June 15, 2023 • 43 mins
In this episode, Tania Kolar speaks with single mother-of-two boys Ilona Koziol, who has spearheaded an initiative to create basketball courts in various neighbourhoods throughout the province. Ilona shares her inspiration for addressing the shortage of courts in the city and the mindset needed to accomplish her vision of enriching the lives of countless young individuals and fostering a sense of community and belonging.
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The views expressed in the following programare those of the participants and do not
necessarily reflect the views of Saga ninesixty am or its management. Hello and
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welcome to the Mindset Mentor. A'mTanya Kola helping you live your best life.
You know, and it's really importantto get some activity into your day
in order to live your best life. While my special guest today is helping
people to thrive through physical activity.She was instrumental in creating a basketball court
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in her community so that her boys. It started off with her two boys
meeting an outlet, but now thatvision has expanded and her dream is to
have court saw you in the aroundvarious places in the province. So how
about we say hello and welcome toElena Koziel, who is also an accomplished
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real estate developer and of course busymom of two boys. Elena, welcome
to the show. Thank you somuch for having me. You know,
it's so interesting, um you knowyour story, because I think that oftentimes
people they just don't realize that theyhave the ability to create change and to
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make things happen. So I lovethat you know, you just started with
a vision, a need actually inthe moment which has now spiraled and turned
to this a really wonderful, ambitiousvision. So let's talk about the beginning
and how you felt that, youknow, there was a need to have
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a basketball court in your community.Yeah, so it started off by my
son has always my younger son,Levin has always had athletic ability. And
you know, as a as anew mom of a child that has all
these abilities in different sports, Iwas learning through his exploration of sports myself,
and basketball just kept kept coming upand at the arcade he would always
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reach for the basketballs and and whatnot. So that started his passion for basketball,
and eventually I signed him up toplay basketball with a basketball coach.
So that's how the passion started.And as you go, as you know,
when your mom, you learn,there's a toddler stage and then there's
the you know, adolest and stageof school age. And that's that's pretty
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much how it started. And werecently moved from a condo to a townhouse
in the hopes that we would haveall this you know, accessible outdoor play
space. Uh. Little did Iknow the construction would last for over a
year. And really the need camefrom he needed an outlet at home to
be able to play by basketball.So driving him to the core, driving
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him to practice, driving him togames was one thing. But in the
summer months I wanted him to play, so he got a basketball net for
Christmas. And unfortunately, our drivewaysnot paved as of yet, and we
live in a big construction zone,so it's not safe for the kids to
play. There's nowhere to put thebasketball net. And my brilliant idea was
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to put the basketball net at thepark. They had just built a city
park next to our house. Isaid, what a perfect opportunity. Let
all the kids share the net.They can all benefit from it. I
called the city to ask for permissionto put the net at the park and
they said, absolutely not. Youcan't. It's a liability to take it
down. And so I started probingfor solutions. I said, what else
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can we do here? You know, I was not prepared to take no
for an answer. There's a park, there's space, what else can we
do? And they had suggested thatI put a request in for equipment,
which I didn't know that we couldeven do. And that's kind of how
the ball started rolling. And youknow, between that and following up and
back and forth, and they hadset out some city staff to see if
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the project's viable and feasible. UhSo, back and forth and back and
forth, and eventually we got astamp of approval. And not only are
they building the net, they're buildinga half a court. So really really
really excited about it. That's soawesome. I love that. So you've
got the green light, the goahead. Um and you know it started
with that that idea, um,you know, assessing the need but also
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taking action. So anybody listening rightnow, I think this is a really
good reminder to to to know thatyou know, you can, you can
initiate change. It's about taking action. Uh you know, speak to your
local counselors, you know, callthe city. Uh, you know,
make a few phone calls, youmake some inquiries, talk to other parents,
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talk to other moms, uh,you know, people in the community.
Because there is this incredible sense ofcommunity right when we can have our
kids playing, uh, you know, enjoying time, which also builds incredible
confidence. I mean there's there's asnowball effect you know for everybody right when
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we do have these extracurricular activities thatare not hours away. From your home
right that are closed, that arenearby. So I think it's important to
know that, you know, weall have the ability to affect change,
and you know, Elana, you'rea great example of that. And I'm
sure that your son is very grateful, you know, in being able to
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enjoy something that you know he lovesand not also having to maybe get up
earlier or leave somewhere sooner to getto where he needs to be. Right,
So let's talk a little bit aboutum, you know, your experience
when you got the green light andthey said from the city, yes,
oh we're gonna put this in andit's actually gonna be even better than you
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thought because we're gonna build a halfa chord. So what was your reaction
to that and your family's reaction.I was thrilled. I could not wait
to tell Levi, I and Mason, my kids. And then that's I
feel like it starts, like yousaid, it starts with a need.
It starts it started with that needand then it turned into this momentum starts
building in the direction of the possibility. And that's really how I live my
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life. In the direction of possibility. I choose my thoughts and where my
energy goes. And now I'm usingthis to spearhead more of that. So
it really just opened up possibility andopen up more opportunities because I'm like,
if I can start here in myneighborhood, in my backyard, so to
speak, how can I make thischange and this impact on more communities and
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for more children and adults. Iknow adults that play basketball. My business
partner every Saturday, they rent achort you know. So it's not just
for the kids. And so nowthis is where the momentum is building and
building and snowballing into something so muchmore. And it doesn't end at the
success of getting the court here.It's really how do you create that all
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over and how do you create thatjoy and happiness? And like you said,
you know, basketball in any sport, is not just about the sport.
There's community building and discipline that theylearn. And I'm learning this as
a mom of now a little athlete, of how beneficial sports are two children
in general, and how many skillsthey learn, and you know, it
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just becomes a lifestyle and an activelifestyle. And really when they gain that
passion, when they do, likeyou said, have it so close to
home, let me just run outsideand play basketball while I'm cooking. I
don't have that opportunity when I haveto drive him to the court and drive
him to games, So it becomesa little disruptive and we're all busy,
you know, my single mom,there's no trading and sharing responsibilities. It
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all falls on me. So havingthat be so convenient really really helps not
just a kid, but the parentstoo. Yeah. Absolutely. And you
know there's the physical aspect, there'sthe the mental aspect, and the emotional
um aspect of being engaged UM,whether that's just engaging with your community or
actively participating in sports. You know, it all has you know a parallel
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and can really um, you know, up the level of our lives when
we are in a state where weare enjoying our surroundings and our environment UM
and engaging with others. UM.So interesting because I know that through the
pandemic where there was you know,not a lot of extracurricular activities because nothing
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was open and at one point wecouldn't go, you know, even to
the park you know, and youknow, use the equipment there or what
have you, right, So andthat really had a detrimental effect. UM
you know, on on a lotof the kids and certainly adults as well,
right, I mean everybody was impactedin some form or another. But
I find that, you know,even listening to some of my my friends,
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UM, you know, with theirwith their children, some of the
kids really struggled, UM because theyweren't able to have that communication that they're
used to, UM, particularly ifthey were part of a team, you
know, team to a team environmentis is so welcoming, UM. And
it's it's something that I think weall need and we've learned that through the
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pandemic. And I remember that oneof my friends UH was talking uh you
know about her son during that timeand how he was really struggling to the
point where you know, he wasthinking of harming himself. And you know,
that's it's a scary thought. It'sa scary place to be and for
anyone to feel like that. SoI love that you have now taken the
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action and taken the steps to createan environment where people can come together,
UM and to maybe even take awaysome of their um you know, stress
by physical movement. Right, that'sa great outlets, UM. But just
also again to to to you know, to share that that community sharing,
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uh, the building strength, fosteringhope, I think is incredible because I
think the problem really lies when weare hopeless, and that hopelessness creates to
so many other downward, downward spirals. Um. So, this is wonderful
that you're doing this because again it'snot just the one act. It's just
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like it just keeps on snowballing andit keeps on growing. So I wish
you all the success in creating themomentum and the vision that you now are
looking forward to, starting with oneidea, right and solving that need,
but growing into and morphing into somuch more. Um So, your kids
right now are at an age whereyou know, they're so um you know,
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impressionable, right, and and soI think that having these these vehicles
that in these out as really helpsto strengthen who they are as people and
to learn and to learn from othersand to also look at you know,
role models. Um And a lotof kids of course look up to professional
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sports athletes, right They're like,they're they're like superheroes. And isn't it
amazing that you can provide kids withan opportunity to you know, become one
of those superheroes down the road.Mhmm, definitely. And like you said,
the importance of having role models,importance of Now I see how important
having a coach. LEVI has,you know, his basketball coach, coach
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nav And and he I saw atremendous change in his behavior and how he
shows up there. You know,they they're not just learning the actual skills
of the sport. They're learning discipline, They're they're learning sportsmanship. They're learning
how to be on a team,how to support one another, how to
say kind words to each other,how to encourage and empower each other.
