Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great

My life pre-Covid was pretty joyful. Life was good. This girl was not complaining.

But just because your life is good, doesn't mean it can't be great!

That's what life post pandemic has taught me. The pandemic allowed me to slow down to find a new path. A path that has led to the great. A path that was always there but I was too busy. Busy ticking off countries, chasing down personal bests, and obsessing over finding a guy that ticked all the boxes!

I was a bundle of playfulness, chasing the extrinsic rewards. Distracted by everything around me. I couldn’t possibly imagine anything different.

When I slowed down long enough to hear the whispers from within, I found my creativity. In October 2021 I published my first travel memoir – Follow Your Joy. Follow Your Joy is more than a travel memoir. It is me in various forms, and lives on as a website, paperback and ebook, Instagram page, events and, now ‘the merch’. It is a community. A way of life. A mantra.

Discovered through the doors my book has opened, I am passionate about sharing back everything I know to be true, based on my experiences.

Now that to me is the great! Living a full life is good, but sharing back is the stuff I’m here for. It lights me up and connects me to a wider purpose, to leave this world a little lighter, by passing on my wee nuggets.

In 2021 I wrote an article called 'Let's cheer for today’. An opportunity came knocking and I politely said YES as I mumbled, "this is pretty cool".

The article was published to the magazines 150k+ subscribers, my hope back then was it provided a nudge for anyone that felt a little lost, disconnected, or missing their mojo!

This is what I found in pursuing the great - by shining a light on your life, experiences, and learnings, you help others find their joy and gain the courage to seek out adventure.

In 2022 I continued to grow through various speaking opportunities. Real person events are now the new great. Where you get to connect and encourage those around you to bring joy into their lives. To go after their dreams. To live a full life.

I am here to light up.

And my message to you, Let’s seek out the great in amongst the good.

2023, Are you ready? Let’s get excited about what is around the corner.

One fun activity to try is to rate your life from 1 to 10. Then identify one thing that could contribute to a higher score. Be open minded, it might be you need to let go of something to bring in the great.

I did the same activity in July 2022, and rated my life a big fat 8. As I listed five things that would increase my joy, a series of speaking events were unravelled.

An idea one evening on a zoom call soon became my reality, and continues into 2023.

Get excited about who you could become along the way to discovering what is great about life!!

"Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” – John D. Rockefeller