Recounting Life Lessons

When it comes to achieving success and enjoying a life of fulfillment, there is an important step that is often underestimated.  In this episode, Sione and Alana discuss the importance of discovering, acknowledging, and knowing what you want.  They share some tips and ideas for how to increase your awareness to what you want and what is possible for you to go and get those things so that you can e...

If goal setting is overwhelming and you often find yourself disappointed in yourself if you don't hit a goal perfectly, it very well may be because the goals you are setting are too easy. What?! Yes, and that's even if you set goals that are big enough to scare you. That's right, if the goal is within reach, you're doing it wrong and it's the reason you end up feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and li...

We can learn a lot from trees. One of the most important lessons is that we are not meant to be in Spring and production mode year-round.  Sometimes we feel guilty about needing to slow down, to take time for rest and recovery, and not always exerting the same amount of effort in building our businesses or leading our teams. But just like trees, there are times when we need to focus on surviving t...

Life and work should be fun. We all have responsibilities and things that we need to get done. Especially as leaders. The work we do matters, but that doesn't mean we have to be miserable in order to leave an impact on the world and those we lead. We've found that by doing the following three things we've been able to increase the level of fulfillment and joy in our lives.  Do more of what you lov...

How do you snap out of a grumpy attitude when things are stressful or overwhelming? That's the question that inspired this episode. Sione and Alana discuss 3 practices that will increase your gratitude for your past, present, and future circumstances and the value those circumstances have for your life. Practicing the following will not only increase your gratitude, but they also have the potentia...

Not all success rules are created equal. In fact some of the rules for success that you've adopted are most likely holding you back or overcomplicating your process. In this episode, Alana shares how you can tell if a success rule you've adopted needs to go, so that you can start enjoying the process more. Our success rules impact the way we measure our worth in the marketplace and self-image. The...

Sometimes it's worth it to focus and go faster and sometimes is more worth it to split your time and efforts between two things that are of equal importance. In this episode, Alana discusses the saying that if it's worth doing, it's worth doing well, and how to increase the awareness of what is of greater worth and worth doing for you. --------------------------------------------------------------...

While Sione and I were in Utah we did 5 escape rooms over the course of 8 days.  Doing that many escape rooms over such a short period of time led us to recognize a few patterns that also apply to being successful as we go after our goals. In this episode, we'll share 7 lessons that escape rooms taught us that also apply to how to effectively pursue our goals. -------------------------------------...

When we're ready to level up or tackle our next problem the most common advice we're given is to do our research, turn to experts, and put in the work. But there is one thing that we so often overlook, and it's often a treasure trove of solutions and definitely a way to feel more confident and empowered as we move forward. In this episode, Alana talks about that one resource that is often forgotte...

Don't underestimate the impact of your knowledge. Even the most common lessons can turn out to be golden nuggest for someone else and perhaps even yourself. There's something really interesting about these lessons that we've been noticing.  Lessons have layers. There is a significant wealth of knowledge that we may not realize we posess.  In this episode Sione and Alana touch on the importance of...

It is so easy to get caught up in the hustle mentality, the grind, and all or nothing mindset when we see it everywhere around us. But there's a cost that comes with this way of thinking. In this episode, Alana shares how she learned the importance of choosing the right goals, choosing the right pace to go after them, and keeping the big picture of success in mind. The compound effect works both w...

Watching Iam Tongi's journey to winning American Idol this year reminded us of the power and influence that authenticity and music can have in our lives.  In this episode, Alana shares some of her experiences of what it was like to watch other people react to Iam Tongi's American Idol audition video and then see him perform Monsters live with James Blunt on the show's finale. See the videos she re...

Sometimes when we think about what it will take to make an impact or to have greater influence, we think it will take a lot of work and effort. But that isn't always the case. Sometimes all it takes is something small and simple to increase our impact and influence on the lives of those around us. In this episode, Alana is sharing a few experiences and examples that prove, doing just a little bit...

In this episode, we sit down with Gavon Wong, host of the Ho'oikaika Youtube Channel and podcast. Ho'oikaika means to strengthen in Hawaiian. His show is all about empowering Polynesian men to learn how to cope with the stresses of life in healthy ways. It is also a great resource for women to know how to better support Polynesian men in their life. In our conversation with Gavon, we discuss sever...

To wrap up our financial literacy series, we are sharing our top 5 book recommendations to increase your financial literacy.  When you want to improve your finances, there are two areas to increase your awareness on:  Financial IQ: how to make money, how money works, how to manage money, etc. Financial EQ: how your beliefs and relationship with money impact your ability to reach your financial goa...

After years of teaching financial education, we've been able to help several individuals and families reach their financial goals. Despite our financial knowledge around helping others learn how to better make and manage money, we found ourselves struggling to raise our net worth or to maintain our own financial successes. Eventually, we realized it all had to do with our mindsets and attitudes ar...

Volatility causes uncertainty in the marketplace. But, those who know how to take advantage of it, are able to thrive during these seasons of life. In this episode, Sione shares a few of the lessons that he's learned about volatility and what we can do to take advantage of it when it comes to our personal finances. There are three key areas to be aware of: when will volatility happen the decision...

What can we do to give ourselves a financial advantage? In this episode, Sione and Alana sit down with Tara Shim as she shares her financial journey and how a couple of board games, a monthly allowance, and investing in herself and her financial education changed her life.  Raised in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii by a single mother from the time she was about 6 or 7 years old with very l...

A few of the things that we can count on happening in life and as leaders are that things will go wrong, mistakes will be made, we can't plan for everything, and plans will need to change from time to time. So how can we avoid getting frustrated and better prepare ourselves to respond to our circumstances when things like this happen?  Is it possible to create a buffer to allow room for error and...

Being too invested in reaching our goals can lead us to overvalue the result and undervalue the process. Is being goal-oriented overrated? What does manipulation have to do with being overly goal oriented? How can we go after our goals without burning out or ruining our relationships? What does it mean to be growth-oriented? In this episode, Alana shares how her relationship with goals and goal se...

Do you have an investor or a spender mindset? When it comes to having an investor or spender mindset it doesn't only impact our finances. Our mindset will impact the way we choose to invest or spend our time, in our relationships, and in how we lead. Seeing the stark contrast that these two mindsets have led to in the various organizations they've worked with inspired Sione & Alana to share what t...

In this episode of Recounting Life Lessons, Alana shares a few lessons she's learned about how to better measure the value of time and money. There is a lie, that time is money, that most of us have been brainwashed into believing. This lie skews the way we measure our worth and the value that we are able to bring to the marketplace and the world around us. In most cases, it is the reason it is so...

In this short episode, Sione shares two experiences that helped him to realize the importance of being teachable. A few lessons and tips from this episode: As we learn new things we are often able to find out how to get the same results faster. Never assume that you've arrived and that there is nothing left to learn. Allow others to teach you. When we are able to accomplish our goals or get result...

Sione and Alana celebrate their 18 year wedding anniversary by sitting down and sharing some of the lessons they've learned about relationships. Some of the things they discuss: having an attitude of appreciation the habit & "game" of serving one another expressing gratitude and appreciation for one another the need to feel seen, hear, and understood your responsibility in a relationship the only...

What if, at the end of each day, you felt like it was a success? Does goal setting sometimes leave you feeling anxious? Are you tired of feeling disappointed in yourself or overwhelmed and like you're behind even when you are putting in your best efforts to reach your goals? In this episode, Alana shares the value she's found by thinking of success as a feeling and using that feeling as a guide wh...