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Um. So all of those thingsare so important in just building character of
these children and building let them buildcommunity. And I see them showing up
for each other on the court,off the court, Hey buddy, nice
haircut, Hey this you know,so there's so much more than just the
skill of playing basketball. And andagain I see you know, adults playing
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basketball. I know, you knowpeople they do business on the basketball court.
Like it's just you know, anyonecan be involved. I play.
I'm not very good, mind you, but I'm starting out to play because
I want to play with my son. It's something it's you know, I
can be active. It's a lotharder than it looks. Cardio is not
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my favorite thing running around sweating withhim, but he loves the fact that
I'm showing up for him and withhim right and he's teaching me his skills.
So there are so many benefits inall areas, all relationships, you
know, parents, child relationships,peer to peer friendships, so many benefits.
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It's and again, I'm learning thisas I'm experiencing it. And that's
why now I have such a passionfor being able to provide that opportunity for
everybody. I love that. Soagain, that passion is so instrumental in
helping to make the seemingly impossible becomepossible. And so that's a really great
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reminder to everyone listening right now thatyou can accomplish your goals. You can
achieve that dream, you know,just hold onto the vision and you can
do it. You can make theimpossible possible. Stay with us. We're
going to take a short break hereon the Mindset Mentor, and we're going
to continue the conversation with my specialguest, Elana Kazio, who is a
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mom of two boys. She hasspearheaded and was instrumental in having the city
create a basketball court so that herkids and the community had a place to
play and so important, and nowshe is looking at expanding and her vision
is to have more basketball courts invarious places across to the province. So
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stay tuned and we'll chat more withElona when we come back. No Radio,
No Problem stream is live on Suggaynine sixty am dot CM. Welcome
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back to the Mindset mentor Antonia Kolarhelping you live your best life. You
know, I always talk about howyour mindset is like a muscle that needs
to be strengthened and conditioned, andthis is your mindset will workout. And
speaking of a workout, my specialguest today, Elona Kasyall, is a
mom of two. She's as asuccessful real estate developer who has spearheaded a
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project of creating a basketball court inher community and her vision is to expand
that it's around the province so thatyou know, people have an outlet to
get their workout. It's so important. So not only from um, you
know, the mental aspect. Rightof working on our mindset, we have
to work on our bodies and andthat is how we can truly cultivate a
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life. We love Elana, thankyou for being here today, and we're
going to continue the conversation. AndI want to talk a little bit about
the community, because you now haveeffectively gotten community involvement. So it started
off again as a need, youknow, for your boys to have an
outlet, you know, to playtheir favorite game or one of your sons
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anyways, loved basketball, and I'mnot sure if they both play, but
so and that's now morphed into youknow, a bigger purpose. So how
has the community come together. We'dlove to hear some examples. Yeah,
so you know everyone that's heard this. I've shared the story just with my
friends and people in the community,and they're all like, right away,
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there, how can I help?How can I be involved? This is
so important. I have kids.I would love this, you know.
Uh. And obviously I told thebasketball coach, Um Levi's basketball coach,
and right away he was like,how do I help, Let me help,
how can I get involved? Sohe's offered a month of free skills
training at the court once it openedagain to get everybody involved, get the
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community involved. So so generous,heart of gold, and really again,
he knows more than anyone as aretired basketball player how important it is and
how important it was for him toplay basketball growing up. So that's amazing,
really excited about that, and youknow, having different events. I
want to start hosting different events,community events. I'm thinking about flyering,
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you know, the neighborhood and gettingthe kids out because how often do we
just it's so busy. Life isso busy now, and especially like you
said, after COVID, there's nota lot of interaction. They were taking
basketball nets down in fact, duringCOVID so that the kids couldn't play.
But often we live in a communityand we don't even know our neighbors,
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right, So it's the culture haschanged since. And I always say,
you know, back in the day, they used to say, it takes
a village. Where's the village.Let's create that village. It's our responsibility
to, like you're saying, takeaction in the direction of the things that
you want in your life. Whatkind of lifestyle do you want, you
know, just because maybe the communitydoesn't exist yet, it's new here.
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I really want to be able topull that out. And I'm you know,
even on the real estate development side, that's something I'm really passionate about
is when I'm building a community,I really wanted to feel like everyone's there
together, everyone's participating every you feelsafe, you know, when the kids
go outside and play. So usingthe basketball court as an anchor to be
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able to facilitate things like a familybarbecue or you know, let's let's schedule
a family basketball a game, youknow, on top of the generosity of
coach nav and coming in to dothe skills training. So I think that
in you know, building the momentumin that direction too, and being able
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to know that outside, you know, it's summertime and anytime you go outside
someone's they are playing and you know, we're friends. And being able to
have the kids play together and buildthose friendships while they're living here because often
there's there's a different culture now wherewe move often, right, it's not
so much as you know when whenwe were growing up. I personally moved
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a lot myself, but I knowpeople that have lived in the same community
for twenty thirty years. It's notas common anymore. So how do you
have an inviting community? And oneof the things is having these regular events,
And really it comes down to thepeople that live here because nobody else
is going to do that, andso it really comes down to taking the
initiative to build the community and havethose strong relationship with the parents and the
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children. Yeah, I love thatyou're talking about, you know, the
barbecues and the community coming together.And I can think about, you know,
even the street that I live on. You know, sometimes there are
street parties and what a great wayto meet the neighbors and to bond.
And you know, I actually metsomebody at one of our street parties and
um, you know, I had, um, you know, an issue
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one day and I needed some helpand I was able to knock on the
neighbor's door and say, you know, can I borrow you for a few
minutes, right, Which was agreat experience, right. And had I
not attended the street party, Iwould have been like, oh, who
do I call writer or who canI ask? So I think there's just
a really nice, um, youknow, connection that can be had,
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whether that's you know, the kidsand the parents collectively everybody together, or
sometimes you'll just meet that person whocan become a lifelong friend and you had
no idea, but it's about youknow, being open to try. I
would encourage people who are maybe alittle bit on the shy or side,
um, you know, to getout there. Community is so invaluable to
our mental health. Um. Youknow, so it's so important to reach
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out to get connected in some way, and you know, don't be shy
to do that. I know.I remember taking my niece and this was
many years ago, you know,the youngest niece. She's like now,
she's nineteen now, but maybe shewas around ten and we were at the
beach and she did not want toplay with any of the other kids,
right, And I was like,oh, like, okay, well go
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and ask you know her to builda sandcastle with you like, and she
was so like, you know,shy and Timidan didn't want to do it.
But when she started to, youknow, see that, oh,
actually this is fun and it's enjoyable. She got past that initial fear of
oh my gosh, I don't thinkI can do this, right. I
think that's natural. I can bevery natural for a lot of kids,
kids as well, um, tofeel uncomfortable initially. But we you know,
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in order to to live our bestlives, we have to get out
of our comfort zones. We needto push past that fear and you know,
parents can certainly guide their children,you know, in that direction.
Um, and then it just becomeseasy, it becomes natural. And then
it's interesting because then you'll see thatthe other the kids will start to to
be that, you know and helpother kids to connect right and say hey,
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come and play with me, right, because I think we all know
what it feels like to to youknow, have a little bit of a
fear in some capacity. So it'snice to see people evolve and communities come
to life and people to be expressive, and you know, one thing leads
to another, as in your caseagain, you had, you know,
a need that was fulfilled and thenit led into this incredible experience of community.
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And then you never know what's goingto come from all of those experiences
and the impact that that has.So I want to acknowledge you for you
know, the work that you didand taking that action and being that role
model, and now you have otherpeople coming to and saying, hey,
how can we help? So youknow, I encourage people get active in
your community, reach out because younever know who's going to need your help.
