I help high-achieving professionals move from burnout to alignment to lead with peace, purpose, and power.

I guide my clients from from overperforming and depleted to purpose-driven and grounded in peace.

Most high-achieving professionals don’t burn out because they’re weak. They burn out because they’ve been living out of alignment.

We’re taught all the wrong rules about success:
Get the degree. Climb the ladder. Keep pushing. Don’t slow down. Don’t feel too much.

I know because I followed those rules for 25 years.
Degrees. Executive title. Beautiful family. Polished LinkedIn profile.

But inside? I was disconnected, exhausted, and spiritually dry.

My cortisol levels rivaled a 3rd shift ER doctor.

I was functioning.
But I wasn’t living.

Then I asked myself the real questions:
— What if success could feel like peace, not pressure?
— What if ambition didn’t have to cost me my soul?
— What if alignment wasn’t a luxury, but the real goal?

That inquiry became a calling.
I left corporate, rewrote the rules, and now help others do the same.

My Approach: Sacred Success™
Where spiritual alignment meets high-performance leadership.

I combine 25 years of executive experience + MBA + nervous system regulation with deep spiritual and somatic work to help high achievers:

✔ Redefine success on their own terms
✔ Heal patterns of burnout and overgiving
✔ Lead with clarity, peace, and purpose
✔ Move through the Spiritual Alignment Spectrum™—from Achiever to Aligned Leader

What I Know for Sure:
– Success without soul isn’t success—it’s survival
– Small spiritual shifts create massive outer change
– Your nervous system is the foundation of sustainable impact
– You don’t have to choose between ambition and alignment
– You were never meant to do this alone

LET’S CONNECT

→ Book a Clarity Call
Private Coaching | Corporate Wellness
https://bit.ly/49tHtE3

→ Join My Newsletter
Spiritual alignment, sacred ambition & nervous system-based success
https://bit.ly/3CQYhJZ

→ Podcast: Live the Width of Your Life™
Apple: https://apple.co/4aFTKqk
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/4hTaiO0

→ Read My Book
Live the Width of Your Life: 365 Daily Meditations on Living with Purpose, Passion, and Peace
https://amzn.to/3Ygr1AU

You don’t need to push harder to feel fulfilled.
You just need to get aligned.

Let’s walk that path together.

Let it be easy.

I say this to my clients all the time, but lately I’ve caught myself doing the opposite.

For weeks, recording my audiobook has been sitting on my priorities list.

Every weekend I’d tell myself that I’d record all 300 pages in one massive marathon session.

And every Sunday night, I’ve gone to bed having recorded nothing.

Yesterday, my husband found me staring at my computer, overwhelmed.

I told him I was waiting for the perfect weekend and the right energy to record. 

His response? "What about just one chapter?"

One chapter. Just twenty minutes.

On my walk this morning, I asked myself: What would this look like if I let it be easy?

I’d record one chapter a day. 

Maybe twenty minutes in each sitting. 

In 5-6 weeks, I'd have the entire audiobook done.

That feels manageable. That feels fun. That feels easy. 

We do this, don't we?

We turn simple things into mountains. 
We wait for perfect instead of starting with good. 
We choose nothing over something because something feels too small.

What really needs excellence:

•The love you pour into relationships
•The integrity you bring to your work
•The compassion you show yourself

What can simply be good enough:

•The single chapter recorded today
•The project that moves forward one inch at a time
•The small, imperfect, aligned actions towards your goal

I'm learning that "let it be easy" means accepting that one chapter is enough. 
That progress beats perfection. 
That starting messy beats waiting for ready.

So yesterday, I created my audiobook profile. 

Today, I uploaded my cover art and recorded the intro. 

Tomorrow, I'm recording chapter one.

Because 5 weeks from now, I will have a completed audiobook or a sad story about why I haven't started.

