Favorite Tea Moments with Entrepreneur Andy Hayes

Episode Overview

How do we create moments that matter? How do we create our own path of positivity and find like-minded souls for living the good life?

Favorite Tea Moments, Episode Introduction

Andy Hayes is the founder and creator of Plum Deluxe, the website that helps you create moments that matter. A published author, prolific writer, tea lover, and public speaker, Andy is based in sunny Portland, Oregon. Featured in sites and magazines such as CNN, Wall Street Journal, and National Geographic, Andy is known for his fresh ideas on living a good life.

Embracing New Change & Supportive Help

Andy had been working in a job in a toxic environment where he was unsatisfied and wanted to embrace new change. Friends, family, and trusted successful people he knew had told him that he would make a great entrepreneur. However, he felt that he wouldn’t be good enough to be able to manage his own business, especially when he struggled managing his own health. What helped Andy to take the leap to start his business was the encouragement and support from his network, especially taking advice from those who knew him and his situation well.

Andy recommends we listen to people in our close circle who are less risk averse and more inclined to give positive feedback or who think outside to box to be more constructively critical. Robyn calls these people “thinking partners.” This type of collaboration, or content reframing, is helpful to identify transferable traits and life experiences and can help guide you to doing something that you love.

Be Your “Vacation Self”

Andy shares that his mother has been an inspiration to living a good life, finding “favorite tea” moments that matter, and creating shareable moments with friends and family. For example, his mother would take extra cake batter leftover from a side job she had as a baker to then bake little cakes for the family just because — “just because it was Saturday,” as Andy stated. Resulting from those insights, Andy adopted the philosophy to identify and celebrate anything we want, even the small things that are worth celebrating.

Andy proposes, “we’re culturally conditioned to let our hair down when we’re on vacation and not otherwise.” We experience boundaries that are set up in everyday life. On vacation, we tend to leave behind those boundaries. We are more inclined to put away physical or emotional blocks, and other things that weigh us down. On vacation we feel freer to be playful and “free to be these amazing people.”

Balancing Yourself

As an entrepreneur, one key element is the flexibility to be able to rework your work schedule as needed. In this way, you can work on things that need to get done and may find yourself getting things done early, so you can have more guilt-free time for those enjoyable “favorite tea” moments.

Another key element is to take care of your health by doing something that is good for your health. For Andy, he has a subscription to a site that provides free fitness videos; he walks in the summer, and does morning meditation. Think about what activities and practices really support your health and business. It’s okay to get away from the computer screen and just take a break. “It will be there when you come back, “ Andy says.

3 Tips & Strategies to Alter Patterns & Be More Mindful

Listen in to Andy as as he offers 3 strategies for The Positivity Lens Activity this week. Each can take anywhere from 3 minutes to 30 minutes, depending on how much homework you want to do.

POSITIVITY LENS for this Episode

Download Andy's suggested “positive activities” for this episode: Hint: it is about treating yourself daily and recording your favorite moments.

POSITIVITY LENS REVEAL

Downloadable Resources and Tools

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Click the button below to open your activity sheet for this episode:

OPEN YOUR ACTIVITY SHEET

Cultivating Positivity

Positivity is a practice. It’s a movement towards what we desire and aspire for ourselves through the language we use, the habits or behaviors we exhibit, the interactions and relationships that we have, and how we invest our time. Underpinning it all is our feelings, and feelings have energy. The range of positive emotions can range from uplifting, energizing, and exciting to savoring, quiet, and calm. These feelings and emotions can make us more resilient and more resourceful to both ourselves and to others.

How to Connect with Andy Hayes

Andy's Books/eBooks

Andy's eBook: Create a Website that Works
Andy's eBook: Historic Walking Guide to Edinburgh 0955928133

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