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And oftentimes, let's say, whateverwe're good at, we just think
that everybody is good at that,right. So, but I think if
you have the conversations, it's like, how can I help you? Here's
what I could do. How doesthat help you? Right? And I
think it's kind of just so importantto have those conversations started. Yeah,
And I think you made a reallygood point there that I want to touch
on, and it's you know,about coming out of your shell and the
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example that you gave with your knees. I think really, as a parent,
it's our job to lead by example. There's nothing I can expect from
my children that I don't do myself, and getting active in my community is
leading by example and showing them.My kids are very outgoing. In fact,
sometimes I'm like because they get itfrom me. That's my personality.
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I'm very open and friendly and Iwant to engage people. And I see
that coming through those qualities and thosetraits in them. And I one of
the things that I love about thisparticular project and I do other you know,
development projects, and I'm so passionate. I'm like, yes, half
the court, right is because Iwant to show them. And you know,
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LEVI asked me to, is thiscourt going to be here forever?
I'm like, yeah, it's goingto be here forever. He's like,
how many kids are gonna be ableto play here? Exactly? So I
want to encourage that through my participation, through me leading as an example to
them, saying, look you cando this, or yeah, it's not
scary to talk to somebody. Mommydoes it all the time. Look,
let's go talk to the neighbors.Right. I can't expect them to go
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make friends if I'm sitting at homeand you know, pointing at them,
go go make some friends, right, unless I'm actively involved as well.
So once the parents can come out, And that's exactly why I want to
do the events, is get theparents to come out first and say,
look, mommy and daddy are makingnew friends with the neighbors. Oh,
by the way, the neighbors havekids too, you guys can you know?
So I love that leading by example, And like you mentioned earlier,
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having a role model, having multiplerole models in the community is key for
their development and building character. Yeah, absolutely, you know, and just
you know, sort of connecting people. So what is your vision going forward
and having more people on board?Yeah, so I would love to connect
with people that have influence in someway. And it's funny. It's I
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believe in the law of attraction,and I believe that you know, once
we put that energy out, itcomes back. And I'm already getting phone
calls. Hey I know this basketballplayer, Hey, I know the general
manager of so and so. Butreally, I think it comes down to
the city and taking those connections andyou know, I'm reaching out to the
local counselors and so. Really,people that have a passion for children and
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their development and sports is really thoseare the people that I want to connect
with. How can we pull together, like you said, bring the skills
that we each have, bring theconnections, the expertise, the experience,
riens we all have and rallied togetherto make this something that's you know,
massive and incredible and it can makesuch a massive difference for kids and families
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alike. Yeah, I think it'sreally important to be vocal about what it
is that you want because that itmakes it easier for people to help you.
You know. I I'm reminded ofa story, um that I heard,
um, you know, just afew weeks ago, and it was
a woman who was trying to transportsome bottles. Um. I believe it
was to the Ukraine, and sheshe just needed a ride, right,
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She's like, how do I getall of these bottles to this location?
So she puts some asks, asksout there, she you know, made
some calls and she was able totransport her bottles, you know, via
plane to the Ukraine, which wouldhave cost about three hundred thousand dollars if
she were to hire a plane.And she was able to get someone to
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just give her a ride, right, and so, and she had asked
them, well, why did yousay yes? Because she was curious?
And um, the person said,because you asked for what I can provide,
right. I thought, Wow,isn't that interesting? You know when
you ask people and you let themknow what you need and they're able to
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give you that, it's easy forthem. For him, it was not
a big deal at all to lether, you know, have catch a
ride literally hit your ride. Right. But what we believe sometimes in our
mind uh, you know, withour mindset, is that it's not possible.
I can't do it. Who's goingto do that? You know it's
three hundred thousand dollars um, youknow, So we come up with these
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scenarios in our mind before we've actuallytaken action. But when we take action,
it's amazing to see the synchronicities inlife. You know, you talked
and you spoke about the law ofattraction, right, so you're you're attracting
you know, the right people andcircumstances in your into your life when you
are open to the possibility. Right. So I always stress to people,
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you know, please be open tothe possibilities that are available to you,
because it's our mindset and our limitingbeliefs, our perceptions that keep us stuck
and they keep us from, youknow, even asking the questions because we
fear the answer. But sometimes it'sthat fear that can propel you to heights
that are unimaginable. So I thinkthat's an incredible story. Yeah. Yeah,
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And sometimes we block our own blessings, like you said, with our
own beliefs. You know, ifyou don't believe in yourself or the fact
that those people exist that can giveyou a ride. And that's exactly how
the basketball court came about. Isaid, I know there's a solution here.
I know that there's somehow I'm goingto create a possibility. What if
ask yourself that question? What ifthis was possible, What would that look
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like? What who would have tobe involved? What kind of action would
I have to take? And alot of the times we're inspired by,
you know, our own thoughts orour own thoughts that manifests in our minds.
And then we tell people that haveyou know, limiting beliefs themselves,
and then they squash your dream,They squash your dream and they're like,
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oh you're no, that person's right, it's not possible. Oh no,
you know, so really believing inyourself that you can't make it difference,
because we all can. We allhave it in ourselves to make that difference.
If you believe in possibility, ifyou believe in yourself, if you're
you know, able and willing tochallenge your own beliefs too. So yeah,
I love that story. Oh that'sso good too. And you know
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it's so true because um, thereare people in life that we will make
too, Um, will you know, squash our our our dreams. Um.
And what I've come to, youknow, realize, and what I
teach my clients, UM, isthat other people they don't have to be
on board with your dreams, right, because your dreams are yours. So
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if somebody doesn't, you know,resonate with that. It's okay. And
oftentimes we take it personally right,but it's like, no, it's okay.
If they if they just don't getit, they don't get it,
and it's they don't have to becauseit's your dream. So don't let anybody
else dim that beautiful, radiant lightthat you have within you. We all
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have that, and sometimes life happensand then we start to take on other
people's limitations when they say you can'tdo that. When somebody says that to
you, you know, the nexttime, I just want you to question
that a little bit in your mindand say hm, like you know,
and have a compassion for that person, because really what they're saying is that
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is that they couldn't do it,not that you can't do it. They
can't do it in their mind,in their belief system, right. So
I think that's kind of a niceway to just say, Okay, well
I'm going to continue and I'm gonnafollow my passion in my dream regardless of
what anybody else thinks about them.So dream bag, dream high, and
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the possibilities are endless for you.So we're gonna take a break here on
the Mindset Mentor. I'm Tanya Kohlar. My special guest today is Elana Kazio
and she is a real estate developer. She's also a busy mom of two
who has spearheaded creating basketball courts inher community and now her vision is to
expand that across the province so that, you know, people can get the
(30:22):
benefit of interacting with community, ofcourse having the physical aspect of playing basketball
as well. So stay tuned andwe'll be back here on the Mindset Mentor
stream us live at SAGA nine sixtyam dot C. A. Welcome back
(31:00):
to the Mindset Mentor. I'm TanyaColor helping you live your best life while
you are getting a mindset work outhere today with my special guest Elona.
Cause y'all, she is helping usto get active in the community. She's
helping us to see that there isa need for getting the community together,
for people to take action. Andlet's continue along the mindset course. Elona,
(31:26):
So let's talk about UH, foryou, what was your mindset in
in starting out and has your mindsetchanged or strengthened? Um, you know
through the course of you spearheading yourproject. Um, you know, I
got separated back in twenty eighteen,and that's really when I started my mindset
(31:47):
journey. And it is a journey. It is really a journey of of
you know, awareness, of selfdiscovery, of discovery, and you know
I call it. You know,I kept putting more tools in my toolbox,
more tools, the books, thementors, the practices, the meditation,
(32:07):
the gratitude journals, you know,all those things. Really, you
know, I immerse myself in personaldevelopment and the returns have been incredible on
that time that I've spent, sothat this is just a small manifestation of
(32:30):
all the things that I've been workingon, especially internally within myself. Because
five years ago, I would havenever believed in myself. I would have
never thought in the direction of possibility. I would have never thought somebody little
only can do anything, no confidence. So that work, that foundational work
I've been working on for the lastfive six years makes these things seem easy
(32:53):
now, right, And I doreally believe now one of my beliefs is
everything always works out for me,everything always working in my favor. I
know that anything I do is goingto bless more than just me and my
family. So I really live withthose intentions through practice. And one of
the things I always share is,you know, when people are having a
(33:15):
hard time and people are frustrated orangry, I'm like, you are the
only person responsible for the way youfeel. Your thoughts create how you feel.