What's one thing you're making harder than it needs to be? 
What would change if you let it be easy?
______
👋 I'm Aneta Ardelian Kuzma, author of Lanterns of Light and transformation coach helping leaders create lives of purpose, passion, and peace.
♻️ Share this with someone who's waiting for perfect conditions to begin.

Aneta Ardelian Kuzma

Helping Leaders Redefine Success & Reclaim Purpose | Author, Coach, Speaker

Your voice is not meant to sound like anyone else's.

Over the past few weeks, I worked with four incredible leaders who all came to me with the fear of public speaking. 

In board meetings, with investors, on stages, and during presentations.

Each one was convinced they weren’t good speakers and believed their fear of public speaking was a life sentence.

Everything shifted when we stopped focusing on performance and started focusing on service.

→I taught them to ground themselves. 
→To breathe deeply.
→To work with their nervous system instead of fighting it. 
→To visualize not getting through the speech, but their audience's transformation.

We flipped the entire narrative.
It's not about being perfect or impressing anyone. It's about service.
You are the vessel through which a message flows.

When you stand up to speak, you're not there to be judged. You're there to serve. 

To share something that might change someone's day, their perspective, maybe even their life.

Everything changed when my clients stopped asking "What will they think of me?" and started asking "What do I want them to leave with?" 

One client told me yesterday: "I can't believe how I feel. It's like I've been hiding my whole life."

Your voice is sacred, uniquely yours, and holds so much wisdom from your life experiences. 

Someone needs to hear exactly what you have to say, exactly the way only you can say it.

Not in a polished, perfect way, but in YOUR way.

When we speak from service rather than ego, and focus on connection rather than perfection, then our authentic voice emerges.

And that voice doesn’t shake with fear, but instead vibrates with purpose.

What message are you holding back because you're worried about how it will sound? Someone is waiting to hear it.

What's the best advice you've received on preparing for public speaking? Mine is below ⬇️
____
👋 I'm Aneta Ardelian Kuzma, transformation coach and author of Lanterns of Light.
♻️ Share this with someone who needs permission to use their voice.

This is what living the width of life looks like.

I'm not checking email.
Not planning how to finish the year strong.
Not optimizing anything.

This long weekend, I'm sitting on a beach in Florida with my college friends, the same women I've known for decades. 

We just wanted to be together.

We enjoyed slow mornings drinking coffee together.
We made pancakes and ate them in our pajamas.
We took a slow walk on the beach collecting shells. 
We cancelled dinner reservations and instead ate snacks while playing board games.

This is the greatest gift. 

They remind me of who I am beyond what I achieve.
They let me be vulnerable and give me permission to laugh.
They ground me when I'm too in my head and not enough in my heart.

As high-achievers, we often measure life by doing more.
By what we accomplish.
By how much we produce.

But the real measure of success is being able to live the width of life:

→ Friendships that last for decades
→ Slow mornings without an agenda
→ Conversations that let you be fully yourself
→ Time spent doing absolutely nothing productive
→ Relationships that existed before your title/business/accomplishments

This weekend, my focus isn't on building or creating or optimizing.

It's on living.
On being present.
On remembering that these moments with my people is how I define a life well-lived.

If you're reading this between errands or while being productive this weekend, what’s one thing you could do today just for joy?

Even 10 minutes counts.

Maybe it's calling that friend you miss.
Taking a walk without your phone.
Reading something that has nothing to do with work.
Or just sitting still and breathing.

Share below what you're choosing. Let's remind each other what Saturday is actually for. 
____
👋 I'm Aneta Ardelian Kuzma. I help high-achievers move from autopilot to alignment and reclaim their authentic selves.

♻️ Share this with someone who needs permission to prioritize what's sacred.

I know what you did yesterday.

You made it through Tuesday by telling yourself, "I'll rest this weekend."

But you already know that you probably won’t. 

You'll fill Saturday with errands, obligations, the projects you "should" have finished during the week, and cleaning up your inbox. 

You'll scroll your phone while telling yourself you're relaxing.

And Sunday evening, you'll be right back where you started.
Depleted and dreading Monday morning. 

