At the end of May 2020, Start Going Further was officially launched into the world. I had spent the months leading up to this learning how to start a website, and then building it. I didn’t know what I was doing, only that I desired to figure it out. As many know, the name “Going Further” was originally my husband’s Instagram handle. I knew the name encompassed everything I dreamed this could all become, and even then some. My decision came from one April weekend spent tent camping in our backyard. Donnie and I continued to ponder over what I would name this future blog. I kept coming back to “Going Further” and “Start Going Further”. To me, Start Going Further means everything. It relates to everything in life including every possible area of your life. We do not decide to eat healthier, lose weight, write a book, get a better job, or have a more positive attitude—without the action of going further. This is why I love it so much.
Start Going Further is ultimately about making the most of our time here on Earth. It’s about living your very best, aligned, and happiest life. Choosing to pursue your purpose and highest self and be the best you—physically, mentally, and spiritually. If you’ve known me since I was young, even in middle school, high school, and early college—you’ve been a witness to in what my opinion is, a profound self-transformation. Everything I share is not coming from a place of “having always been this way”, it’s instead always about coming from a place of true growth, learning, and evolving. Through everything I share, I desire true authenticity. More simply put, it’s real-life stuff.
One crucial life lesson I learned when building my website and deciding to start this personal endeavor is this—I could do it. Just because I’d never built a website before, didn’t mean that I couldn’t figure out how to. Just because I’d never done anything to warrant calling myself a blogger—didn’t mean I couldn’t become one. I’d spent enough time following other bloggers on Instagram and thinking it was so cool how they shared different parts of their day, some had their very own website, and everyone appeared so confident in what they were up to. I had a complete disconnect between myself and them, but I didn’t quite know it. I never realized until creating Start Going Further, that I too could do that if I wanted to and decided to.
That is the important piece—decide to. Our dreams forever remain dreams, without any action toward them. I will always constantly share that if you have a dream or something that’s been burning in your heart for quite some time—take action toward it. Decide to start going further toward that dream. Small steps add up! Something might appear completely out of reach, just like creating my website felt—until I dug in and began the work. We must believe that our dreams are worthy enough to pursue. We must be able to connect ourselves to our dreams, instead of thinking that great accomplishments and stepping out of our comfort zones are only things meant for others to be doing.
I think so many of us continue to sit on things. We tell ourselves the lie that someday we will do that thing. We tuck our dreams into a nice, safe, secure space until the right time comes along. But someday never comes, and along with that—neither does the right time. We end up a passive participant in our life. What follows is usually disbelief at the days, weeks, months, and years that have flown by. The time will pass by whether or not we take action toward our dreams. So we might as well spend our time how we want to. I encourage you to be like Marie Forleo, and tell yourself that “Everything is figureoutable”.
When reading this, whatever that “thing” is that comes up for you—no matter how small or big you may tell yourself that it is. If it’s important to you, take action toward that dream. I have no regrets when I look back on the past four years of Start Going Further. If anything, my only regret is not starting sooner. And, all of the in-between times where I paused and let “life” get in the way of me doing the things that I truly want to be doing. Turn your dreams into action and you’ll likely surprise yourself with just how further you can be going. Just start.