And if you can learn how tocontrol your thoughts, and first of
all, gain awareness that you havethoughts, you are not your thoughts,
(33:36):
and start, you know, educatingyourself and realizing that the things that you
think about really make you feel theway you feel. So for me,
I want to feel good. Iwant to feel joy, I want to
feel happiness. I want to feellike there's endless abundance in the world,
so there's not you know, beinghappy for somebody else because they're doing well,
(33:58):
and when they're doing well, Iknow I'm going to do well.
So all of that for the lastfive six years has compounded and I'm still
on the journey and I will foreverbe a student and I will forever be
gaining awareness. But those are thereal, core foundational things that really helped
me have the success that I havetoday as a mom, as an entrepreneur,
(34:21):
as a developer, as an advocatefor basketball court So it really,
really starts from within, and that'sthe journey that I implore people to go
on. Because everything's inside of us. People often look for answers outside and
ask for opinions. And like wementioned, you know that person said I
can't do it, so I mustnot be able to do it. You
have an inspired thought that comes toyou and you get really excited about that
(34:45):
idea. Explore that idea first byyourself, right, and then share it
Once I didn't share the basketball courtwith anybody until I can. I gained
some momentum in that direction, andI started thinking about possibility. What would
it look like if there was abasketball court by the house? What would
it look? And then, comingfrom that energy, I started sharing,
(35:07):
and then I led the direction ofthe conversation. Hey wouldn't it Hey?
You know whoever it is, Amy, you know what, wouldn't it be
awesome if? And now you're controllingthe direction of the conversation versus do you
think I could do this? Nam? I don't think so, they don't
(35:28):
ever? Really no? Okay,you know, so really being able to
have that conversation with yourself. First, have the beliefs that enable you to
think in that direction, and thenbe able to share from from that perspective.
Yeah, I love that. Iabsolutely agree with you, And I
think it's really important to ask yourselfempowering questions, right because your questions can
really lead again to uh, youknow, the results that you're going to
(35:52):
to ensue. So instead of saying, you know, why can't this happen?
Or you know this is not possiblefor me, how about asking the
question like how can I achieve this? And you fill in the blanks of
whatever this is for you, right, because then you know your mind is
going to start to go to workto how to answer that question. But
(36:14):
keep in mind then if we've askeda bad question or a disempowering question,
we're gonna get a different response.Right. So it's really important to listen
to our language, our key patterningin terms of our our language patterning again
dictates the quality of our lives.So you know, check in with your
thoughts periodically, ask empowering questions,believe in yourself, know that you can
(36:38):
achieve what seems impossible. You cando it. And we yes, as
you said, Elona, sometimes welook for the external things, things that
are outside of us. We haveall the answers that we need within.
We already have the answers, butwe don't have the belief in ourselves that's
(36:59):
strong enough for us to you know, pay attention to those answers, to
delve into that. But when weare willing, we can tap into that
energy and to that power and youknow, move forward in a way that
is naturally empowering because we start toget rid of the resistance and the blocks
when we can really start to changeour mindset. And you know, listen,
(37:21):
it does take work. You know, as I mentioned, it is
a workout, and this year onthe Mindset mentor is your mindset workout.
But it's a workout that has somany benefits. I mean, it's just
tenfold. They keep on coming,they keep on coming, and when you
start to put in the work,at some point it just becomes organic,
it becomes innate, and life becomesmuch easier. You know. We hear
(37:45):
the expression a lot, you know, to work smarter and not harder,
right, And you know, Iwas of the belief that, oh yeah,
if you work hard, you know, life's amazing. Right. It's
like you're you're putting in the grindand you're hustling, and you're you're doing
the work, and good things haveto happen because you're doing the work.
But I have realized that, yeah, it is actually about working smarter,
(38:06):
you know, and not harder,because sometimes we actually have to take a
step back and release and let goand just allow things to unfold. And
you know, sometimes we get reallyfocused on things have to happen this way.
Let's say, for example, Eleanorwhen you were creating you know,
(38:28):
the whole basketball court, and youhad asked the city, well, can
I put up a net? Andthey said no. Now, you could
have been fixed in that belief thatthis has to happen. I have to
set up a net in this park, and if it doesn't happen, it's
going to be disastrous. And whenwe hold on to that belief, that's
where we start to put the resistance. But when you step back, you
(38:51):
have room to allow something else tocome in, something else that is greater,
something else that is for you.You know, you also had said
something earlier about things happening you know, to me, right, So I
think it's really important to know.And because you said they were all good
things, right, you have thatbelief, which is awesome, right,
But I think it's a really keytoo, is that to realize that,
(39:13):
yes, things are happening for youand not to you when they don't necessarily
go in the direction that you werehoping. Right, Yeah, exactly.
And when things don't work out,or at least that we think they don't
work out, they're still working out. And that really helps build a different
kind of perspective because you can getdown on yourself, Oh, I didn't
(39:36):
get that job, or I didn'tget that whatever. You know, this
didn't happen. This didn't work outfor me, But really it's just a
course correction. In my eyes,I wasn't meant to have that. Something
better is coming, right. Soinstead of saying being down on yourself,
oh I didn't do a good job, or you know this, you know
it didn't work out. This workedout. Sometimes I do real estate development
(39:58):
deals and you know I put inan off and this and that, I
mean, go through the whole thing, and the whole deal dies and it
didn't go through. My reaction isnot ever to be upset. I'm like,
that was it meant for me?That deal was not my deal,
you know, And that's okay.I'm being blessed, right, now the
universe is protecting me because maybe there'ssomething wrong with the site, maybe it's
(40:21):
contaminated, maybe there's there are thingsor you know that that I couldn't have
known myself right now from where Istand. So it didn't work out for
me for a reason. So thethings that don't work out for you are
still working out for you. Soit's all about perspective. It's all about
your beliefs. It's all about howyou choose to feel every day. However
(40:42):
you're feeling, that is your choice. So I'm really really glad that I
was able to hone in on thatand learn that skill. You know,
I wish I had learned it whenI was my kid's seat. At least,
you know, I'm halfway there.So yeah, I think perspective is
everything, and beliefs on everything.So if you can really think about from
(41:05):
your perspective, wise, it's workingon for me. What And like we
mentioned in the in the Direction ofPossibility, there's really nothing you can be
upset about in life. Yes,and you are exactly where you need to
be in life right um. Andyou know there's a quote that I love
by Steve Jobs, and he saysthat you know, you can't connect the
dots are looking um forward, Youcan only collect connect them looking backwards.
(41:30):
And it's interesting because you go,oh, well, it's amazing how this
one thing led to the next thingand to the next and to the next.
And if I had that job,it led to this, or if
I didn't get that job, itled to this. You know. So
it's really interesting to see where lifetakes you, um. Right, But
we want to be a willing participantand sometimes just step out of our own
(41:51):
way in order to allow the goodto come in um and without being too
fixated on you know, what wethink should happen, right and then get
stuck there because remember that life isalways in constant motion. We're always moving
and we're not meant to stay youknow, in one space forever, and
so it's always a cycle and youknow, it's going to continue to evolve.
(42:14):
So we want to you know,flow with the natural algorithm of life
and step out of our own wayso we can allow that goodness to come
in. Well, unfortunately we areout of time. So I want to
say thank you Ilona for joining us, and you know, I wish you
lots of success on your mission.To create basketball courts around the province.
And is there any final words thatyou would like to share with everyone listening.
(42:37):
Just to really be active in participatingand know that you can be.
You know that one person that makesa change, or at least starts the
change, So it starts with you. Go out there, be active in
your community, serve when you can. And yeah, that's that's it.
I love it. You know somegreat advice, And never underestimate you know
(43:00):
the power that you hold and theimpact that you have on others. Sometimes
I think we go through life wedon't realize you know that one sentence that
you said to somebody, You knowthat empowering words of encouragement could change someone's
life. So never underestimate you.Stay with us. We've got more coming
up here on Saga nine to sixtyand make sure you tune into the next
(43:22):
Mindset Mentor on Thursdays at three pm. No Radio, No Problem stream is
live on SAGA nine sixty AM dotCM
The views expressed in the following programare those of the participants and do not
necessarily reflect the views of Saga ninesixty am or its management. Hello and
(00:21):
welcome to the Mindset Mentor. A'mTanya Kola helping you live your best life.
