The Power of Living a Truly Free Life

What if your situation isn’t what’s keeping you stuck—but how you see it is?
In this powerful episode of Aligned for Wealth, Ta’Donna Nagle shares lessons from a transformative women’s retreat in the jungles of Panama that sparked deep reflection on what it truly means to be free.

She opens up about the invisible cages many high-achieving women find themselves in—whether it’s people’s expectations, professional roles, or the fear of disappointing others—and how to finally walk out of those cages with clarity, peace, and purpose.

💭 You’ll learn:

• Why freedom is a choice, not a circumstance
• How to spot the mental “ropes” keeping you bound (even when the door’s already open)
• The truth about what you’ll gain—and lose—when you choose to live uncaged
• One powerful “Aligned Move” you can take this week to reclaim your freedom

If you’ve ever felt trapped by success, obligation, or self-doubt, this episode will remind you that the key has been in your hands all along.

🎧 Tune in, take a deep breath, and get ready to live a life that’s free, full, and aligned for wealth.

Transcript

[00:00:00] What if your situation isn't actually keeping you stuck? What if it's the way that you see your situation that's really holding you back? The way you see your situation is the real problem,

because what I've realized is freedom isn't always given. It's chosen, and sometimes the only chains holding us are the ones we actually place on ourselves. Hey friends, welcome back to Align for Wealth. This is the podcast that helps ambitious professionals and busy leaders like yourself, balancing work, family, and big goals, build wealth without the burnout.

I'm your host, Ta'Donna Nagle wealth alignment coach, financial educator and founder of Legendary Wealth Builders. And I believe you don't have to chase wealth. You can attract it by living in alignment. And in today's episode, I'm gonna share how freedom is a mindset and not just your [00:01:00] circumstances. And sometimes the only chains that's really holding us is the ones that we placed on ourselves.

So let's dive into today's conversation. So first off, I just came back from a powerful women's retreat in the jungles of Panama. It was fabulous. It was 18 women together in the rainforest, surrounded by nature, healing, laughter, dancing, yoga, meditation, reflection, all of the things that you think of when you think of retreat.

So picture this, literally sitting in the middle of the rainforest, listening to the birds, journaling with nothing but the sound of. Nature in the background. And we did a exercise that was prompted on us by the host where we had to journal. And in this exercise she prompted us to think of the last time when you truly [00:02:00] felt free.

How powerful is that? Think of the last time where you truly felt free. Are gonna have a problem.

I just told you I am recording. There's too many accidents. Stop.

And as I sat there, I realized I had so many examples, big and small of freedom in my life. As I mentioned on previous podcast episodes, walking away from corporate America, right? Dropping out of corporate America, I felt free releasing my marriage. I felt free. Starting my business, legendary Wealth Builders.

I felt free taking my first international solo trip. There were so many other simple examples of freedom in my life. Just taking walks in the park or having solo lunch dates, or even just monthly spa days. All of those were just small examples of how I have freedom in my life currently.

And these moments reminded me that I am currently living a free life, but [00:03:00] I did not always feel that way. There were so many years I gave away my power. I stood on my own wings just to fit in with others' expectations. I cage myself.

I willingly walked in those cages and closed the door behind me just so I could fit into social norms, family expectations, professional standards,

I was essentially caging myself by the expectations of what I thought I should be doing. And here's the truth about that. I may have been in the cage, but the door wasn't locked. How many of us can sometimes feel like we're in a cage, feel like our back is against the wall, but the doors aren't locked.

We can get up out of this situation. We can go to the door and open it, turn that handle, and [00:04:00] literally walk out. Fly out. The door may be closed, but it isn't locked. And that actually reminded me of this African proverb about elephants that I read years ago. And it talks about that when elephants are babies, their legs are tied down into pegs, into the ground with a rope.

And as babies, they're too weak to break free from the rope and peg that's in the ground. But as they become adults, they grow strong, right? Think of the elephants. They're some of the biggest creatures. They grow strong, and at some point they are strong enough to snap that rope in a second in an instant.

Yet many of them never do. And not because they're not strong enough, but because they believe they're not strong enough. They believe that they are bound. So they live as if they are bound. And to be honest with you, that can be us.

[00:05:00] Sometimes the fears, the expectations of others, our self-doubt, they shouldn't be strong enough to hold us, but sometimes we allow it to be. We can sometimes stay in a cage because we think we can't move, not because we actually can't move, but we allow some of these fears and these doubts and these expectations to paralyze us.

For me, it didn't feel like ropes.

It felt like a box, like I was literally putting myself in a box. On the outside. Everything looked polished and perfect, but inside I felt like I was boxed in. I almost felt like I could not breathe.