I know because I did this for 25 years.

Every Wednesday felt like evidence of my failure. 

Like I should have figured out how to make this sustainable by now.

But the truth that changed everything for me:
You're not failing. The model you're following is failing you.

That question—"Is this all there is?" is an awakening.
It's your soul saying: There has to be a better way.

And there is.

I discovered that Wednesdays can actually feel alive.
✓Not by doing less (I still have ambitious goals).
✓Not by caring less (I still pour my heart into my work).
✓But by making tiny shifts that honor my humanity.

Because awakening without action keeps you stuck.

So here's what I did to close the gap between my values and my life:
→ Slow mornings to set my intentions for the day and fill myself up
→ I schedule 15 minutes between meetings to actually breathe
→ I eat lunch away from my desk 
→ I ask, "Is this aligned and will this matter in 5 years?" before saying yes
→ I protect one day a week as sacred - no work, no scrolling, just presence
→ I celebrate weekly wins, even tiny ones

The magic? These small acts of rebellion against the hustle add up.

They become proof that you can be successful AND human.
Driven AND peaceful.
Ambitious AND aligned.

So here's my Wednesday challenge for you:

→Pick ONE thing from my list above, or create your own. Just one.
→Do it today.
→Notice how it feels to choose yourself in the middle of the chaos.

Because when you remind yourself that your needs matter, everything shifts.

Your energy changes.
Your presence deepens.
Your work actually improves.

What small act of self-honor will you choose today?
____
👋 I'm Aneta Ardelian Kuzma. I help high-achievers move from autopilot to alignment and reclaim their authentic selves.
♻️ Share this with someone who's counting down to the weekend.

I know what you did yesterday.
You made it through Tuesday by telling yourself: "I'll rest this weekend."
But you already know that you probably won’t. 
You'll fill Saturday with errands, obligations, the projects you "should" have finished during the week, and cleaning up your inbox. 
You'll scroll your phone while telling yourself you're relaxing.
And Sunday evening, you'll be right back where you started. 
Depleted. 
Dreading Monday.
I know because I did this for 25 years.
Every Wednesday felt like evidence of my failure. 
Like I should have figured out how to make this sustainable by now.
But the truth that changed everything for me:
You're not failing. 
The model you're following is failing you.

That question—"Is this all there is?"is an awakening.
It's your soul saying: There has to be a better way.
And there is.
I discovered that Wednesdays can actually feel alive.
Not by doing less (I still have ambitious goals).
Not by caring less (I still pour my heart into my work).
But by 

Her call came through on Saturday while I was at the beach. I picked up, feeling nervous.

Weekend calls are rarely good news.

But instead of panic in her voice, she sounded great. 

"Aneta, I just had my best month ever in business."

I could feel myself smiling as I listened to her news. 

My heart was so full of gratitude and pride for her.

Because just over a year ago, this same client was burned out, exhausted, and questioning what she had built.

She felt like she was back at square one after years of pouring into her business.

"I don't even recognize myself anymore," she told me then.

Her transformation didn't come from more strategy or pushing harder.
It happened when she finally chose herself first.

Here's what we focused on:

→ Regulate first

She started taking daily walks, focusing on rest, eating healthy meals, regular massages, and evenings where she slowed down and listened to her body. 

She stopped pushing through exhaustion and started honoring what she needed.

→ Get honest about what brings you joy

She listed everything in her business, circled what lit her up, and crossed out what drained her.

Then she released the offers and services she no longer wanted to do.

→ Charge for your true value

When you focus on what you love, you do your best work. 
Your best work naturally commands a higher level of investment.

→ Schedule more fun than urgency

She proactively scheduled travel, time with friends, and activities that felt fun and meaningful. 

These became part of her life again, not something she squeezed in when there was time.

Sitting on that beach, listening to her share with so much joy, I was reminded why I do this work.

Because success without alignment eventually becomes self-abandonment.