You know, and it's really importantto get some activity into your day
in order to live your best life. While my special guest today is helping
people to thrive through physical activity.She was instrumental in creating a basketball court
(00:46):
in her community so that her boys. It started off with her two boys
meeting an outlet, but now thatvision has expanded and her dream is to
have court saw you in the aroundvarious places in the province. So how
about we say hello and welcome toElena Koziel, who is also an accomplished
(01:07):
real estate developer and of course busymom of two boys. Elena, welcome
to the show. Thank you somuch for having me. You know,
it's so interesting, um you knowyour story, because I think that oftentimes
people they just don't realize that theyhave the ability to create change and to
(01:29):
make things happen. So I lovethat you know, you just started with
a vision, a need actually inthe moment which has now spiraled and turned
to this a really wonderful, ambitiousvision. So let's talk about the beginning
and how you felt that, youknow, there was a need to have
(01:49):
a basketball court in your community.Yeah, so it started off by my
son has always my younger son,Levin has always had athletic ability. And
you know, as a as anew mom of a child that has all
these abilities in different sports, Iwas learning through his exploration of sports myself,
and basketball just kept kept coming upand at the arcade he would always
(02:14):
reach for the basketballs and and whatnot. So that started his passion for basketball,
and eventually I signed him up toplay basketball with a basketball coach.
So that's how the passion started.And as you go, as you know,
when your mom, you learn,there's a toddler stage and then there's
the you know, adolest and stageof school age. And that's that's pretty
(02:39):
much how it started. And werecently moved from a condo to a townhouse
in the hopes that we would haveall this you know, accessible outdoor play
space. Uh. Little did Iknow the construction would last for over a
year. And really the need camefrom he needed an outlet at home to
be able to play by basketball.So driving him to the core, driving
(03:01):
him to practice, driving him togames was one thing. But in the
summer months I wanted him to play, so he got a basketball net for
Christmas. And unfortunately, our drivewaysnot paved as of yet, and we
live in a big construction zone,so it's not safe for the kids to
play. There's nowhere to put thebasketball net. And my brilliant idea was
(03:23):
to put the basketball net at thepark. They had just built a city
park next to our house. Isaid, what a perfect opportunity. Let
all the kids share the net.They can all benefit from it. I
called the city to ask for permissionto put the net at the park and
they said, absolutely not. Youcan't. It's a liability to take it
down. And so I started probingfor solutions. I said, what else
(03:45):
can we do here? You know, I was not prepared to take no
for an answer. There's a park, there's space, what else can we
do? And they had suggested thatI put a request in for equipment,
which I didn't know that we couldeven do. And that's kind of how
the ball started rolling. And youknow, between that and following up and
back and forth, and they hadset out some city staff to see if
(04:09):
the project's viable and feasible. UhSo, back and forth and back and
forth, and eventually we got astamp of approval. And not only are
they building the net, they're buildinga half a court. So really really
really excited about it. That's soawesome. I love that. So you've
got the green light, the goahead. Um and you know it started
with that that idea, um,you know, assessing the need but also
(04:30):
taking action. So anybody listening rightnow, I think this is a really
good reminder to to to know thatyou know, you can, you can
initiate change. It's about taking action. Uh you know, speak to your
local counselors, you know, callthe city. Uh, you know,
make a few phone calls, youmake some inquiries, talk to other parents,
(04:51):
talk to other moms, uh,you know, people in the community.
Because there is this incredible sense ofcommunity right when we can have our
kids playing, uh, you know, enjoying time, which also builds incredible
confidence. I mean there's there's asnowball effect you know for everybody right when
(05:15):
we do have these extracurricular activities thatare not hours away. From your home
right that are closed, that arenearby. So I think it's important to
know that, you know, weall have the ability to affect change,
and you know, Elana, you'rea great example of that. And I'm
sure that your son is very grateful, you know, in being able to
(05:36):
enjoy something that you know he lovesand not also having to maybe get up
earlier or leave somewhere sooner to getto where he needs to be. Right,
So let's talk a little bit aboutum, you know, your experience
when you got the green light andthey said from the city, yes,
oh we're gonna put this in andit's actually gonna be even better than you
(05:59):
thought because we're gonna build a halfa chord. So what was your reaction
to that and your family's reaction.I was thrilled. I could not wait
to tell Levi, I and Mason, my kids. And then that's I
feel like it starts, like yousaid, it starts with a need.
It starts it started with that needand then it turned into this momentum starts
building in the direction of the possibility. And that's really how I live my
(06:24):
life. In the direction of possibility. I choose my thoughts and where my
energy goes. And now I'm usingthis to spearhead more of that. So
it really just opened up possibility andopen up more opportunities because I'm like,
if I can start here in myneighborhood, in my backyard, so to
speak, how can I make thischange and this impact on more communities and
(06:47):
for more children and adults. Iknow adults that play basketball. My business
partner every Saturday, they rent achort you know. So it's not just
for the kids. And so nowthis is where the momentum is building and
building and snowballing into something so muchmore. And it doesn't end at the
success of getting the court here.It's really how do you create that all
(07:09):
over and how do you create thatjoy and happiness? And like you said,
you know, basketball in any sport, is not just about the sport.
There's community building and discipline that theylearn. And I'm learning this as
a mom of now a little athlete, of how beneficial sports are two children
in general, and how many skillsthey learn, and you know, it
(07:29):
just becomes a lifestyle and an activelifestyle. And really when they gain that
passion, when they do, likeyou said, have it so close to
home, let me just run outsideand play basketball while I'm cooking. I
don't have that opportunity when I haveto drive him to the court and drive
him to games, So it becomesa little disruptive and we're all busy,
you know, my single mom,there's no trading and sharing responsibilities. It
(07:53):
all falls on me. So havingthat be so convenient really really helps not
just a kid, but the parentstoo. Yeah. Absolutely. And you
know there's the physical aspect, there'sthe the mental aspect, and the emotional
um aspect of being engaged UM,whether that's just engaging with your community or
actively participating in sports. You know, it all has you know a parallel
(08:16):
and can really um, you know, up the level of our lives when
we are in a state where weare enjoying our surroundings and our environment UM
and engaging with others. UM.So interesting because I know that through the
pandemic where there was you know,not a lot of extracurricular activities because nothing
(08:37):
was open and at one point wecouldn't go, you know, even to
the park you know, and youknow, use the equipment there or what
have you, right, So andthat really had a detrimental effect. UM
you know, on on a lotof the kids and certainly adults as well,
right, I mean everybody was impactedin some form or another. But
I find that, you know,even listening to some of my my friends,
(09:01):
UM, you know, with theirwith their children, some of the
kids really struggled, UM because theyweren't able to have that communication that they're
used to, UM, particularly ifthey were part of a team, you
know, team to a team environmentis is so welcoming, UM. And
it's it's something that I think weall need and we've learned that through the
(09:24):
pandemic. And I remember that oneof my friends UH was talking uh you
know about her son during that timeand how he was really struggling to the
point where you know, he wasthinking of harming himself. And you know,
that's it's a scary thought. It'sa scary place to be and for
anyone to feel like that. SoI love that you have now taken the
(09:46):
action and taken the steps to createan environment where people can come together,
UM and to maybe even take awaysome of their um you know, stress
by physical movement. Right, that'sa great outlets, UM. But just
also again to to to you know, to share that that community sharing,
(10:07):
uh, the building strength, fosteringhope, I think is incredible because I
think the problem really lies when weare hopeless, and that hopelessness creates to
so many other downward, downward spirals. Um. So, this is wonderful
that you're doing this because again it'snot just the one act. It's just
(10:28):
like it just keeps on snowballing andit keeps on growing. So I wish
you all the success in creating themomentum and the vision that you now are
looking forward to, starting with oneidea, right and solving that need,
but growing into and morphing into somuch more. Um So, your kids
right now are at an age whereyou know, they're so um you know,
(10:52):
impressionable, right, and and soI think that having these these vehicles
that in these out as really helpsto strengthen who they are as people and
to learn and to learn from othersand to also look at you know,
role models. Um And a lotof kids of course look up to professional
(11:15):
sports athletes, right They're like,they're they're like superheroes. And isn't it
amazing that you can provide kids withan opportunity to you know, become one
of those superheroes down the road.Mhmm, definitely. And like you said,
the importance of having role models,importance of Now I see how important
having a coach. LEVI has,you know, his basketball coach, coach
(11:37):
nav And and he I saw atremendous change in his behavior and how he
shows up there. You know,they they're not just learning the actual skills
of the sport. They're learning discipline, They're they're learning sportsmanship. They're learning
how to be on a team,how to support one another, how to
say kind words to each other,how to encourage and empower each other.
