Currently, my love and I are away on a vacation/business trip in Tokyo, Japan. We have a little apartment over here that we rent out. The whole year we were unable to visit so we decided on a last minute go! My wifi is limited for now until we get ours permanently installed. I am still able to get work done which is the best, I brought my studio set up with me, oh the luxury of working from home! I've been working on voice overs and videos for clients while all the way over here in Tokyo! Currently, I have a client putting the finishing touches on a e-learning course I will be recording while here, fun, fun, fun! I have attached a few photos from our trip. So far we have been here for 3 days and will be here for a whole month...

We've been eating at some really good food places, so far we've had our classic beef bowl, sushi, and today we ate at our favorite Indian place: Sun Rose in Oimachi. Oh they have the best butter chicken and OMG the naan is to die for! It is so big and tasty!

This trip has been my favorite so far, this is my third time visiting Japan and this time I have picked up a few phrases and will continue to do so. Why have an apartment in a foreign land and not immerse yourself in the culture? I am on it! Besides someday I will be bilingual, then eventually trilingual. The possibilities are endless. Remember: YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE, so make it count!

Yesterday's lesson through You Are The Project was the importance of self-control. I must admit that self-control is a continuous life long lesson that I continue to be smacked upside the head with over and over again. Of course, the ability to adapt to all kinds of situations warrants a major need for self-control. Therefore, it isn't just me who continues to get smacked by this lesson, everyone struggles with it I'm sure of it!

Regardless, I can say that I have learned a great deal of self-control through discipline by conditioning my mind to react differently to others. For example, you are having a fantastic day and something bad happens. A car cuts you off or someone spills coffee on your shirt right before a meeting; do you allow that one incident to control your day? Do you allow it to dictate the rest of your day by putting you in a negative mode? Even when the day was going exceptionally well! Why would anyone allow that to happen? Lack of self-control, completely. That being said, of course our world would look so different if everyone had the discipline of self-control the acme of all human virtues.

I will say that it is a lot easier said than done. Anger, sadness, disappointment, etc are such strong feelings and if a person has been conditioned to accept those feelings it will initially be hard to fight them off. With conscious effort towards changing negative feelings into positive ones, it is surely possible to gain that magnificent virtue. Here's a big tip: do thankful comparisons when in a negative feeling. A thankful comparison is when you think of someone less fortunate than you and feel empathy for them so much so that you change the negative feeling into complete gratitude for your situation. Once again it is easier said than done but with much practice it is very helpful in changing a negative emotion into a positive one. SELF-CONTROL IS THE KEY TO A HAPPY LIFE.

This week has been a very busy one! Many voice overs and videos for clients, along with getting marketing done for You Are The Project, and accomplishing the goals I set for myself as well. When I first became an entrepreneur who works from home, there were many things I had to learn to do differently, time management was a big one for me! 

The most important key to life is balance, balance in all aspects of your life. You don't want to work too much to the point where you cannot enjoy your free time or don't make free time to enjoy. You also don't want to relax/enjoy so much to the point where you overly indulge as that can be detrimental as well. You also must understand the importance of setting goals and accomplishing them. Be productive, be happy, discipline yourself. An overall balance has to be established and rewards must be put into play so that balance is maintained.

Even when you have busy days, weeks, and months, still make time to enjoy yourself. Life is about creating our own happiness, I certainly have made sure I enjoyed myself this week even with all the work I had to do. I also love what I do as an entrepreneur so that makes things even more exciting and joyous! Regardless, work with what you have and create that balance for yourself. Don't aimlessly allow circumstances to dictate your level of happiness, create it for yourself through better time management. Your free time matters!