But when you build from wholeness? 
When you give yourself permission to rest, release, and realign?

That's when your best month ever becomes your new normal.

Not because you worked harder.
Because you finally worked from a place of deep alignment.

What's one thing you need to release, and one thing you feel called to expand?  The answer might be your next breakthrough.

Share below. 
_____
👋 I'm Aneta Ardelian Kuzma. I guide high-achievers from burnout to alignment, so they lead with peace, purpose, and power.

♻️ Share this with someone who needs permission to transform through rest, not hustle.

Thursday used to be my throwaway day.

Too tired to be productive.
Too far from Friday to feel relief.
Barely surviving until the weekend.

I dreaded that heavy, depleted feeling when you're running on fumes but still have miles to go.

For years, I accepted this as normal.

Until I realized that Thursday wasn't the problem.
How I was spending Monday through Wednesday was.

I was giving away my best energy to everyone else's priorities.

By Thursday, all I had left were scraps.

Here's what changed everything:

I stopped treating Thursday as "almost the weekend" and started treating it as time that still mattered.

Every Thursday morning now, I ask myself three questions:

1. What have I been putting off that would feel amazing to complete?
2. Who haven't I connected with that I genuinely miss?
3. What would make me proud of this week when I do my Friday reflection?

Then I do something radical:
→ Cancel one thing
→ Add one thing that lights me up
→ Protect 30 minutes for something that brings me joy

Last Thursday?
Rescheduled a "catch-up" meeting that wasn't a top priority. 
Spent 30 minutes writing in my journal.
Read for fun in the middle of the day to reset.

The energy shift was immediate.

Because Thursday isn't meant to be endured.

It's 20% of your work week, and 52 days of your year.

That's too much life waiting for the weekend.

My clients who started doing this reported:
→ Better sleep on Thursday nights
→ Actually enjoying Friday instead of collapsing at 7 pm Friday
→ Weekend energy to do things they enjoy

Stop treating Thursday like it doesn't count, and instead treat it as one more chance this week to choose alignment over autopilot.

What one thing could you shift today to reclaim your Thursday?

Share below.  
____
👋 I'm Aneta Ardelian Kuzma. I guide high-achieving professionals from burnout to alignment, to lead with peace, purpose, and power.

♻️ Share this with someone who needs their Thursday back.

"You can't be angry if you're focused on gratitude."

David McBee said this to me during our recent podcast conversation, and I haven't stopped thinking about it since. 

Two years ago, David was diagnosed with neuroendocrine tumors, the same rare cancer that took Steve Jobs and Aretha Franklin. 

They found twelve tumors in his liver, and his doctor told him, "It's not a matter of if this cancer will kill you, it's just a matter of when."

This kind of news could break anyone, but David chose something different.

He got a tattoo that says "gratitude" backwards so he sees it correctly in the mirror each morning. 

He sets an alarm for 9 PM every night, asking, "What are you grateful for today?" 

He keeps smooth rocks on his desk, and each time he touches one, he pauses to think of something he's grateful for.

Every night before bed, he and his wife share what they're grateful for.

"If you really focus on gratitude," David told me, "you don't have the mental capacity to be angry or sad at the same time. Gratitude takes your whole energy in another direction, and away from the negativity."

Before his diagnosis, David admitted that he had a short fuse.

Road rage.
His daughter's messiness clashed with his OCD.
His work stress consumed him.

David later discovered that anger is stored in the liver.
The same place where twelve tumors grew.
He'd spent years burying his anger behind forced positivity, but it didn’t work. 

He chose to shift his mindset.

Now he says, "Who cares if someone's driving slow in the left lane? At least it's not cancer."

When I checked in with him last week, his tumors hadn't grown. 
He takes walks. 
Reads by the campfire in his backyard. 
Listens to his playlist of songs about hope.
He's living the width of his life, not just the length.

David reminded me that we don’t need to wait for perfect conditions to practice gratitude. 

He practices it while living with cancer. 
While waiting for his next scan. 
While managing the fear that tries to creep in.

