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Feb. 8, 2023

Donna Tashjian Insists You Were Designed for Greatness

You Were Designed for Greatness with Donna Tashjian

Are you living a life of greatness? Or are you living a life of average? Most people go through life without ever discovering their greatness or living a life of their dreams. The good news is that you were designed for greatness! You have everything you need inside of you to be successful and fulfilled. You just need to learn how to use it. 

1. What does it mean to be designed for greatness?

What does it mean to be designed for greatness? In her podcast, "You Were Designed for Greatness,"  Donna Tashjian suggests that greatness is something that can be designed.  She shares that changing the life of one woman can create change for a family and even a community.

 
2. What are some of the characteristics of someone who is designed for greatness?

There are many characteristics of someone who is designed for greatness, but some of the most important are a strong work ethic, a focus on personal growth, and a positive attitude. A great person never gives up, always strives to improve, and is always looking for ways to make a positive impact in the world. A person is also willing to look at their own life and decide that they want to change 

3. What are some of the challenges you may face in your pursuit of greatness?

There are a number of challenges you may face as you pursue greatness. The first is that you will need to develop a strong sense of self-awareness and self-confidence. You must be able to know and believe in yourself, your abilities, and your worth. You must also be willing to work hard and persevere through setbacks and adversity.


4. How can you overcome these challenges?

There are many ways that you can overcome the challenges that you face in your life. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Talk to someone about what you are going through. It can be really helpful to talk to someone who will understand and can offer helpful advice.

2. Reach out to your friends and family for support. They may not be able to solve all your problems, but they can offer emotional support and a listening ear.

3. Seek professional help if the challenges you are facing are too difficult to handle on your own. A therapist or counselor can help you work through your problems and find solutions.



Donna Tashjian Website

Learn more about Donna, her podcast and opportunities to be a speaker for you!




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Transcript


[00:00:00] Bettina M Brown, In the Rising Podcast: Hello, hello and welcome to In The Rising Podcast. My name is Bettina Brown, and I love this show because we talk about living a life that's in alignment with your hopes, your dreams. And I created this podcast because I had worked with hundreds and hundreds of people who were going through cancer and talked about how they would live a life once they have gone through and overcame their cancer.

And for some people that opportunity never came. And so I decided to create this podcast so we can make those changes right now today because today is a great. To make those changes and live your best life. I also created fit after breast cancer.com because there's just a gap in information for those going through that type of specific cancer.

So I urge you to check that out as well. Today my guest is Donna Tashijan. My guest today is Donna Tashijan, who really loves to talk about how you were designed for greatness, for purpose, and that you have a lot of self-worth. So I invite you for today's show. Good morning Donna. Thank you for being on in The Rising Podcast.

I am really excited to speak with you today. 

[00:01:21] Donna Tashijan: I have been looking forward to this too. Bettina, how are you today? 

[00:01:25] Bettina M Brown, In the Rising Podcast: I am, I am doing really well. You know, technical stuff is the side. I'm just going with the flow. , I am going with the flow and thank you for your patience. So Donna, you are quite a profound person.

 You really, you know, in your bio as I read, you really have overcome a lot of things and you. , you struggled with your belief systems around money. You also were a teenage mom. It sounds like y when you talk about here, you had hopelessness, shame, fear, and I always talk about leaving behind the shame blame game that just pulls you back.

Mm-hmm. , how did you migrate or navigate your experiences early on to be the Donna?

[00:02:13] Donna Tashijan: We asked such a profound question, and then I'm like, how many days do you have ? 

[00:02:18] Bettina M Brown, In the Rising Podcast: I know it, I know. I'm like, loaded. Question. Five minutes, . 

[00:02:22] Donna Tashijan: Oh my goodness., it was a journey, the, the main component that, that propelled me, I think, quicker to where I am, where I began to be. Getting rid of shame is my faith.

That was a big component for me and learning. Now I have created this wonderful step system of this is how you can do this, but when I was walking through it, I had no idea. Yeah. , he just, I mean, remember I was 15, and so figuring out how to become an adult overnight and all of the components there and all of the emotional, I often say that when we're a teenager, whatever we feel as an adult, it's multiplied like times a thousand.

