What’s new in the world of tea? Recently, The New York Times featured green tea as a natural ozempic. While this isn’t exactly breaking news, it got me thinking about how tea trends come and go. How many of you remember the book by Mark Ukra, AKA “Dr. Tea” about tea’s fat-burning properties? I do, and here’s why. There was a time when I was buying every book on tea I could find. In Dr. Tea’s book, he went on and on about the fat-burning powers of oolong tea.

At that time, I was deep into the early days of selling tea (this was around 2004/2005). There was a section on the Adagio website called “Teamap,” which helped me find potential clients. In fact, that site is still active today. You can search for tea shops by location, and this tool was incredibly helpful when I was traveling across the U.S., selling tea. I would click on every link, read about each tea house, and find the ones that were a perfect fit for the high-quality tea I was offering. I was in the thick of learning how to sell, and it felt like an exciting challenge.

During that time, my mom told me about a book by Zig Ziglar called How to Close the Deal. I got the audiobook and gave it a try. At first, I found Zig a bit much. He had a thick Texas accent, and his style seemed corny to me. I honestly thought I had wasted my money. But as I continued calling tea shops and navigating the world of sales, I decided to give Zig another shot—and I’m glad I did. It wasn’t long before I couldn’t get enough of him. Now, 20 years later, even though Zig has passed away, his teachings live on, and he remains one of my favorite mentors.

Today, I had a realization: it’s not about how much you get done in a day. What truly matters is how deeply you’re immersed in what you’re doing. I call these “immersion points.” You gain them by finding projects that feed your passion and jumping in with full focus. Another key part of immersion is relaxation—really noticing the little things around you that bring joy. Is it the music you're listening to? The way the sun hits your face? Being aware of these moments and sinking into them can propel you into a state of relaxed immersion.

Lastly, I’ve been thinking about how to define success. I like a recent definition I heard and here it is. Don't define success by the results, define it by your actions. For example, I cannot control the outcome related to this blog post. I have no control over how many people read it or if it has any impact on the readers, but I can can control the act of creating the post. So now I am defining success with my blog in terms of creating a daily post. It is fun and inspiring to me, and I hope that it inspires you. Thanks for reading!