Because gratitude isn't about denying reality, it's about choosing where to focus our sacred energy.

No matter how hard your day may be, there's always something to be grateful for. Even if it's just the fact that you're here right now, breathing, and can say "I am grateful."

What are you grateful for today? 
Right now. In this imperfect, messy, beautiful moment.

Share below. Let's fill this space with gratitude and remind each other what really matters.
____
👋 I'm Aneta Ardelian Kuzma, host of Live the Width of Your Life podcast, author of Lanterns of Light, and transformation coach helping leaders create lives of purpose, passion, and peace.

🎙️ Listen to my full conversation with David McBee. Link in comments.

♻️ Share this with someone who needs a reminder that gratitude changes everything.

Yesterday I taught a corporate wellness session on navigating the holidays without burnout.

When I asked the room how they were feeling, the answers came quickly:

✓ Tired 
✓ Stressed 
✓ Anxious 
✓ Worried 
✓ Exhausted

Then I asked a different question:

"How do you want to FEEL this holiday season?"

Silence.

Most people have never asked themselves that.

They'd been defaulting to the same holiday patterns for years.

Saying “yes” to everything, running on fumes, wondering why it never felt good.

So we slowed down.

Your nervous system isn't broken. It's asking for restoration.

Then I gave them some tools:
→ Simple ways to reset in under 2 minutes 
→ Breathing techniques that actually work 
→ Energy protection strategies like the "Hell Yes" filter and the 3-Thing Rule

Then I put on music and gave them real space to answer five questions that would help them design their season instead of just surviving it:

→ How do I want to feel this season?
→ What will I release to protect my peace?
→ What are my top three priorities between now and January 1?
→ What is one boundary I will set with compassion?
→ What is one simple daily grounding habit I will commit to?

I watched it happen.

Shoulders dropped. 
Breathing slowed down. 
They sank deeper into their chairs.
They were moving from autopilot into alignment.

We finished with 15 minutes of breathwork.

Then I asked them for one word to describe how they wanted to go into 2026.

Rested 
Restored 
Ready

That's the shift.

→ From tired to rested. 
→ From depleted to restored. 
→ From overwhelmed to ready.

It doesn't require a complete life overhaul. 

It starts with one breath, one intention, one moment of choosing yourself.

How do you want to FEEL this holiday season?

✨ DM me "RESET" and I'll send you the Holiday Reset Guide I gave to yesterday's group. It includes the 5 questions, breathing techniques, and a 2026 intention planner.
_________
👋 I'm Aneta Ardelian Kuzma.  I guide high-achievers from burnout to alignment so they can lead with peace, purpose, and power.

♻️ Share with someone who needs permission to choose themselves this season.

Are you holding your breath? Check. 

Maybe you've been holding it since this morning, and you just noticed.

That was me for 25 years.

And I told myself every single time I caught myself:

→ "This is just what successful people do."
→ "Everyone else seems fine."
→ "I just need to push through a little longer."

Those lies nearly destroyed me.

Because that tightness in your chest that follows you home isn't normal. 
It's your body screaming at you to listen.

I wish someone had told me back then that the pressure I felt wasn't a time management problem.

It's your nervous system saying: "We cannot sustain this pace and stay healthy."

→ But you've been trained, probably even rewarded, for overriding that signal.
→ For pushing through exhaustion.
→ For proving your worth through output.
→ For treating your body's wisdom as weakness.

I lived at war with myself this way for two and a half decades.

I "succeeded" my way to burnout, disrupted sleep, and a life that looked impressive from the outside but felt hollow from the inside.

The shift came when I finally asked: What if my worth isn't determined by how much I can endure?

That question saved me.

Maybe you're reading this right now between meetings.
Feeling that familiar tightness in your chest. 
Exhausted but unable to stop.
Wondering if there's another way to live without sacrificing everything you've built.

There is.

But it doesn't start with another productivity hack or morning routine.