 I don't know exactly why that is, but the emotional component that was going on there was really, I only word I say is hard and it doesn't cut it. You know, it's like that's not big enough. But learning to be able to believe who I really was, for me, who God says I am, as opposed to what the appearances looked like or what other people might have said, or the judgment that I felt or what was going on, and learning how to forgive.

[00:03:54] Bettina M Brown, In the Rising Podcast: That was a big part of whole process. You shared learning how to forgive. The first thought that came to mind was learning to forgive yourself, not just others. What are your thoughts on that? . 

[00:04:12] Donna Tashijan: Yes, That's always, and sometimes that's harder. Mm-hmm. , because we might move away from that other person or situation that we need to forgive, but we wake up with ourselves every day.

[00:04:26] Bettina M Brown, In the Rising Podcast: Yes. There's no getting away, there's no getting away from it. 

[00:04:30] Donna Tashijan: And so sometimes it's a little bit more in your face, um, uh, through it all. So yes, learning, but it isn't so much that we need to necessarily learn. It's just really understanding what forgiveness is. And, and then walking that through.

[00:04:50] Bettina M Brown, In the Rising Podcast: Yes. And you said faith was your foundation. , you know, for many of us we have grown up with some sort of belief system. Was that very strong? Were there strong examples that you could see and feel, or was this something that you knew just it was drawn to you and you were drawn to it? 

[00:05:12] Donna Tashijan: There was some of both.

There was an example of, in, of, of. , how to connect with God and, but also at the same point of it all in the environment I was in, there was still a lot of judgment in the decade I was in. That was also not okay at all.

[00:05:36] Bettina M Brown, In the Rising Podcast: Yeah, yeah. And with that faith and belief in God, some people believe that we are supposed to struggle.

We are supposed to. have that pain and we're supposed to have this kind of rough life now because of a beautiful life later. What are your thoughts on, on your belief system and faith ? 

[00:05:58] Donna Tashijan: Well, that's not mine.

um, no. I don't believe we're supposed to have, have a hard time or struggle. There's enough of that in the world without having to believe for it. So, no, my faith, in God is a, he's the answer out of this, things that are going on in the world, not the cause. And so that was a big, big component in, and the way that, the way that I like to say it is my faith is a relationship, not a religion.

Mm-hmm. and. to me. What I mean by that is religion is a bunch of rules that we never seem to live up to. It's we're never quite good enough. And a loving relationship means even when I have bad days or mess up, I'm still loved. Mm-hmm. . And that made a huge difference. And through that process, of growing up quickly.

And over the years I began to really know that, when I was first married, I, didn't even believe, I mean, I didn't believe, I believe that my husband said he loved me, but I didn't know if he would continue. Does that make sense? It does. And so, we, we now, we just celebrated our 38th anniversary.

Mm-hmm. and. It became, as we grew through this and I learned to receive, really receive love. He was a huge example of what that looked like. And we would, he would say, you look pretty today. And I would say, what? And it was kind of our joke because, he knew I needed to hear it a lot. " Love you."

What? I love you. what? And I . And so that he would continue to tell me until I could figure out how to believe it. So there's a lot of things that are true about ourselves that we are loved, that we are precious, that we have a purpose, that we are talented and beautiful, and gifts, but we have sometimes a hard time believing it, take knowledge and receive that.

[00:08:12] Bettina M Brown, In the Rising Podcast: And go with it. Mm-hmm. from there. Right. Right. Versus having to start over where we think, we may have. So it also sounds, well, congratulations by the way. You know, that's, that's a, a great deal to, to be with someone and share a life for that length of time and work through a lot of things that there are to work through.

When you're going through these emotions, did you feel that you had, other people to talk to, such as a mentor or a counselor or something through your church to. Overcome from the what to Yes.

[00:08:48] Donna Tashijan: Not prior to getting married. I did not. It was just me. So, other than what I read, I was a very big reader. But, later on, after my husband and I got married, and then we were, we got in, involved in a church at that time that provided that kind of support? So it wasn't initially, it was pretty much just me and God.

