken that break, I can most certainly guarantee that my level of excitement on a straight duration of time with them probably would not have the same ending excitement. That's an example of an interaction because to find the spark doesn't have to apply to things that are physical in nature. For instance, remodeling your kitchen, they can be applied to interactions. When it comes to physical, I use the example of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We've talked about how we can force ourselves to take a pause, refocus, and start picking up on the nuances that we may have missed if we just plow through an activity that we love and have lost the spark. There's also the example of when we have to do things that we hate. Let's say you hate cleaning the bathroom.
Penny Casselman [00:16:34]:
I will raise my hand on this 1. Maybe it's the activities that you don't like. Maybe it's the smell of the cleaners. Maybe it's the time of week that it occurs. This may sound counterintuitive, but for things that you dislike, it's better for you to power through them, to get it done and use the power of habituation to get you through it. So just like being with my girlfriends, leaving and coming back, I get to experience that joy of seeing them for a second time. The same with cleaning a bathroom. I don't want to take a break and come back and experience that same level of dread to finish it.
Penny Casselman [00:17:24]:
So thinking I might do the floor first, take a break, go back, do the sinks and the shower, take a break, go back and clean the toilet, and call it a day, I am reexposing myself. I'm giving myself a break to experience everything involved with that process from the top, from the beginning. My brain won't shut off the smell of all the chemicals or everything else I'm dealing with. It will revisit it as new, and I will get hit with the same wave of dread. So when it comes to losing your spark, pause, give yourself some space so that it is new to your ears, your eyes, your senses to take it in again and be observant. Conversely, if it is something you really hate doing, power through, my friend, so that you are not constantly creating resistance every time you stop and start. You know, I love my red marker moments, and I will tell you that when you catch yourself pausing and starting to appreciate the experience, the sensations around you in recapturing that spark, that is a red marker moment. That is a moment where you are saying, fine is not good enough.
Penny Casselman [00:18:51]:
I wanna get back that excitement, that joy, that awe in what I'm doing. My friend, over this next week, find a way to create some space for yourself. Break up the activity, slow things down, let that idea of habituation fall to the wayside so that you can start to experience everything, just like a little kid riding in a cart going through the doors of Target. My friend, I want you to feel empowered this week to take a pause and notice everything around you. Then I want you to pick up a red marker, take some bold action, and go create some sparks in your life this week. Until next week, go make it happen. 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 [00:19:56]:
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 first move to pivot with passion.
