Feb 24, 2023 My Last Day In My Office

A New Chapter: The Day I Chose My Business Full-Time

There are certain moments in life that you don't fully understand until you have the opportunity to look back on them.

For me, February 24, 2023 was one of those moments.

After spending my entire working life in an office, I walked away from that chapter and made the decision to work on Christina Loves Planning full-time.

And I was terrified.

For almost a year, I went back and forth with myself. Should I do it? Am I ready? What if it doesn't work? What if I regret leaving?

People would tell me, "You'll know when you're ready."

But I don't know if I ever had that magical moment where suddenly I wasn't afraid anymore. I think I simply reached a point where I knew I had to give myself—and my business—a real chance.

I Didn't Leave Because Everything Was Perfect

This is probably the most important part of the story. 

I wasn't running some enormous company with hundreds of orders coming in every day. I was a small business owner. Some days were busy, some days were slow, and sales could change depending on the day, the week, or the season.

There were no guarantees.

But trying to build my business while giving the majority of my time and energy to someone else's was becoming harder and harder.

I would go to work during the day and think about all the things I wanted to accomplish with my own business. Products I wanted to create. Content I wanted to make. Customers I wanted to help. Ideas I wanted to bring to life.

Eventually, I realized that if I wanted to know what Christina Loves Planning could truly become, I needed to give it my full attention.

Sometimes You Have to Choose Yourself

Giving my notice wasn't easy.

Actually, I tried more than once.

I think I gave notice about three different times, and each time I was convinced to stay. Looking back, I understand why. Walking away from something familiar and predictable is scary.

Eventually, though, I had to be honest—not only with my employer, but with myself.

I was ready for something different.

My faith played a big part in that decision. I prayed about it, thought about it, worried about it, and probably overthought it more times than I could count.

But at some point, faith also meant being willing to take the step.

Life is short. I didn't want to spend mine constantly wondering, "What if I had tried?"

Then Came the Reality of Working for Myself

I still remember that first week.

It felt strange waking up and realizing there was no office to report to. My time was finally mine.

And then I quickly learned something:

Having complete control over your schedule doesn't automatically mean you're good at managing it. 😂

I would start one thing, think of something else, jump over to that, remember another task, and suddenly I was doing five things at once.

I had to create structure for myself.

There was content to plan and film, products to create, orders to pack, launches to prepare, customers to help, budgeting to share, a website to maintain—and all the little behind-the-scenes responsibilities that come with running a business.

And I was doing it alone.

The Business Has Changed, and So Have I

Reading my original post from 2023 now makes me smile because I can see exactly where I was in that moment.

I didn't know what the next few years would look like.

I didn't know every product I would create, every mistake I would make, every customer I would meet, or every lesson I would learn.

And I certainly didn't have everything figured out.

I still don't.

But that's one of the biggest lessons owning a small business has taught me: you don't have to have everything figured out before you begin.

You learn. You adjust. You make mistakes. You change your mind. You try something that doesn't work and then try something else.

And you keep going.

One Day at a Time

My business today may look different from the business I had when I wrote that original post, but one thing hasn't changed: I genuinely love what I do.

The planners, budgeting tools, cash envelopes, organization, content—all of it comes from things I actually use and believe in.

But more than the products, I love knowing that something I share may help someone feel a little more organized, a little more confident with their money, or simply inspired to start again.

That's what continues to make this journey worthwhile.

So if you're reading this while standing at the beginning of your own new chapter, I hope you'll remember this:

You don't need to know exactly how the entire journey is going to unfold. Sometimes you just need enough faith to take the next step.

I'm still taking mine one day at a time.

And I'm very grateful that on February 24, 2023, I finally took that first one.

Christina
xo 🤍