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What does it take to live a full life? At one point, this week’s Motivational Mondays guest — like countless others — fell into the trap of assuming she simply had to live up to society’s standards and expectations. A former bank executive turned life coach, podcaster, and author, Aneta Ardelian Kuzma did everything the “right” way, but still felt unfulfilled in spite of her many successes.
Fortunately, she learned how to turn her life around by looking within, and captured the lessons from her journey in her new book, “Live the Width of Your Life: 365 Daily Meditations on Living with Purpose, Passion, and Peace.”
Ready to create a life of purpose and passion? Join us for this week’s episode to go beyond achieving goals as you fulfill your true potential.
Five years before writing her book, Kuzma was the “worst version” of herself, as she describes it. She focused solely on following society’s rules. And though she knew she was fortunate, she was also incredibly exhausted and burnt out, and her life was missing its spark.
She began wondering if she was truly doing what she was meant to do. The inward questioning continued, starting her on the path to a more purposeful life.
“What I've discovered for myself and for many others is that we need to go inward, not externally, to identify what success in a well-lived life means for me.”
She discovered a similar sentiment among her high-achieving clients. Kuzma has them start by considering their values: “What is the life you wanna live? What’s your north star? What are the things that are most important to you?”
From there, you must look at your day to day life and determine whether your actions and habits are in alignment with your values and goals.
What Kuzma realized, from observing both herself and others, is that change can’t come all at once. Big shifts are often the result of many smaller shifts made through sustained effort over time.
“[P]eople need bite-sized pieces of action or things to reflect on every day,” Kuzma explains.
In the course of transforming her life, and the lives of her clients, Kuzma realized that real health can’t be achieved through compartmentalization. Rather, optimal health is the balance of the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual.
Physically, the body needs to move and express itself on a regular basis. Emotionally and mentally, we need to check in with ourselves as we assess our needs and state of being in order to keep the nervous system regulated. And spiritually, it’s essential to tune in to nature or the sense of some sort of higher power, to feel the purpose behind our choices and circumstances.
When any one of these elements is out of balance, it can lead to frustration and burnout, diminishing overall quality of life and hindering progress toward our goals.
Kuzma suggests that maintaining wellness and balance can be as simple as scheduling self-care into our days. “The best self-care routines are the ones that you look forward to doing,” she explains. “So I always encourage people to have to do something in the morning and in the evening.” Given the current epidemic of sleep deprivation, Kuzma suggests starting with an evening routine to help calm down and get more restful, quality sleep.
Want to learn more about living a fulfilling life? Listen to our Motivational Monday episode with Jenn Lim, a speaker, executive coach, and author of “Beyond Happiness: How Authentic Leaders Prioritize Purpose and People for Growth and Impact.”
[1:54] The inspiration behind Kuzma’s book and its unique 365-day format
[4:43] Why it’s so important to break down transformation into “bite-sized” introspections, advice, and tasks
[6:33] Why vision boards are so effective
[7:53] Why success can’t happen without mental health and wellness
[12:34] How to align your daily choices with your dreams and end goals
[16:00] How society has shifted post-pandemic
[20:56] The importance of meditation
[25:40] How self-doubt can limit and stifle us
Listen to the bonus episode to learn about how Kuzma built her business by supporting organizations through the pandemic, as well as the power of asking “What kind of life do I want to live?”
Resources:
Start your mindfulness journey today with Kuzma’s book, “Live the Width of Your Life: 365 Daily Meditations on Living with Purpose, Passion, and Peace.”
Check out programs, resources for mindfulness and yoga, Kuzma’s blog, and more at Ardelian Kuzma Group, LLC.
Listen to Kuzma’s podcast, Live the Width of Your Life.
Check out these valuable meditation resources so you can protect your mental health, anywhere.
Listen to other Motivational Mondays episodes.