There wasn't anybody else. There wasn't anybody to talk to. And, it was very lonely time as far as the social aspect goes. Yeah. 

[00:09:22] Bettina M Brown, In the Rising Podcast: Yeah. And. , I mean, from where you are today as a speaker and host and founder of Vibrant Living International, just the title, vibrant Living from a place of where you felt RV or not sure that you could be loved and that you were pretty, um, you're an author as well, and a podcast host.

Where would this desire to create vibrant living inter.

[00:09:56] Donna Tashijan: I've always had a passion as long as I can remember to empower women. Believe, not that I don't think men are, but I think women are just amazing. Mm-hmm. . And we are just not aware, most of us, of how amazing we are. So helping women to empower women. Spirit, soul, and body. One of my programs is called Turn your Baggage into Luggage so you can have the life you've always dreamed.

And so these the as, this whole desire came from deep within me to help us to be all that we can be and having a system that's affecting thousands of women around the world to live vibrantly, it's changing women have much more influence than we realize. You change a woman and you change her whole family.

You change the community around her. It's just, it's phenomenal and it, it, I don't even have the words to describe how amazing and vibrant I think that all is. , 

[00:11:06] Bettina M Brown, In the Rising Podcast: and I like the way you phrased that. The, program, you know, your baggage into luggage. Because the reality is we all carry something. Yes, we do.

And. , and that's just the way, I, that's what I believe. You, you, your experiences you carry, whether they are positive or what we call negative, or something that transitions you, it is still something that you carry with you, including your gifts. And I really like how you talk about this as luggage because just saying baggage, it has a different feel.

Like my shoulder slump, when I say luggage, I feel like I'm going on a trip. . I really like, like that wordage. What, what would be one thing that you feel in, in your work with women and as speaking and, and podcasting that women really feel is it's the most luggage you see? Is there one thing that tends to be the baggage, sorry.

[00:12:00] Donna Tashijan: For most women, the number one thing women always ask for is, I wanna build, I wanna have confidence. . and that equates to some sentences like, I wanna love myself more. But they, that, that I think every single woman I talk to wants to be more confident. And one of the unique things about confidence is it is a capability that we build over time.

It is not something we want, we magically feel. And so often we think if I just read this book or if I just would make this changes, if I could just flip a light switch, I would be confident. And confident is something that you build as you continue to grow, as you make mistakes, as you learn from those.

 I often, I, one of my paradigms that I share is there's no such thing as failure. There's only. . So it's just learning to grow and it's being courageous through it all.

[00:13:05] Bettina M Brown, In the Rising Podcast: Yes. And, and I feel that you can be mentored through and by many people, some are, within Absolutely. Your social circle.

Absolutely. And some are not. And some are alive and some are not. Like through books. Right. You can. Yes. Receive that. And it was, I did hear this from, from like the context is that, you know, you do, we may call it failure, but to recognize the courage. it took to do this activity, belief or put yourself out there in the first place and then at some point you gain this confidence to keep doing it.

And eventually things work , they just, it has to. 

[00:13:46] Donna Tashijan: And I, yeah, I agree. The biggest, one of the biggest things that affected me is when the trans, the real transformation happened is when I, went from just a mentor to having a coach. Mm-hmm. . and so learning that, but everybody along the way was an influence.

Yeah. And so I totally agree with that. We, we all need that support. We weren't meant, we weren't meant to do this alone. 

[00:14:12] Bettina M Brown, In the Rising Podcast: No, no. We were not. And I'm glad that you talked about mentor and coach because if there's one theme from, in the Rising podcast that has just come across, the importance of having another individual.

 And there is a difference between mentor and coach, but share how, how, what your belief is on the importance of having that individual provide.

[00:14:39] Donna Tashijan: Oh, every idea I have in my own mind is amazing.

Oh, and it isn't always amazing. And so, and one of the other amazing things about my coaches is as I talk them through sometimes I understand it's not amazing. . And so being able to, and then the asking questions helps to, to dive deeper into subjects or how I'm feeling, which is a big component, is what am I believing?

