Penny Casselman [00:00:00]:
Inspiration is very future driven. When we are inspired to do something, we feel that pull of awe, of belief, of action, or of a vision for us to take on something in our life. And what I believe to be true is that the more opportunity and the more space that we provide in our life for inspiration to breathe, the more likely it is to come to our aid when we absolutely need it. And because inspiration is a feeling, that can certainly propel us to action. Welcome to the Pivot with Passion podcast. Hi. I'm Penny Casselman. I believe everyone is deserving of a phenomenal life.
Penny Casselman [00:00:58]:
Regardless of where you came from, 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 to another pivot with passion. Yes. We are at episode 41, which to me, I'm damn proud of myself that I have showed up and delivered this podcast. And I hope it is my sincere hope that you have enjoyed this journey with me. So thank you for showing up today.
Penny Casselman [00:01:44]:
Now with the conclusion of the Olympics, I've really been thinking about this concept of inspiration because I find the athletes, the venues, the competitions are so inspiring to me. Of course, it's most prominent while they're happening. But even afterwards, I still find myself reflecting back and being in awe of what a human can do, what a city can do when collectively they come together to put their best foot forward and go after their dreams. And I realized that every Olympic athlete is showing up having had a red marker moment. You know, I had to work it in there some somehow this episode. But think about what a red marker moment is. It is that culmination of having the vision, the belief in yourself and are willing to take action to go after your vision. And that is what every Olympian does.
Penny Casselman [00:02:53]:
It's also what the host country does. Right? They all collectively have to have those three things working together to show up and compete. Conversely, I was also thinking about, jeez, I have massive amounts of inspiration when the Olympics come around. But in a month, in 2 months, I guarantee the inspiration that they provided in that moment in this week will have waned. I might find myself feeling stuck, uninspired, bored, lost, frustrated, burnt out, all of the things. And I started thinking, when we're low on inspiration, how can we create the space to call some in to help boost our own inspiration in going after what we want? And so that's what I want to dive into today with you is how can we make space to allow inspiration in when it is certainly lacking in our day to day. Now if you have ever became so frustrated that you eventually, finally, begrudgingly reached out to someone else because you couldn't figure it out and asked for help. And then the person shares an observation and your hands drop to your side, your head drops back, and you say, why didn't I think of that? Why couldn't I summon that idea, that piece of inspiration to help me keep going? Well, my friend, I can tell you that when we start finding ourselves going down that path of getting stuck, frustrated, bored, lost, burnt out, uninspired, We can get so singularly focused that we cannot see the forest through the trees.
Penny Casselman [00:04:57]:
We cannot pull ourselves up high enough to get a better vantage point. But what if you could push pause and call upon some self generated points of inspiration? Because I want you to stop feeling stuck, uninspired, bored, lost, frustrated, burnt out. And I want you to generate some space so that you can allow some inspiration in to help push you on to the next level of whatever it is that you are going after. It's time for a clarity cocktail. Today's clarity cocktail comes from Pablo Picasso. Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working. Full stop. That is a mic drop moment.
Penny Casselman [00:05:57]:
Truer words have never been spoken. You see, when I think about inspiration, it's not something that we can will, that we can force into existence. It kind of magically happens, and I believe it happens when 1 we least expect it. And 2, when we find ourselves doing or participating in a completely different activity than what we were previously focused on. Because that gives our brain a chance to subconsciously start processing while we distract ourselves with something else. And too often, I know I can find myself getting frustrated and then just sitting and thinking more about what is frustrating me. My friend, thinking is not going to help me find inspiration. Like this quote says, inspiration exists.
Penny Casselman [00:07:02]:
And, yes, it is all around us at every given moment on every given day. We just have to be open to seeing it. And like Picasso says, but it has to find us working. We can't simply sit around and wait for it to fall from the sky, unless you're discovering gravity, Newton. Thank you for the apple. But that aside, we have to be working. We have to be doing something to help call it into our life. Picasso is an exceptional artist, and he was constantly working on his craft.
Penny Casselman [00:07:44]:
He was constantly observing and challenging himself to interpret what he was seeing so that he could share it with others in a new way. He found inspiration from all corners of life Because he was constantly working and allowing new thoughts, new ideas to impact his thoughts. Therefore, generating new inspiration for him. So as you move through your week, through your day, think about this quote. Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working. Thanks a lot, Pablo Picasso. And now back to the episode. Cheers.
Penny Casselman [00:08:28]:
Circling back to the idea of creating space to allow inspiration to enter our lives, especially when it's low. 1st, let's just get it out there. What is inspiration? I was surprised to find that inspiration has 11 different definitions. And it was challenging because inspiration is more of a feeling than a tangible thing. And so the closest one I found that relates to what I wanna talk about today is this definition. To give rise to or bring about or cause. For instance, a philosophy that inspired a revolution. You see, inspiration is very future driven.
Penny Casselman [00:09:17]:
When we are inspired to do something, we feel that pull of awe, of belief, of action, or of a vision for us to take on something in our life. Inspiration can truly feel elusive. When I think about how the Olympics inspire me, it's kind of a broad term and you might think, well, how is that inspiring? Well, I think about the athletes physical performance, how they take care of their bodies, how they exercise, what their nutrition is like, how they fuel their body. Those two things truly inspire me in my life to think about, could I exercise more? Could I eat better? Because clearly I've seen what elite athletes can achieve. And even if I'm not looking to be an Olympic athlete, I think about how much better I would perform if I exercise a little bit more or I chose a little bit more wisely on the fuel I'm using to power my body. There was a study done with some college students and it found that those who felt more inspired had increased goal achievement. The more inspired life you lead, the bigger inspired goals you set, and you are more likely to achieve those goals having inspiration. How awesome is that? If we can find inspiration, if we can allow the space to call it in, our goals can be bigger.