(11:58):
Um. So all of those thingsare so important in just building character of
these children and building let them buildcommunity. And I see them showing up
for each other on the court,off the court, Hey buddy, nice
haircut, Hey this you know,so there's so much more than just the
skill of playing basketball. And andagain I see you know, adults playing
(12:18):
basketball. I know, you knowpeople they do business on the basketball court.
Like it's just you know, anyonecan be involved. I play.
I'm not very good, mind you, but I'm starting out to play because
I want to play with my son. It's something it's you know, I
can be active. It's a lotharder than it looks. Cardio is not
(12:39):
my favorite thing running around sweating withhim, but he loves the fact that
I'm showing up for him and withhim right and he's teaching me his skills.
So there are so many benefits inall areas, all relationships, you
know, parents, child relationships,peer to peer friendships, so many benefits.
(13:00):
It's and again, I'm learning thisas I'm experiencing it. And that's
why now I have such a passionfor being able to provide that opportunity for
everybody. I love that. Soagain, that passion is so instrumental in
helping to make the seemingly impossible becomepossible. And so that's a really great
(13:20):
reminder to everyone listening right now thatyou can accomplish your goals. You can
achieve that dream, you know,just hold onto the vision and you can
do it. You can make theimpossible possible. Stay with us. We're
going to take a short break hereon the Mindset Mentor, and we're going
to continue the conversation with my specialguest, Elana Kazio, who is a
(13:41):
mom of two boys. She hasspearheaded and was instrumental in having the city
create a basketball court so that herkids and the community had a place to
play and so important, and nowshe is looking at expanding and her vision
is to have more basketball courts invarious places across to the province. So
(14:05):
stay tuned and we'll chat more withElona when we come back. No Radio,
No Problem stream is live on Suggaynine sixty am dot CM. Welcome
(14:39):
back to the Mindset mentor Antonia Kolarhelping you live your best life. You
know, I always talk about howyour mindset is like a muscle that needs
to be strengthened and conditioned, andthis is your mindset will workout. And
speaking of a workout, my specialguest today, Elona Kasyall, is a
mom of two. She's as asuccessful real estate developer who has spearheaded a
(15:03):
project of creating a basketball court inher community and her vision is to expand
that it's around the province so thatyou know, people have an outlet to
get their workout. It's so important. So not only from um, you
know, the mental aspect. Rightof working on our mindset, we have
to work on our bodies and andthat is how we can truly cultivate a
(15:24):
life. We love Elana, thankyou for being here today, and we're
going to continue the conversation. AndI want to talk a little bit about
the community, because you now haveeffectively gotten community involvement. So it started
off again as a need, youknow, for your boys to have an
outlet, you know, to playtheir favorite game or one of your sons
(15:46):
anyways, loved basketball, and I'mnot sure if they both play, but
so and that's now morphed into youknow, a bigger purpose. So how
has the community come together. We'dlove to hear some examples. Yeah,
so you know everyone that's heard this. I've shared the story just with my
friends and people in the community,and they're all like, right away,
(16:07):
there, how can I help?How can I be involved? This is
so important. I have kids.I would love this, you know.
Uh. And obviously I told thebasketball coach, Um Levi's basketball coach,
and right away he was like,how do I help, Let me help,
how can I get involved? Sohe's offered a month of free skills
training at the court once it openedagain to get everybody involved, get the
(16:33):
community involved. So so generous,heart of gold, and really again,
he knows more than anyone as aretired basketball player how important it is and
how important it was for him toplay basketball growing up. So that's amazing,
really excited about that, and youknow, having different events. I
want to start hosting different events,community events. I'm thinking about flyering,
(16:57):
you know, the neighborhood and gettingthe kids out because how often do we
just it's so busy. Life isso busy now, and especially like you
said, after COVID, there's nota lot of interaction. They were taking
basketball nets down in fact, duringCOVID so that the kids couldn't play.
But often we live in a communityand we don't even know our neighbors,
(17:19):
right, So it's the culture haschanged since. And I always say,
you know, back in the day, they used to say, it takes
a village. Where's the village.Let's create that village. It's our responsibility
to, like you're saying, takeaction in the direction of the things that
you want in your life. Whatkind of lifestyle do you want, you
know, just because maybe the communitydoesn't exist yet, it's new here.
(17:42):
I really want to be able topull that out. And I'm you know,
even on the real estate development side, that's something I'm really passionate about
is when I'm building a community,I really wanted to feel like everyone's there
together, everyone's participating every you feelsafe, you know, when the kids
go outside and play. So usingthe basketball court as an anchor to be
(18:03):
able to facilitate things like a familybarbecue or you know, let's let's schedule
a family basketball a game, youknow, on top of the generosity of
coach nav and coming in to dothe skills training. So I think that
in you know, building the momentumin that direction too, and being able
(18:25):
to know that outside, you know, it's summertime and anytime you go outside
someone's they are playing and you know, we're friends. And being able to
have the kids play together and buildthose friendships while they're living here because often
there's there's a different culture now wherewe move often, right, it's not
so much as you know when whenwe were growing up. I personally moved
(18:45):
a lot myself, but I knowpeople that have lived in the same community
for twenty thirty years. It's notas common anymore. So how do you
have an inviting community? And oneof the things is having these regular events,
And really it comes down to thepeople that live here because nobody else
is going to do that, andso it really comes down to taking the
initiative to build the community and havethose strong relationship with the parents and the
(19:10):
children. Yeah, I love thatyou're talking about, you know, the
barbecues and the community coming together.And I can think about, you know,
even the street that I live on. You know, sometimes there are
street parties and what a great wayto meet the neighbors and to bond.
And you know, I actually metsomebody at one of our street parties and
um, you know, I had, um, you know, an issue
(19:30):
one day and I needed some helpand I was able to knock on the
neighbor's door and say, you know, can I borrow you for a few
minutes, right, Which was agreat experience, right. And had I
not attended the street party, Iwould have been like, oh, who
do I call writer or who canI ask? So I think there's just
a really nice, um, youknow, connection that can be had,
(19:52):
whether that's you know, the kidsand the parents collectively everybody together, or
sometimes you'll just meet that person whocan become a lifelong friend and you had
no idea, but it's about youknow, being open to try. I
would encourage people who are maybe alittle bit on the shy or side,
um, you know, to getout there. Community is so invaluable to
our mental health. Um. Youknow, so it's so important to reach
(20:17):
out to get connected in some way, and you know, don't be shy
to do that. I know.I remember taking my niece and this was
many years ago, you know,the youngest niece. She's like now,
she's nineteen now, but maybe shewas around ten and we were at the
beach and she did not want toplay with any of the other kids,
right, And I was like,oh, like, okay, well go
(20:40):
and ask you know her to builda sandcastle with you like, and she
was so like, you know,shy and Timidan didn't want to do it.
But when she started to, youknow, see that, oh,
actually this is fun and it's enjoyable. She got past that initial fear of
oh my gosh, I don't thinkI can do this, right. I
think that's natural. I can bevery natural for a lot of kids,
kids as well, um, tofeel uncomfortable initially. But we you know,
(21:04):
in order to to live our bestlives, we have to get out
of our comfort zones. We needto push past that fear and you know,
parents can certainly guide their children,you know, in that direction.
Um, and then it just becomeseasy, it becomes natural. And then
it's interesting because then you'll see thatthe other the kids will start to to
be that, you know and helpother kids to connect right and say hey,
(21:26):
come and play with me, right, because I think we all know
what it feels like to to youknow, have a little bit of a
fear in some capacity. So it'snice to see people evolve and communities come
to life and people to be expressive, and you know, one thing leads
to another, as in your caseagain, you had, you know,
a need that was fulfilled and thenit led into this incredible experience of community.
(21:51):
And then you never know what's goingto come from all of those experiences
and the impact that that has.So I want to acknowledge you for you
know, the work that you didand taking that action and being that role
model, and now you have otherpeople coming to and saying, hey,
how can we help? So youknow, I encourage people get active in
your community, reach out because younever know who's going to need your help.