It starts with the courageous choice to stop performing and start being.

Here's where to start:

Close your eyes, and bring one hand to your heart and the other to your belly.
Breathe in for 4 counts. Hold for 4. Out for 6.
Do it three times.

Feel that shift?
That's what listening to your body feels like.

What signal is your body sending you today?
Were you holding your breath? Clenching your jaw?
And what would change if you actually listened?
____
👋 I'm Aneta Ardelian Kuzma. I help high-achievers move from autopilot to alignment and reclaim their authentic selves.

♻️ Share this with someone who needs permission to listen to their body's wisdom.

You can be grateful and still feel like something's missing.

As we enter Thanksgiving week, I want to acknowledge that it can be a hard week. 

For years, I practiced gratitude as if it were supposed to fix me. 

I'd list my blessings every morning.
Count what I had.
Tell myself I should feel complete.

But that quiet voice kept whispering: "Something's still off."

And I'd feel guilty. Who was I to want more when I had so much?

So I'd practice harder. 
More gratitude lists. 
More affirmations. 
Trying to drown out the restlessness with appreciation.

Until I realized I was using gratitude as a silencer.

I now know that two opposing truths can exist at the same time:

You can be deeply grateful AND anxious about the holidays.
You can count your blessings AND feel exhausted.
You can love your life AND know something needs to shift.
You can appreciate everything you have AND still long for what's missing.

This isn't you being ungrateful. It's you being human.

Your gratitude doesn't cancel out your grief.
Your abundance doesn't erase your anxiety.
Your blessings don't invalidate your burnout.

What if this Thanksgiving, we stopped forcing ourselves to choose?

What if we held space for both?

The table full of food AND the empty chair.
The career success AND the restless heart.
The loving family AND the unspoken tension.

When we honor all that we're feeling, we stop acting grateful and start living gratefully.

This week, you have permission to feel it all.

To be grateful and worried.
Blessed and tired.
Abundant and incomplete.

Both can be true. 

What two truths are you holding this week?

_____
👋 I'm Aneta Ardelian Kuzma. I guide high-achievers from burnout to alignment so they can lead with peace, purpose, and power.

♻️ Share this with someone who needs permission to feel the full spectrum this Thanksgiving.

I couldn’t wait to go outside this morning. 

I grabbed my heaviest coat and stepped outside for my morning walk, excited for the first snowfall of the season. 

I decided to notice how everything changed overnight.

The world has gone quiet. 
My breath was visible in the crisp air.
The trees, bushes, and the ground were covered in white snow. 

And it was beautiful. 

We're entering the season that’s often called "the holiday rush."
✓Q4 deadlines. 
✓Family obligations. 
✓Performance reviews. 
✓Holiday shopping.
✓Year-end everything.
✓Finishing the year strong. 

But we have a choice in how we experience it.

We can rush through the rest of the year stressed and depleted. Or we can intentionally reframe what this season means.

Here's what I'm choosing:
From stress → to gratitude
From rushing → to savoring
From pressure → to wonder
From surviving → to experiencing

Yes, the deadlines and demands are real. 

But our perception of them? That's where our power lives.

On my walk today, I remembered: I get to choose my lens and intention.

→The busy calendar can be evidence of a full, purposeful life.
→The challenging projects can be a chance to finish strong.
→The holiday gathering can be a sacred connection, not an obligation.

Same circumstances. Different perceptions. Entirely my choice.

Living the width of your life means experiencing each season with intention instead of autopilot.

Which reframe do you need most right now?
Stress → Gratitude?
Rushing → Savoring?
Pressure → Wonder?

Tell me in the comments. And share what that shift might look like for you.

Because when we name it, we claim it.

(Photos are from this morning's walk.) ❄️
________
👋 I'm Aneta Ardelian Kuzma, author of Lanterns of Light and transformation coach helping leaders create lives of purpose, passion, and peace.
♻️ Share this with someone who needs permission to reframe this season.

First Snow Fall

Why are you doing what you're doing?

