Your Aha! Life

Don't Settle for a Half-Life: How to Live the Life You Deserve. If we're honest, all of us have settled in some area of our lives at some point in our lives. This episode is about that. If you find yourself settling for less than you deserve today or know that you have in the past, then you'll want to listen. In the episode, I share how settling shows up in our lives, the reasons people settle, and actions to take if you or someone you love is settling in life. Weeks ago the word, "settle" dropped in my spirit and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. Then, when I was writing this week's blog on The Art of Living a Simple and Balanced Life, I came across Kahlil Gibran's poem, Half-Life. It is beautiful and brilliant, and it set the table for what I wanted to talk about in this podcast. In his poem, he says, "Half a life is a life you didn't live...you are not half a being, You are a whole that exists to live a life not half a life." 

I hope you enjoy this episode. More importantly, I want you to search your heart and ask yourself if you are settling in an area of your life. If you are, discover why and then apply some of the actions I give. When we live half-lives, when we settle, we are not living our best lives - certainly not our Aha! Lives. I want you to live Your Aha! Life and I want that for me as well. We deserve to live the lives we dream about. 

I wish you more joy, more purpose, and more fulfillment. Please join me in continuing the conversation by going to my IG: tonya@yourahalife or join my private Facebook group, The Aha! Community. Whatever platform you listen to/view this podcast, please leave a comment, a review, thumbs up, or claps, and hit the subscribe button. I really appreciate your support. 

xoxo,

Tonya

Listen in as I welcome Maggie Dong to Your Aha! Life - The Podcast. In our conversation, Maggie shares how she helps people master their reality and Create a Fulfilled, Balanced, & Whole Life (focusing on their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual fitness). 

Maggie Dong is a Podcaster, Healer, Fitness and Life Coach, and Channeler. Her story: childhood abuse, immigration, losing her mother at 16, her dad's life sentence, depression and anxiety, eating disorders, dropping out of college, starting and growing her business...Maggie had every reason to give up on life. Instead, her experiences have made her stronger and wiser. I found Maggie to be incredibly peaceful, centered, and open to living in the flow of life. At just 20 years old, Maggie is sharing her wisdom and helping others to master their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual fitness, so they can raise their consciousness and live with fulfillment. 

You can connect with Maggie on IG @maggiedong_ or through her podcast, Mind Muscle Enlightenment. 

When you finish listening to this episode, head over to my private Facebook group, The Aha! Community and to IG @tonya.yourahalife, and we will continue the conversation. Please remember to like, subscribe, give a 5-star rating, leave a review and share with your friends. By doing that, you help me spread the message of Your Aha! Life with the world. Thank you so much. xo, Tonya

As social beings, we all compare ourselves to others. However, how can we stop comparing ourselves to others in a way that is destructive. It all comes down to knowing your intrinsic self-worth and building positive self-esteem. In today's episode, I come to this topic as a seeker or explorer myself. I decided to tackle this topic because I've had several requests from readers of my blog and others. It's a common issue that can hold people back from being their best selves and living the life of their dreams. So, I'm diving in. 

In How to Stop Comparing Yourself to Others: Know Your Self-Worth, I draw upon some prior research and I share some key themes from the book, 10 Simple Solutions for Building Self-Esteem: How to End Self-Doubt, Gain Confidence, and Create a Positive Self-Image (Glenn R. Schiraldi, 2007). There are so many gold nuggets in this book. The point that resonated most with me is the importance of Unconditional Worth - a building block to healthy self-esteem. Knowing that you have an intrinsic worth that is equal, immeasurable, and unchanging is a game-changer when comparing yourself to another. Listen in as I share why you compare yourself to others, the good that comes from it, and how you can make reasonable comparisons without going down a downward spiral and damaging your sense of self. 