(22:15):
And oftentimes, let's say, whateverwe're good at, we just think
that everybody is good at that,right. So, but I think if
you have the conversations, it's like, how can I help you? Here's
what I could do. How doesthat help you? Right? And I
think it's kind of just so importantto have those conversations started. Yeah,
And I think you made a reallygood point there that I want to touch
on, and it's you know,about coming out of your shell and the
(22:37):
example that you gave with your knees. I think really, as a parent,
it's our job to lead by example. There's nothing I can expect from
my children that I don't do myself, and getting active in my community is
leading by example and showing them.My kids are very outgoing. In fact,
sometimes I'm like because they get itfrom me. That's my personality.
(22:57):
I'm very open and friendly and Iwant to engage people. And I see
that coming through those qualities and thosetraits in them. And I one of
the things that I love about thisparticular project and I do other you know,
development projects, and I'm so passionate. I'm like, yes, half
the court, right is because Iwant to show them. And you know,
(23:17):
LEVI asked me to, is thiscourt going to be here forever?
I'm like, yeah, it's goingto be here forever. He's like,
how many kids are gonna be ableto play here? Exactly? So I
want to encourage that through my participation, through me leading as an example to
them, saying, look you cando this, or yeah, it's not
scary to talk to somebody. Mommydoes it all the time. Look,
let's go talk to the neighbors.Right. I can't expect them to go
(23:40):
make friends if I'm sitting at homeand you know, pointing at them,
go go make some friends, right, unless I'm actively involved as well.
So once the parents can come out, And that's exactly why I want to
do the events, is get theparents to come out first and say,
look, mommy and daddy are makingnew friends with the neighbors. Oh,
by the way, the neighbors havekids too, you guys can you know?
So I love that leading by example, And like you mentioned earlier,
(24:03):
having a role model, having multiplerole models in the community is key for
their development and building character. Yeah, absolutely, you know, and just
you know, sort of connecting people. So what is your vision going forward
and having more people on board?Yeah, so I would love to connect
with people that have influence in someway. And it's funny. It's I
(24:25):
believe in the law of attraction,and I believe that you know, once
we put that energy out, itcomes back. And I'm already getting phone
calls. Hey I know this basketballplayer, Hey, I know the general
manager of so and so. Butreally, I think it comes down to
the city and taking those connections andyou know, I'm reaching out to the
local counselors and so. Really,people that have a passion for children and
(24:47):
their development and sports is really thoseare the people that I want to connect
with. How can we pull together, like you said, bring the skills
that we each have, bring theconnections, the expertise, the experience,
riens we all have and rallied togetherto make this something that's you know,
massive and incredible and it can makesuch a massive difference for kids and families
(25:10):
alike. Yeah, I think it'sreally important to be vocal about what it
is that you want because that itmakes it easier for people to help you.
You know. I I'm reminded ofa story, um that I heard,
um, you know, just afew weeks ago, and it was
a woman who was trying to transportsome bottles. Um. I believe it
was to the Ukraine, and sheshe just needed a ride, right,
(25:34):
She's like, how do I getall of these bottles to this location?
So she puts some asks, asksout there, she you know, made
some calls and she was able totransport her bottles, you know, via
plane to the Ukraine, which wouldhave cost about three hundred thousand dollars if
she were to hire a plane.And she was able to get someone to
(25:57):
just give her a ride, right, and so, and she had asked
them, well, why did yousay yes? Because she was curious?
And um, the person said,because you asked for what I can provide,
right. I thought, Wow,isn't that interesting? You know when
you ask people and you let themknow what you need and they're able to
(26:18):
give you that, it's easy forthem. For him, it was not
a big deal at all to lether, you know, have catch a
ride literally hit your ride. Right. But what we believe sometimes in our
mind uh, you know, withour mindset, is that it's not possible.
I can't do it. Who's goingto do that? You know it's
three hundred thousand dollars um, youknow, So we come up with these
(26:41):
scenarios in our mind before we've actuallytaken action. But when we take action,
it's amazing to see the synchronicities inlife. You know, you talked
and you spoke about the law ofattraction, right, so you're you're attracting
you know, the right people andcircumstances in your into your life when you
are open to the possibility. Right. So I always stress to people,
(27:03):
you know, please be open tothe possibilities that are available to you,
because it's our mindset and our limitingbeliefs, our perceptions that keep us stuck
and they keep us from, youknow, even asking the questions because we
fear the answer. But sometimes it'sthat fear that can propel you to heights
that are unimaginable. So I thinkthat's an incredible story. Yeah. Yeah,
(27:30):
And sometimes we block our own blessings, like you said, with our
own beliefs. You know, ifyou don't believe in yourself or the fact
that those people exist that can giveyou a ride. And that's exactly how
the basketball court came about. Isaid, I know there's a solution here.
I know that there's somehow I'm goingto create a possibility. What if
ask yourself that question? What ifthis was possible, What would that look
(27:52):
like? What who would have tobe involved? What kind of action would
I have to take? And alot of the times we're inspired by,
you know, our own thoughts orour own thoughts that manifests in our minds.
And then we tell people that haveyou know, limiting beliefs themselves,
and then they squash your dream,They squash your dream and they're like,
(28:14):
oh you're no, that person's right, it's not possible. Oh no,
you know, so really believing inyourself that you can't make it difference,
because we all can. We allhave it in ourselves to make that difference.
If you believe in possibility, ifyou believe in yourself, if you're
you know, able and willing tochallenge your own beliefs too. So yeah,
I love that story. Oh that'sso good too. And you know
(28:36):
it's so true because um, thereare people in life that we will make
too, Um, will you know, squash our our our dreams. Um.
And what I've come to, youknow, realize, and what I
teach my clients, UM, isthat other people they don't have to be
on board with your dreams, right, because your dreams are yours. So
(28:56):
if somebody doesn't, you know,resonate with that. It's okay. And
oftentimes we take it personally right,but it's like, no, it's okay.
If they if they just don't getit, they don't get it,
and it's they don't have to becauseit's your dream. So don't let anybody
else dim that beautiful, radiant lightthat you have within you. We all
(29:17):
have that, and sometimes life happensand then we start to take on other
people's limitations when they say you can'tdo that. When somebody says that to
you, you know, the nexttime, I just want you to question
that a little bit in your mindand say hm, like you know,
and have a compassion for that person, because really what they're saying is that
(29:37):
is that they couldn't do it,not that you can't do it. They
can't do it in their mind,in their belief system, right. So
I think that's kind of a niceway to just say, Okay, well
I'm going to continue and I'm gonnafollow my passion in my dream regardless of
what anybody else thinks about them.So dream bag, dream high, and
(29:59):
the possibilities are endless for you.So we're gonna take a break here on
the Mindset Mentor. I'm Tanya Kohlar. My special guest today is Elana Kazio
and she is a real estate developer. She's also a busy mom of two
who has spearheaded creating basketball courts inher community and now her vision is to
expand that across the province so that, you know, people can get the
(30:22):
benefit of interacting with community, ofcourse having the physical aspect of playing basketball
as well. So stay tuned andwe'll be back here on the Mindset Mentor
stream us live at SAGA nine sixtyam dot C. A. Welcome back
(31:00):
to the Mindset Mentor. I'm TanyaColor helping you live your best life while
you are getting a mindset work outhere today with my special guest Elona.
Cause y'all, she is helping usto get active in the community. She's
helping us to see that there isa need for getting the community together,
for people to take action. Andlet's continue along the mindset course. Elona,
(31:26):
So let's talk about UH, foryou, what was your mindset in
in starting out and has your mindsetchanged or strengthened? Um, you know
through the course of you spearheading yourproject. Um, you know, I
got separated back in twenty eighteen,and that's really when I started my mindset
(31:47):
journey. And it is a journey. It is really a journey of of
you know, awareness, of selfdiscovery, of discovery, and you know
I call it. You know,I kept putting more tools in my toolbox,
more tools, the books, thementors, the practices, the meditation,
(32:07):
the gratitude journals, you know,all those things. Really, you
know, I immerse myself in personaldevelopment and the returns have been incredible on
that time that I've spent, sothat this is just a small manifestation of
(32:30):
all the things that I've been workingon, especially internally within myself. Because
five years ago, I would havenever believed in myself. I would have
never thought in the direction of possibility. I would have never thought somebody little
only can do anything, no confidence. So that work, that foundational work
I've been working on for the lastfive six years makes these things seem easy
(32:53):
now, right, And I doreally believe now one of my beliefs is
everything always works out for me,everything always working in my favor. I
know that anything I do is goingto bless more than just me and my
family. So I really live withthose intentions through practice. And one of
the things I always share is,you know, when people are having a
(33:15):
hard time and people are frustrated orangry, I'm like, you are the
only person responsible for the way youfeel. Your thoughts create how you feel.
