Director, my challenge for you this season,
who might you become by trying
on something new? What goal, what habit,
what amazing thing could you try on
that helps you create the next version of
you and step into phenomenal success?
Welcome to the Pivot With Passion podcast. Hi, I'm
Penny Casselman. I believe everyone is deserving of a
phenomenal life. 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 pass.
Welcome back to another episode of Pivot
with Passion. That's right. I'm your host, Penny Dreadful.
What are we celebrating? I am celebrating
that my Halloween costume is on point
this year. I am so excited. My outfit is
hanging up so that it does not wrinkle. The wig has been
purchased, the exciting accessories are on a shelf, and
my shoe game is strong.
I have to confess, Halloween is
my favorite holiday of the year. I love
Halloween. I always have. I remember dressing up and
it was so much fun to walk around with other kids in the
neighborhood, get gobs of candy, get told how cute
we were and and how great our costumes were, and then go home
and enjoy all of the sweetness
of our spoils for the evening. However, there was
a stretch where I did not dress
up. Not because I didn't want to. It was because I was
afraid of what people might think.
This was in my 20s, and I didn't
want people to look at me and think I looked silly. I didn't
want my costume to fall flat and have
no one understand who I was. And certainly I did
not want to pass anyone at a party who would
roll their eyes. Have you ever had that experience
where you were tentative to really go full
out for Halloween because you were afraid of
what people might think? Somewhere along the way, I realized
that that fear of being judged by other people,
it wasn't protecting me from anything.
It was limiting me. So in my early
30s, I decided to throw caution to the wind,
and I went full force back
into dressing up for Halloween. So much so that I started to
host a Halloween party that became quite
epic in my circle of friends, to the point where
I had accumulated 13
plastic tubs full of decorations
for my house and one tub
exclusively to hold past costumes.
I went all in. At that point, I started
buying wigs. I had no fear of crazy
makeup. And the more outlandish and fun the
outfit, the better I felt showing up.
And that reminded me what it felt like to
play in every Halloween since. I have
looked forward to seeing who I might become
for that evening. Director here's the truth.
Life gives us endless opportunities
to try on new versions of ourself if we're
brave enough to play along. Let me share what I
just said again. Life gives us
endless opportunities to try on new versions of
ourselves if we are brave enough to play
along. If you think back to when we were kids,
we tried on costumes, accents,
Personas, without hesitation.
It was part of our play environment. We didn't
worry about judgment. We were too busy pretending
to be a teacher or an astronaut or a
superhero or a pop star. But as
adults, did we not start editing
ourselves? We traded curiosity,
fun for conformity and sameness.
And as we adopted that
costume of quote, fine, we somehow
forgot to experiment. For me, that was at least
a decade of my life where I kept telling
myself, it's fine, it's fine, life
is fine. Even though it doesn't look exactly
the way I had envisioned. I had forgotten
how to experiment, how to try it on
and see how something feels before making an ultimate
judgment. When this episode drops, we will be two
days away from the infamous Halloween.
And what a great metaphor that costumes
can be. A lot like new habits, new
goals, new choices. Because the first time you
try on a new habit or go after a new goal,
or make a choice that you've never selected
before, it might feel awkward. Maybe it's
unfamiliar, maybe it makes you nervous because
it's so different from what you've always
worn in the past. But sometimes that's the
exact discomfort we need in
order to grow. When you try something new,
that is, speak up in a meeting, take a risk,
and go after that big dream you've been thinking of. Perhaps you just
want to start a new routine. You're trying on
new identity costumes. And here's the
thing, you don't have to wear it forever.
You're simply exploring who you could
be and inside High Performance coaching. When I
talk to my clients, that's one of the big
opportunities we explore. Because often
it's not the tactical things
that you need to accomplish in order to feel more
successful. Create the life you've been dreaming of. The
better question we often ask is, who
do you need to become in order
to achieve those big, phenomenal things that
you want to go after in your life. As we continue our conversation today,
think about Halloween. Think about those
costumes in the past that you've tried on and made
you feel unstoppable. Holding
that plastic pumpkin, knocking on Doors. Because life,
like Halloween, is all about
stepping out of your comfort zone, trying on something new
and exploring who you could be,
if only for a moment.
It's time for a clarity cocktail.
Here is a great quote from George Bernard Shaw.
Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about
creating yourself. Isn't that the only
ultimate costume change? Every new challenge,
new choice or chapter in our lives
gives us a chance to create ourselves
again, to try on a new way of being
and see what fits. Somewhere along the way, as
we are forced into the mold that
society gives us as adults, we can discard
the fun. We can discard the experimentation, the
playfulness of our youth when we would play
around in costumes and pretend we were other things. Yet
today I am passionate about
reminding you, director, that every day
you have a choice. You have a choice how you greet the
day. You have a choice when you are faced with adversity
or an unexpected circumstance, how you
respond. And those small shifts,
those small opportunities that you have can have you
putting on an amazing costume
that supports your growth or keep you hiding
and worrying about what other people think. The
quote again from George Bernard Shaw. Life
isn't about finding yourself. Life is about
creating yourself. And now back to the
episode. Cheers. Circling back to this idea
of trying it on, is there power in
playing with possibility? Too many
of us stop experimenting because of fear. Fear of
looking foolish, fear of failing, fear of
what other people will think. But that fear
is like staying home on Halloween with
the porch light off and missing out on all the fun
and all of the candy that people are passing
out. When we let our fear make
the choice for us, we rob ourselves
from the sweetness and full experience
of life. I Want to offer now 4.
Try it on. Strategies that high performers
use to help them move forward and achieve
success. The first one Experiment
without expectation. You don't have to be great
at something new. Go listen to some of my early
podcasts. You will see I
experimented because I had no idea what
I was doing. I definitely had a different
voice when I recorded, a different energy.
However, through experimentation, through
trying new things on, I have found my
stride. And by experimenting without
expectation, I was able to get feedback,
learn quickly, and make new choices.
You simply have to be willing to give yourself
permission to explore without attaching
perfection to it. Number two,
Notice how it feels. Remember, a
costume is something you try. If it fits,
keep showing up and wearing it. If you
notice it doesn't feel right, that's your permission slip
to take a beat and try something else.
Because that feedback you're getting and how you feel.
That's data that is not failure.
Number three Cheer for the bold. Instead of
comparing your quote costume to someone else's,
let their courage instead inspire
you. Admire what they've done, but don't
compete. Remember, costumes do have an
element of fun and experimentation, and
like Halloween, life should have those
same opportunities when you try something new. And number four
Commit to to fun. If your goal or
new direction feels heavy, boring,
laborious, you will never
sustain it. You see, fun is fuel.
Don't we all want to do more things that are
fun? And when we find them, sometimes we wish they
never stop. So keep it playful and
light, especially when you are growing and
becoming someone new. In
recap, here are those four Try it on Strategies for you
this season as you step into your
high performer costume 1.
Experiment without expectation. 2. Notice how it
feels. Three cheer for the bold
and four commit to fun. All of
these strategies will help you find and
step into the person you need to become
in order to reach that next level of success in
your life. Director Here is your invitation.
This week, try something new,
big or small. Wear the metaphorical wig.
Step into a new role. Speak with more confidence.
Start that idea that's been, dare I say,
haunting you. You might surprise yourself.
Remember, the best costume you
can ever wear is the one that brings you
closer to who you want to become.
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 Podcast. 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.