Penny Casselman [00:11:04]:
Our achievement of those goals is more likely. So how do we do that? Now I mentioned earlier that inspiration is not willed. It kind of happens. It appears. And that's part of what makes it elusive. And what I believe to be true is that the more opportunity and the more space that we provide in our life for inspiration to breathe, the more likely it is to come to our aid when we absolutely need it. And because inspiration is a feeling, that can certainly propel us to action. So I've mentioned these words numerous times throughout this podcast.
Penny Casselman [00:11:50]:
But if you are ever feeling stuck, frustrated, bored, lost, burnt out, you might be lacking inspiration. And I believe there are 3 ways that you can create some space and allow room for inspiration to happen in your life. And the first thing is check-in with yourself. Are you tired? The number of studies, the number of books that have been written about how important it is to not only rest your mind, but also your physical body are endless. But if you find yourself tired, how much more difficult is it for you to feel that inspiration or recognize it when it's right in front of you? And again, tired can mean you're physically tired. IE, maybe you need to take a nap. Maybe you need to adjust your sleeping hours. Or maybe if you're tired, you're not eating well.
Penny Casselman [00:12:53]:
Maybe you need to move more. Maybe it's you've just been too sedentary. I was astonished when I read a study that said a simple 2 minute walk, 2 minutes aids in digestion, reduces stress and provides some cardiovascular activity in your body. My friend, if you are feeling tired, address those things because without your health, and I know you've heard this before, you haven't got anything, especially no inspiration. The second thing is your brain is probably in a rut. As you know, when we get good at doing things, they become automatic. We experience habituation. Those grooves in our brain to get something done follow the same path.
Penny Casselman [00:13:48]:
Sometimes when you're lacking inspiration, it's as simple as getting those wagon wheels out of the rut of how you've constantly been thinking to see and experience some inspiration that's already around you. One of the ways you can allow space and call in inspiration is force your brain to think outside the box. Now I remember in college as a psychology major, it was mandatory that I participate in graduate students' studies for their degree. So every few weeks, I'd have to report to a lab and subject myself to whatever it is they needed. And one day, I walked in and they said, we have a cognitive test for you, and we're gonna give you 2 minutes. Tell us everything that you can do with a doughnut. Those were my instructions. What can you do with a doughnut? Now what do you think? What what comes to mind for you? You might be saying have it for breakfast, have it for a snack.
Penny Casselman [00:14:55]:
Right? Those are the really obvious uses for a doughnut. But my friend, I could have kept going beyond 2 minutes. And let me just give you an example of where my mind went when they simply posed the question, what can you do with a donut? I said, okay. Yeah. You can eat it for breakfast. You can wear it as a bangle bracelet. You could make yourself an earring. You could use it as a flotation device for a Barbie in the bathtub.
Penny Casselman [00:15:27]:
You could use it as a door stop. You could use it as a pincushion. Do you see where I'm going with this? Nowhere in their instructions did it say it had to actually do what you said it was gonna do. No. I simply went with the shape and the size and ran with it. All the things I could think of for a doughnut. So when you are facing a task and you are feeling less than inspired, take yourself out of the task and think of something completely different. Look at something on your desk.
Penny Casselman [00:16:03]:
How many different ways can I use a stapler? Yes. You can steal some of mine. Could use it as a doorstop. You could use it to get someone's attention at a window. Okay. I don't know why those two things just came to me, but you get the point. Pick something that's in your room and just say, I have to come up with 10 uses for my tube of lipstick. Go.
Penny Casselman [00:16:27]:
Asking your brain to flex in new and different ways can give it that space that it needs to look at what's frustrating you or where you're lacking inspiration and find a spark for yourself. And the third thing that you could attempt to do is ask yourself, what would Taylor Swift do? Yes, I am a Swifty, but you can insert another artist or someone you look up to instead of Taylor Swift. It could be what would Gandhi do? What would my grandma do? What would my cat do? What would mother nature do? And by picking something that's so much more extreme or on the opposite end of the spectrum. For instance, if you're working on some number crunching, you could say, what would Pablo Picasso do with this situation? Just forcing your brain to take a different perspective might be the pause, the space that it needs to then give you that spark you hadn't thought of before. So my friend, the 3 things in quick recap that you can do to help find inspiration when you're feeling lacking are 1, check-in with yourself. Are you tired? And how can you address that? Because we need you at full strength, because your brain needs you at full strength. The second thing is force your brain to think out of the box. Look at something in your room and say what are 10 things that I can do with a red marker.
Penny Casselman [00:18:09]:
Yeah I worked it in again. And the third thing that you can do is ask yourself, what would Taylor Swift do? IE insert your mentor of choice, whether it's a cat or a family member or a friend or a famous person. Just getting your brain to think about how someone else would approach it can provide you the inspiration you need to get over the hump. My friend, I guarantee inspiration comes when you least expect it. However, with those 3 strategies tucked in your back pocket, you can start to create the space when you are feeling stuck, bored, lost, frustrated, burnt out to help you find that inspiration again and keep you moving forward. Don't forget that you can get yourself your own red marker by simply leaving a review for this podcast. The links are in the show notes, and I would greatly appreciate your feedback because what you leave might spark inspiration for someone else to push play and move their life forward. Until next week, take action and find some inspiration.
Penny Casselman [00:19:36]:
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 episode, go grab a red marker. Get excited for your future and make your first move to pivot with passion.