And just like the elephants, I had to realize I was stronger than this box that I thought that I was trapped in. The real chains weren't actually the situation. They were my beliefs and my [00:06:00] thoughts and my fears. So as I reflected on that question, let me ask you the same thing. What cage are you still sitting in? Even though the door may be wide open, or even though the door may be unlocked? Is it fear of what other people will think about the decision and your choices?

Is it fear of who you may lose in that decision or choice? Maybe it's fear of what lies on the other side, the fear of the unknown, and let's make it real because some of these cages are financial cages, right?

We wanna keep it a hundred. Some of these cages we put ourself in because of financial stressors, fear of leaving a job that no longer serve us because the paycheck feels safe, right? The paycheck feels safer than your peace. You don't wanna get rid of that six figure salary, even though it's robbing you of your peace and joy.

It could be fear of investing, even though deep [00:07:00] down, you know, your money needs to be growing far faster than it's growing now, but the fear of possibly losing your money is keeping you stuck. So you're essentially leaving money on the table because you don't wanna lose money. The fear of saying no to financial obligations that drain you because you don't wanna disappoint others.

So you may loan out money to people that you know you're never gonna get it back from. you may go places with people, spend your money on different things and you don't even wanna be there. Right? Accepting invitations where you need to spend your hard earned money and you don't even wanna be there.

So here's the thing, freedom. It may cost you relationships, it may cost you titles. It could even cost you your comfort, but it's only temporarily because at the end of the day, if it's costing you your peace, then it's too [00:08:00] expensive. So yes, breaking free can feel uncomfortable in the beginning.

Absolutely. Think of a butterfly when it's a cocoon. And it's nesting, right? It's in a shell. It's in a cocoon. When it's trying to break free, I imagine it feels incredibly uncomfortable. It's not chilling on a lounge chair with a pina colada in its hand, right? It is struggling. It is feeling like it's tight and it's like, get me outta here.

What's happening? It is dark, it's uncomfortable, it is tight, and it feels uncomfortable to break free. And when it break free, that first taste of sunlight after it is been in the dark so long, I'm sure it stings its eyes. It's like, wait, wait, wait a minute. It is. It is. It is too bright, right? You know how you wake up and the sun hits your eyes and it's just like, Ooh, you feel like you have to catch Your bearings is too bright [00:09:00] sometimes breaking free can feel that way.

But what's waiting for you on the other side? Oh my goodness. Is far greater than what you're leaving behind. Absolutely.

So friends, let's move into that segment where it's your aligned move of the week, which is a simple, powerful action you could take to bring your money, mindset, and life into deeper alignment. Because let's face it, listening is great, right? Listening is good.

It's always good to plug into a good podcast. But alignment happens when you take action. Alignment happens when you move, when you apply what you've heard. So here it is. I want you to write down some moments where you felt truly free in your life,

and then I want you to write down what about those moments made you feel free. What was it? Was it because you didn't have the responsibilities that you normally have? Was it because you didn't have a care in the [00:10:00] world? Was it because you did what you wanted to do and you didn't have to think about how anybody else felt about it?

I want you to write down. What about those moments made you feel free?

And then I want you to write down what's one thing that you could do now in this present season to express that freedom again and again and again. I want you to feel freedom all the time, not just in your finances, but in your life. So write down what you can do now to feel that way, and don't just write it, schedule it.

Whatever it is that you can do, schedule it. Treat it like it's important. Treat it like it's the most important meeting. On your calendar, just the way that you would schedule anything else on your calendar, doctor's appointments, appointments for your kids, things that you really need to remember.[00:11:00] 

You really need to remember this so schedule it, prioritize it, because freedom compounds, but it only compounds if you do it daily. The more and more you choose you and you choose these freeing task, the more and more you're gonna get used to being free.

So remember, friends, you are not locked in the cage door is open. The only thing that can keep you bound is you boo. and you are strong enough to step out and spread your wings and fly. So thanks so much for tuning into this episode of Align for Wealth. If this episode spoke to you, share it with a friend, tell a friend to pull up if this episode spoke to you, share it with someone.

If this episode spoke to you, if this episode spoke to you, make sure you like and share it with someone who needs to be reminded that the door is already open. And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode.

And if you're ready, not to just break free, but to build wealth that aligns with your freedom. [00:12:00] Make sure that you follow me on Instagram at @Legendary_WealthBuilders, or join my email list at www.legendarywealthbuilders.com. I love to support you on your journey. Remember, you don't have to chase wealth.

You don't have to chase success. You can attract it by living in alignment. So stay aligned and stay wealthy. And so next time, stay true to you.