When you've finished listening, head over to my private Facebook group, The Aha! Community (join, if you're not a member) or go to IG @tonya.yourahalife.com and we'll continue the conversation. As always, thank you for listening. Please download, leave a review, thumbs up, 5-star rating, and also important, please share with your networks across social media. Thank you! xo, Tonya

Hi There, this is a personal message from me to you. I want to thank you for being a subscriber and loyal listener to Your Aha! Life - The Podcast. I've learned so much this year from you and from the. many guests I had on the show. Now, I'm gearing up for a new and different Your Aha! Life - The Podcast in 2021. In this short podcast, I share the news with you. I hope you'll be just as excited as I am. Over these next two weeks, I'll be relaxing and enjoying family and keeping you in my thoughts. I want 2021 to be a breakthrough year for all of my listeners and followers and that means I want to bring you interesting, insightful, and inspiring stories that help you to live Your Aha! Life. Thanks again. Happy Holidays. I'll see you in January when I welcome the first guest to Season 3 of Your Aha! Life - The Podcast - Mr. Carl Honoré, the voice of the global Slow Movement. 

Onward and Upward!

Tonya

Move Past Fear and Pursue Your Dreams with Tiffany Goode - from Corporate Professional to Trumpetiste

This episode is the epitome of what Your Aha! Life is all about. So much of Tiffany Goode's story amplifies the core beliefs of Your Aha! Life. What she shares drives home the belief that we don't have to choose between career success and personal fulfillment. We can have both. She provides insights and inspiration on how she moved on after being laid off. Instead of going right back into looking for a job pursuing work she had done previously, Tiffany decided it was time she pursued her passion for music. What once was a side hustle became her main thing. Tiffany Goode is now a Musician * TV & Film Music Composer and Producer * Ethnomusicologist * Private Instructor * Actress. Following in the footsteps of famous women trumpeters like Clora Bryant, Valaida Snow, Ernestine "Tiny" Davis, and Cynthia Robinson, Tiffany prefers to call herself a Trumpetiste. 

Tiffany released her debut album, Today Was a Goode Day, on April 17, 2020, under her independent label, Goode Stuff Entertainment Records. In this episode, Tiffany plays a song off her album - Forward Movement. Tiffany's album can be found on all the major outlets, as she mentions in the podcast. Please go out and purchase, download, and leave a positive review. It matters. 

Tiffany shares many Aha! Moments she experienced making the transition and the courage it took for her to face her fears and pursue her lifelong love of music. Her story is an inspiration to all of us, especially those who are in the middle of a transition. Stopping to ask, "What's Next?" can be a really powerful question that leads you down the path of your passion and purpose. 

Although we had some audio difficulties, I hope that you were able to stick with this episode and glean the insights. Thanks so much for listening. I'm so grateful to all of you who listen to Your Aha! Life - The Podcast. It means so much to me. I'd love for you to give the podcast a 5-star rating, leave a review, and most importantly tell your friends about the podcast and share it with your networks. Thank you. I'll be back again soon with another episode. 

The only thing constant in life is change. And change can be hard. So many people remain stuck in the past and never realize their potential. In this episode, I share practical tips on how you can grow through some of life's most difficult moments. 

Using the Williams Bridges model of Change and Transitions (ending - neutral zone - new beginning), I overlay three important ways in which you can practice self-care during times of change and offer tangible actions at each phase of the transition journey. My desire for you is that as you navigate change and transition, you are able to get to the new beginning stronger, more confident, and ready to create the life you want and dream of having. 

If this topic resonates with you or if you're in the midst of change and transition, read my blog article: 3 Ways to Care for Yourself During Life Transitions. 

To learn more about the William Bridges model, read his bestselling book: Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes. After listening to this episode, I'd love to hear from you. Email me at tonya@yourahalife.com. 

Listen in to my conversation with Sudeshna Sen, owner and founder of The Abundance Psyche. Sudeshna is a fulltime corporate leader in data science, a career strategist and personal development geek. Much of what she speaks about is from her own experience navigating her career and what she's witnessed with the careers of her students and clients. Sudeshna brings practical spirituality into what she teachers, as she helps others move from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset. In this episode, she'll provide practical tips on how you can navigate all aspects of life by changing the way you talk about your circumstances and taking practical steps to move into possibilities instead of operating from limitations. Originally from India, Sudeshna now lives and works in the U.K.