Why am I saying "yes" to things I don't want to do?
Why am I posting daily?
Why am I committing to engagements I don't want to attend?
Why...

My contemplation has become a daily self-reflection session on my morning walks. I question every choice and decision and ask myself "why."

So, today, my word for the week is INTENTIONAL.

I am challenging myself to look at everything with fresh eyes. 
To honestly answer if the choices I make are aligned with my values. 
If my decisions move me closer or further away from the life I claim I want to live.

When we ask ourselves "why" until we reach the end of the whys, I've discovered that the answer is either rooted in love or fear.

Decisions made out of fear rarely end well.

Fear keeps us performing.
Fear keeps us proving.
Fear keeps us pretending we're fine when we're barely holding it together.

But when our "yes" comes from love? From alignment?
That's when we start living the width of our life, not just the length.

Most of our daily choices are on autopilot.
We say yes because we've always said yes. 
We show up because we think we should. 
We fill our calendars to avoid the sacred pause.

But what if we stopped?

What if we examined every commitment through the lens of intention?

Some things might fall away. Good.
Some relationships might shift. Let them.
Some opportunities might pass. Trust that better ones are coming.

Because when you clear out what's rooted in fear, you create space for what's rooted in love.
We start living the life that is filled with joy, peace, and deeper fulfillment.

So before saying yes to anything this week, I'm asking:

Does this align with my values?
Will this energize or drain me?
Am I choosing this from fear or love?
What would I choose if I trusted that I am enough?

I'm taking inventory. Getting radically honest about my whys.

And I'm discovering that many of my "yeses" have been fear dressed up as responsibility.

What would change if you questioned every "why" this week?

Share in the comments below. 
_______
👋 I'm Aneta Ardelian Kuzma, author of Lanterns of Light and transformation coach helping leaders create lives of purpose, passion, and peace.

♻️ Share this with someone who needs permission to question their "whys."

The Friday practice that changed my life, and I share it with all my clients.

Want to reclaim your weekends and start every week from alignment instead of anxiety?

My Sundays used to be planning days. 

I could feel the dread starting mid-afternoon when I thought about Monday morning. 

My days and weeks were blending into one endless Groundhog Day where I was disconnected from myself, running on autopilot.

Then I made a small change that gave me back my weekends to spend time with my family, rest, be creative, and actually be present.

Here's my Friday afternoon 60-minute practice:
1. Block an hour on your calendar every Friday afternoon

2. Reflect on the week you've had (15 mins):
• Celebrate your wins (big and small!)
• Acknowledge any setbacks without judgment
• Assess your energy levels and how aligned you felt this week

3. Investigate (15 mins):
• Why do I feel this way?
• Did I prioritize what truly matters to me?
• Was I trapped in energy-draining commitments?
• How much time did I lose to distractions or people-pleasing?

4. Plan for next week (15 mins):
• Set your personal and professional priorities
• Envision how you want to feel next week (peace, purpose, joy, ease, grounded)
• Review your upcoming calendar and ask yourself if your schedule allows you to show up as your best self.

5. Optimize (15 mins):
• Ruthlessly protect your energy
• Say no, reschedule, or shorten meetings that don't serve you
• Block time for what restores you—meditation, movement, creative work
• Schedule actual breaks and meals (yes, really)

The result?
✓ You close your laptop on Friday feeling complete, not depleted
✓ Your weekend becomes sacred time again
✓ Monday morning feels like possibility, not prison
✓ You start each week from alignment, not anxiety

My clients tell me this one practice has given them back 10+ hours of mental energy every week.

Not because they're doing less.
But because they're no longer carrying work into their soul's rest time.

You can reclaim your Sundays. 
You can start the week rested instead of anxious. 
You can live from intention instead of obligation.

If you try this today, let me know what shifts for you. I'd love to hear what you notice.

