Okay! It's the last day of the month so here are my updates~! I wanted to update throughout the month but life got really hectic and busy ^^
Like my tarot said, June was very chaotic and emotional, but I pulled through! I'm totally ready for July!!! Come at me!!
I will have to break this post up over the course of several days into July since there is so much I learned~ basically I just pulled some tips from different sources and will summarize them and my results here ^^
1.) Eliminate procrastination by using the 15 minute rule! By starting out doing a task for 15 minutes uninterrupted, you get into the groove of it and end up going past 15 minutes. (Motivation- Wanderlust Worker)
I used this rule when I should have sketched but I was feeling lazy and wanted to play around on social media. I'd put on YouTube videos, start sketching anything that comes to mind, and see if any interesting ideas came out of it! I'd purposely find songs/chats for 8 or more minutes and would measure my time that way. I would tell myself I would sketch for two videos and if I got into the groove of it, I could continue. If not, it's okay and I could move onto something else (like just going straight to bed). Most of the time I would keep going and if I couldn't, it was okay! It was a good exercise nevertheless and I was still able to do something for a short amount of time

actually, you can get so much stuff done if you completely focus on the task and don't get distracted!
2.) Dispel fears by writing them down and also writing the reasons why they won't come true. Refer to past experiences where you pulled through, etc. (Motivation- Wanderlust Worker)
Okay, I did this A LOT! I had a lot of fears crop up this month, and felt extremely anxious at many points. Here are some of them:
I'm afraid I won't be able to go to university for my master's. Why? Because Japanese is so hard! I could barely understand anything at the admissions fair. How can I learn how to teach Japanese if I can't understand the Japanese they use in class?? Group projects?? AHHH!
What I told myself:
*I have until April 2019 until the new school year. The entrance exam I will take is in January. Right now is June, almost July. I have 8 something months to study Japanese to get to a more advanced level. I went from barely something to N3 (intermediate Japanese) in three years. So if I study hard, I think I will be N2 in under a year. N2 is business Japanese level, and N1 is advanced native speaker level if you guys don't know

my weaknesses are vocab and kanji, so I will work especially hard on those. Grammar I am quite good at, as long as I have plenty of native speakers around me. I want to try going to language exchange meetups around the Kansai area to practice. Also because I am tired of talking to just my instructors and want to talk to people closer to my age LOL.
Sometimes I am just so tired and want to give up! There are so many things on my plate and I don't know where to start!
What I told myself:
*Sudden change can be scary, but allows for growth! It is necessary to becoming a better person and achieving your dreams. Our most vulnerable state brings us to be able to do amazing feats. I have experienced several instances of struggling through a transition period. This was mostly with school, which might be the reason why I still dream so much of high school (i.e. dreaming of being late and missing the bus, not knowing locker combination, forgetting about a test). For some reason, every time I would change to a new school (i.e. middle to high school, community college to university 2 hours away from home, etc) I would feel like I wasn't ready and that I was growing up too fast LOL. Kind of like I was still a child in an adult's body. Actually, I still feel like that!

Even though change is scary, it can be rewarding and happiness will come my way. I had to change my way of thinking, that these changes were like planting seeds to my happiness. I sowed the seeds by taking certain actions, like visiting Japan and changing my major to Japanese, volunteering as an ESL teacher, and studying abroad in Japan (two times!). Now I am starting to see my seeds sprout and grow! It's not easy since I have to keep watering them and weeding the garden, and working hard towards my dreams, but that's the fun of it
3.) Watching YouTube videos from successful people! (Motivation-Wanderlust Worker) (Abundance-Chopru Center)
*This really helped me a LOT. It's not an exaggeration to say I watch YouTube all day when I am home. I put it in the background when I cook and clean, when I study, when I do art, when I meditate, and when I take a bath.

Lately, I have been really into interviews of successful artists who give their tips on how to stay motivated and inspired, what they do when they feel burnout, etc. I have also been watching videos on how to become a master over your own life and manifest your dreams. A channel I want to give a shoutout to is Lavendaire~ she has so many helpful videos on envisioning your intentions and self-reflection

Also Bobby Chiu for the artist interviews, as well as Happy D. Artist about her stories and struggles

I enjoy working on art while listening to them talk about art. If you guys have anything you're working towards, find someone who is more advanced in their studies/ journey and listen to their stories! Don't compare, but take their advice to heart.
4.) Doing things for self-love and being more comfortable and confident with yourself. (advice from Mother Lilith)
*I asked Lady Lilith to give me tips for self love and was told to just do things that make me feel happy! Trying different fragrant teas, experimenting with essential oils, and having a small snack are all things that make me happy. I'm also happy and feel good when I do things that are friendly to the environment, like being a bit more choosy with my products (i.e. making sure they are animal-cruelty free), sorting my recycling properly, and using my reusable bags.
She also told me specifically to treat myself once a month for fashion items like clothes, jewelry to express my uniqueness. ^^ Japan is a conformist society, so I was warned not to fall into the trap and lose myself by trying to blend in. I am still looking for pieces to express my witchy side but it is quite hard where I'm at.

I guess online shopping is the answer~
I have a lot more to write out but will leave that for the next post

I hope you found this interesting and that it helped you some too! ^^