And all of those kind of deeper questions that coaches get into. But learning to know that, um, when we can have someone that. A bit disassociated from our mess, if you will. Um, they can see things we don't see. Mm-hmm. and even the best anyone, if you look at any successful person, I don't care what, what, you know, c from sports to singing to actors, everyone, business people, everyone has a coach that's highly successful.

So why wouldn't. , why wouldn't we take advantage of the knowledge and the, the, the faster growth that we can occur when we have someone like that in our lives? 

[00:16:06] Bettina M Brown, In the Rising Podcast: Yes. And I think what you said is important faster because we still have a finite time, right. Our, our, our lifespan. , maybe 60, maybe 70, maybe a hundred.

But it's still finite. And if you really want to do all the things, that you know, you were designed for, just having a better system and strategy with feedback from that person, um, to help weed out your good ideas to the great ones and how to make them happen.

[00:16:35] Donna Tashijan: . I don't wanna learn the hard way.

I don't wanna learn the hard way. I wanna learn from other people's mistakes so I can succeed and do all that's in my heart. Yeah, 

[00:16:48] Bettina M Brown, In the Rising Podcast: yeah. And you also have a podcast. You were designed for greatness. Share a little bit where people can listen to that as. 

[00:16:57] Donna Tashijan: It is On all the social media platforms. Again, it's, you were designed for greatness.

I'm probably in January going through a little bit of a name change, but it'll still be there. And it is, a podcast of victorious stories, women and myself sharing tools, strategies, and stories of overcoming. I have the same type of timeframe. I keep my podcast to about 15 minutes for the same reason.

women are, women are busy. and I'll get into an hour podcast and never be able to finish it. Yeah. And so I do the same thing. So it's, it's quick moments of inspiration of women telling their struggles and their triumphs. 

[00:17:38] Bettina M Brown, In the Rising Podcast: Wonderful. And people would like to know more about Donna. They're like, she's onto something.

I feel like what she says resonates with me. How can you be. 

[00:17:49] Donna Tashijan: The easiest way to find all about me is my website, and that is the letter i vibrant living.com. I'm also on all social media platforms, except for a couple, but most of them . Yeah. 

[00:18:05] Bettina M Brown, In the Rising Podcast: Yeah. I mean, there's so many . Yes. We have to to figure out our time.

Yes. What do you, I know you said you're going through a name change. . One of my favorite questions to ask people that have given me their time is, what do you still see yourself rising up to? What is on the horizon for Donna? 

[00:18:24] Donna Tashijan: I wanna go back to speaking and expand those stages. That's one of the things that I know that's on the horizon.

The world changed in the last couple years. Mm-hmm. . So figuring out how that looks and what that looks like. And just growing my team so that we can reach more women. 

[00:18:43] Bettina M Brown, In the Rising Podcast: Wonderful. And A lot of drive to just keep going cuz you're reaching so many.

Absolutely. Yeah. Oh, Donna, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for your patience while I had whatever technical issues on this Monday morning, um, that I was having earlier. So I'm very grateful for your time and it really is an honor to see someone pushing to help women as much as you do. That is like a, a, a huge nudge for me as well.

So thank you. 

[00:19:09] Donna Tashijan: My pleasure. 

[00:19:11] Bettina M Brown, In the Rising Podcast: You know, listening to Donna talk, I thought about something that she said, and one thing was that if you can change the life of one woman, if you can change the life of one person, you change their family and you change their community. And I wanted to expand that to, if you take the time to invest and really put yourself first, really emphasize on what makes you feel.

you by default create an environment around you that continues to rise up. And so that's important too. It doesn't mean we have to do these great major things, although that is cool. But just changing yourself changes your environment and it puts a safe space for others. So I wanna thank you so much for listening today because you know what time is something we don't get.

I also ask that if you like this podcast, that you share it, putting it in the hands and ears of someone that it can make a difference for. I'd also like you to leave your heartfelt review and tell me how you think at Betina in the rising.com. And until next time, let's keep building one another up.