What's your end-of-week ritual? Share in the comments! 
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👋 I'm Aneta Ardelian Kuzma. I'm Aneta Ardelian Kuzma. I guide high-achievers from burnout to alignment, so they lead with peace, purpose, and power.

♻️ Share this with someone whose Sundays need saving.

Three years ago, I sat in meditation and heard: "Go publish your book."

I'd already written it. 

But I'd been sitting on the manuscript for months, paralyzed by advice from a publisher that didn't align with the vision I had for my first book. 

That morning, I prayed to find the right editor. 

Not just for this book, but for books that I knew I'd write in the future.

Out of thousands of profiles on Upwork, George Verongos appeared.

And I just knew.

I reached out in early November, warning him that I wanted to publish before the end of the year. (I know, a little ambitious)

His response to my impossible timeline? "Just send it to me."

That was three years, two books, and one journal ago.

I finally got George on my podcast this week, and what unfolded was one of the most honest conversations about the creative process I've ever had.

Over these three years, George has been my editor, yes. 

But I also joke that he's my friend, therapist, coach, cheerleader, and the person who patiently listens to my long voice memos and reads my panicked texts asking, "Does this suck?"

He reads my work more times than I do. 

Because he cares about every word landing exactly as it's meant to.

Working together, we found this rhythm. 

Me waking at 4:30am Eastern, him working until 4am in the Pacific Northwest. 

Every morning I'd have edits from him. 

We'd go back and forth. 

That's how we got my first book out in weeks.

But what matters more is that George understands that writing is lonely and vulnerable. 

You're sharing pieces of your soul with someone who might judge them. Or worse, dismiss them.

He never does that. 

That's the difference between someone who corrects your work and someone who holds space for the writer you're becoming.

The right editor doesn't just fix your commas. They witness and support your transformation.

My relationship with George has never been transactional. It has become essential. 

If you're sitting on a manuscript, terrified to share it, I get it. However, the right partnership can make all the difference.

What's kept you from starting or finishing your book?

🎙️ Listen to my conversation with George on Live the Width of Your Life podcast (link in comments)
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👋 I'm Aneta Ardelian Kuzma. I help high-achievers move from autopilot to alignment and reclaim their authentic selves.

♻️ Share this with someone who has a book inside them waiting to be born.

Sundays are my sacred pause.

A day to rest, release, and realign.

Yesterday’s sunset reminded me that each day we can release everything we don’t need to carry into the new week.

Wishing you peace today and into the new week.

"I was channeling my inner Aneta."

My client said this to me on our last coaching call. 

His daughter called from school after achieving a major goal. 

She shared that she was excited, but also had a hard time calming down.

Her heart was racing, her breath was shallow, and she felt anxious.

He recognized what was happening because he’d experienced it himself before. 

But now he knew exactly what to do.

He explained to her what was happening to her nervous system.

"It's completely normal after something intense. Let me show you something that has worked for me."

He guided her through box breathing over the phone, slowing his speech and talking softly as he did. 

In for four. 
Hold for four. 
Out for four. 
Hold for four.

A few rounds later, and she was calmer.

"Thanks Dad. I feel so much better."

→ She didn't just feel better, she learned why her body reacted the way it did.
→ She learned a tool she can use anytime in the future.
→ She learned that intense feelings are normal and manageable.

When he shared this story with me, I got emotional.

This is why I do this work.

The tools you learn for yourself become tools you can share.
The understanding you gain becomes wisdom you can pass forward.
The nervous system regulation you practice becomes a gift for those you love.

My client joked about channeling his "inner Aneta," but what he really did was apply what he'd learned calmly, confidently, and exactly when it mattered.

He became the guide for his daughter that he once needed for himself.

What have you learned that you can now teach to others?
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👋 I'm Aneta Ardelian Kuzma. I guide high-achievers from burnout to alignment so they can lead with peace, purpose, and power.

♻️ Share this with someone who's learning to guide others through their own transformation.

Linda Gray is #hiring for a Chief Human Resources Officer role. If you are interested or know someone who might be a good fit, see below.

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