And if you can learn how tocontrol your thoughts, and first of
all, gain awareness that you havethoughts, you are not your thoughts,
(33:36):
and start, you know, educatingyourself and realizing that the things that you
think about really make you feel theway you feel. So for me,
I want to feel good. Iwant to feel joy, I want to
feel happiness. I want to feellike there's endless abundance in the world,
so there's not you know, beinghappy for somebody else because they're doing well,
(33:58):
and when they're doing well, Iknow I'm going to do well.
So all of that for the lastfive six years has compounded and I'm still
on the journey and I will foreverbe a student and I will forever be
gaining awareness. But those are thereal, core foundational things that really helped
me have the success that I havetoday as a mom, as an entrepreneur,
(34:21):
as a developer, as an advocatefor basketball court So it really,
really starts from within, and that'sthe journey that I implore people to go
on. Because everything's inside of us. People often look for answers outside and
ask for opinions. And like wementioned, you know that person said I
can't do it, so I mustnot be able to do it. You
have an inspired thought that comes toyou and you get really excited about that
(34:45):
idea. Explore that idea first byyourself, right, and then share it
Once I didn't share the basketball courtwith anybody until I can. I gained
some momentum in that direction, andI started thinking about possibility. What would
it look like if there was abasketball court by the house? What would
it look? And then, comingfrom that energy, I started sharing,
(35:07):
and then I led the direction ofthe conversation. Hey wouldn't it Hey?
You know whoever it is, Amy, you know what, wouldn't it be
awesome if? And now you're controllingthe direction of the conversation versus do you
think I could do this? Nam? I don't think so, they don't
(35:28):
ever? Really no? Okay,you know, so really being able to
have that conversation with yourself. First, have the beliefs that enable you to
think in that direction, and thenbe able to share from from that perspective.
Yeah, I love that. Iabsolutely agree with you, And I
think it's really important to ask yourselfempowering questions, right because your questions can
really lead again to uh, youknow, the results that you're going to
(35:52):
to ensue. So instead of saying, you know, why can't this happen?
Or you know this is not possiblefor me, how about asking the
question like how can I achieve this? And you fill in the blanks of
whatever this is for you, right, because then you know your mind is
going to start to go to workto how to answer that question. But
(36:14):
keep in mind then if we've askeda bad question or a disempowering question,
we're gonna get a different response.Right. So it's really important to listen
to our language, our key patterningin terms of our our language patterning again
dictates the quality of our lives.So you know, check in with your
thoughts periodically, ask empowering questions,believe in yourself, know that you can
(36:38):
achieve what seems impossible. You cando it. And we yes, as
you said, Elona, sometimes welook for the external things, things that
are outside of us. We haveall the answers that we need within.
We already have the answers, butwe don't have the belief in ourselves that's
(36:59):
strong enough for us to you know, pay attention to those answers, to
delve into that. But when weare willing, we can tap into that
energy and to that power and youknow, move forward in a way that
is naturally empowering because we start toget rid of the resistance and the blocks
when we can really start to changeour mindset. And you know, listen,
(37:21):
it does take work. You know, as I mentioned, it is
a workout, and this year onthe Mindset mentor is your mindset workout.
But it's a workout that has somany benefits. I mean, it's just
tenfold. They keep on coming,they keep on coming, and when you
start to put in the work,at some point it just becomes organic,
it becomes innate, and life becomesmuch easier. You know. We hear
(37:45):
the expression a lot, you know, to work smarter and not harder,
right, And you know, Iwas of the belief that, oh yeah,
if you work hard, you know, life's amazing. Right. It's
like you're you're putting in the grindand you're hustling, and you're you're doing
the work, and good things haveto happen because you're doing the work.
But I have realized that, yeah, it is actually about working smarter,
(38:06):
you know, and not harder,because sometimes we actually have to take a
step back and release and let goand just allow things to unfold. And
you know, sometimes we get reallyfocused on things have to happen this way.
Let's say, for example, Eleanorwhen you were creating you know,
(38:28):
the whole basketball court, and youhad asked the city, well, can
I put up a net? Andthey said no. Now, you could
have been fixed in that belief thatthis has to happen. I have to
set up a net in this park, and if it doesn't happen, it's
going to be disastrous. And whenwe hold on to that belief, that's
where we start to put the resistance. But when you step back, you
(38:51):
have room to allow something else tocome in, something else that is greater,
something else that is for you.You know, you also had said
something earlier about things happening you know, to me, right, So I
think it's really important to know.And because you said they were all good
things, right, you have thatbelief, which is awesome, right,
But I think it's a really keytoo, is that to realize that,
(39:13):
yes, things are happening for youand not to you when they don't necessarily
go in the direction that you werehoping. Right, Yeah, exactly.
And when things don't work out,or at least that we think they don't
work out, they're still working out. And that really helps build a different
kind of perspective because you can getdown on yourself, Oh, I didn't
(39:36):
get that job, or I didn'tget that whatever. You know, this
didn't happen. This didn't work outfor me, But really it's just a
course correction. In my eyes,I wasn't meant to have that. Something
better is coming, right. Soinstead of saying being down on yourself,
oh I didn't do a good job, or you know this, you know
it didn't work out. This workedout. Sometimes I do real estate development
(39:58):
deals and you know I put inan off and this and that, I
mean, go through the whole thing, and the whole deal dies and it
didn't go through. My reaction isnot ever to be upset. I'm like,
that was it meant for me?That deal was not my deal,
you know, And that's okay.I'm being blessed, right, now the
universe is protecting me because maybe there'ssomething wrong with the site, maybe it's
(40:21):
contaminated, maybe there's there are thingsor you know that that I couldn't have
known myself right now from where Istand. So it didn't work out for
me for a reason. So thethings that don't work out for you are
still working out for you. Soit's all about perspective. It's all about
your beliefs. It's all about howyou choose to feel every day. However
(40:42):
you're feeling, that is your choice. So I'm really really glad that I
was able to hone in on thatand learn that skill. You know,
I wish I had learned it whenI was my kid's seat. At least,
you know, I'm halfway there.So yeah, I think perspective is
everything, and beliefs on everything.So if you can really think about from
(41:05):
your perspective, wise, it's workingon for me. What And like we
mentioned in the in the Direction ofPossibility, there's really nothing you can be
upset about in life. Yes,and you are exactly where you need to
be in life right um. Andyou know there's a quote that I love
by Steve Jobs, and he saysthat you know, you can't connect the
dots are looking um forward, Youcan only collect connect them looking backwards.
(41:30):
And it's interesting because you go,oh, well, it's amazing how this
one thing led to the next thingand to the next and to the next.
And if I had that job,it led to this, or if
I didn't get that job, itled to this. You know. So
it's really interesting to see where lifetakes you, um. Right, But
we want to be a willing participantand sometimes just step out of our own
(41:51):
way in order to allow the goodto come in um and without being too
fixated on you know, what wethink should happen, right and then get
stuck there because remember that life isalways in constant motion. We're always moving
and we're not meant to stay youknow, in one space forever, and
so it's always a cycle and youknow, it's going to continue to evolve.
(42:14):
So we want to you know,flow with the natural algorithm of life
and step out of our own wayso we can allow that goodness to come
in. Well, unfortunately we areout of time. So I want to
say thank you Ilona for joining us, and you know, I wish you
lots of success on your mission.To create basketball courts around the province.
And is there any final words thatyou would like to share with everyone listening.
(42:37):
Just to really be active in participatingand know that you can be.
You know that one person that makesa change, or at least starts the
change, So it starts with you. Go out there, be active in
your community, serve when you can. And yeah, that's that's it.
I love it. You know somegreat advice, And never underestimate you know
(43:00):
the power that you hold and theimpact that you have on others. Sometimes
I think we go through life wedon't realize you know that one sentence that
you said to somebody, You knowthat empowering words of encouragement could change someone's
life. So never underestimate you.Stay with us. We've got more coming
up here on Saga nine to sixtyand make sure you tune into the next
(43:22):
Mindset Mentor on Thursdays at three pm. No Radio, No Problem stream is
live on SAGA nine sixty AM dotCM
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