How Generous!!! Sudeshna is providing Aha! listeners with a free gift. Go to: www.theabundancepsyche.com/your-aha-life to learn confidence hacks using biochemistry. You'll find lots of other resources as well. 

You can find Sudeshna at www.theabundancepsyche.com; on Instagram @theabundancepsyche and on Facebook @theabundancepsyche

Sudeshna is a member of my Facebook group, The Aha! Community. Come grow with us. 

It's great to be back with you solo. In this episode, I'm sharing some of my top aha's from my life experiences. Listen as I count down the aha's and share my life experiences that prompted those insights. 

Oprah, the queen of aha moments said, "You can't have an aha unless you already knew it. So, the aha is a remembering of what you already knew, articulated in a way to resonate with your own truth." How profound! I totally agree with her. We already know this stuff. I say aha's are our inner knowing made visible. It's wisdom locked within us. We just need a moment, an experience, to unlock it and then we will say, "Aha! Now, I get it."

What are your life's aha moments and the insights you've gained from them? Write them down. Let them remain in your consciousness. They are there to guide you and enlighten you in living Your Aha! Life. 

To read about these aha's, check out my latest blog article, 10 Hugely Practical Aha's I Wish I'd Learned Sooner. 

Practicing Acceptance is essential if you want to experience a life free from suffering. In this episode, I share what it means to practice acceptance, why it's important, and 5 ways you can learn to practice acceptance in your life. The Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr is quoted often. It is a beautiful prayer that is applicable to practicing acceptance. I used The Serenity Prayer as inspiration for this episode. When we practice acceptance, we embrace what is without resistance and empower real change in our lives. 

Note: The story of my friend, Simone, was used with her express permission. 

If you are enjoying Your Aha! Life - The Podcast, please subscribe, rate, leave a review and share with your network. I welcome your feedback and requests for me to cover topics that are of interest to you. Leave a voice message. I'd love to hear how you're experiencing Your Aha! Life - The Podcast. You are also welcome to join my Facebook group, The Aha! Community, and you can follow me on Twitter @tonyacornileus. 

Thank you for listening. I wish you an Aha! Life - a life of joy, purpose, and fulfillment. Come back again and listen to other episodes. 

It's interesting how the things that we go to great lengths to cover up and hide from others are the very same things that draw others to us. Our imperfections make us better people, and not only that, when we accept our imperfections and embrace who we are, we are more relatable and we have a greater chance of impacting the lives of others in a positive way - and that makes it all worthwhile. 

Our imperfections allow us to say, "Not perfect, but not bad." Listen to this episode and learn to embrace your imperfections because it's not enough to know yourself, it's also important to love yourself. Growth is getting to the point when you can say, I accept myself as I am and I accept others as they are. 

Thank you for continuing to listen to Your Aha! Life. Come back again to listen to the next episode and let me know what topics are of interest to you. 

In life, we have many aspirations, but likely one of those rises to the top and provides you the greatest sense of joy, purpose, and fulfillment. That is your Highest Aspiration. Listen to this episode and discover the desire that burns within you. It may mean going back to your five-year-old self. 

"I believe those of you who are on the journey to live an Aha! Life know intuitively that though your life aspirations and coordinating accomplishments may bring happiness and a sense of pride, your Highest Aspiration is not happiness, it's meaning, and you find meaning through serving others,"  ~Tonya Harris Cornileus

Reflection Questions:

Aha! Moments, we all have them. What if you knew that your Aha! Moments are there to teach you and serve as lanterns on your path to living the Aha! Life - a life of greater joy, purpose, and fulfillment. In this first episode of Your Aha! Life, I share my personal story about one of the greatest Aha! Moments of my life. It came when and where I'd least expect and it would eventually lead to me discovering my true purpose in life. I hope my personal story will cause you to reflect on the Aha! Moments in your own life and discover what messages they are trying to tell you.