Happy 2022!

December marks the first month of me working Tea Thoughts full time and I wanted to write some reflections about it! If you were unaware, at the end of November I left my full time job for a number of reasons. Instead of diving right back into the job search I decided to give Tea Thoughts full time a chance to see if I could make it work. Coming off of a pretty successful October update it seemed feasible if I could keep it up!

There were a few things that I was hoping for in running Tea Thoughts full time - time, growth and happiness.

Time

Working any job is time consuming. You end work or come home from the office and feel as though there are little hours in the day left. I was using my free time to work on tea thoughts in addition to answering emails during the day and posting on social media. Any holiday with time off or a weekend was exciting because I had the entire day to work on the shop. Going full time I knew that I would still be busy but I planned on giving myself more of a break and not work into the nights and weekends. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen in December. I was really anxious to make my first full month count and also had a few holiday markets planned that would take up nights and weekends.

I am a creature of habit and like to create a routine to stick to. My days usually start at 6 or 630 with meditation and/or a workout depending on whether it’s a rest day or not then I get into the good stuff. Sometimes I may take an hour or so during the day to see a family member or run and errand but then I am back at it until it’s time for afternoon tea break and cooking dinner. As I’ve expanded the shop and it’s products I do have several manufacturers that I communicate with in China and due to the time difference I am usually up later at night to be able to capture some time with them. On the weekends is when I thought I would take more of a break and I have. I still do work that needs to be done like photos, content, designs etc but am more willing to use the day to hang out with my loved ones. This is hampered still with covid so I am probably glued to my computer more than I normally would be. Moving forward, I hope to set stricter boundaries and allow myself more rest once I get in the rhythm of things.

Growth

January is a notoriously slow month for sales which makes sense because everyone is exhausted from the holidays. I can’t exactly measure my growth just yet because I need more time to pass. I will report again after this month or maybe next! The main goal of growth though would be that because I have more time to work on my shop, I can get more done. I can share about my products more. I can get my products in more shops and produce more products in general and slowly grow to a more sustainable size!

Happiness

I won’t go into specific reasons but I was unhappy at my job and it was having real consequences. It was affecting me mentally and physically so I needed to make this decision for myself. I was hoping that while running a business is stressful in it’s own ways that how I felt would improve. I am happy to report that after a full month, I can’t remember the last time I was this happy. I will admit that the holidays might have contributed to this. The happiness feels more like a freedom. Stresses still exist but they are different and I have more control over them. I feel fortunate to be in this position. I can run an errand when needed, take time when needed etc. The issues I’m dealing with are my own and not from others. Most important, I feel as though I‘ve worked myself to the bone the last several years trying my best to build up Tea Thoughts and I’m finally getting a real chance at it. I don’t know what the future holds but I’m grateful already for the short time I’ve had. It was a mental reset that I needed. I feel like my work wasn’t wasted. I have so many projects brewing and everyday I wake up with a grateful heart and determined mind!

I hope to continue to be able to share more on social media and on the blog about the shop and behind the scenes.

Thanks for coming along on this journey with me!