I know many of you wonder who the hell is the person behind this website.
Well, if you’re curious and patient enough, you’re in the right article to get to know more about me.
My name is Reona Saito.
I am a conscious entrepreneur and mindset mentor, which is why I created this fab blog.
Also a bit of a nerd who is now traveling the world with nothing more than a backpack and a laptop, while running a 6-figure online business (as of 2016).
I initially wrote this blog in 2016 and my life has changed a lot since then. If you are interested to know more about my journey, don’t hesitate to visit here.
In case you can’t figure out yet from my surname as to where I came from, I was born and raised in The Land of the Rising Sun.
The beautiful country of Japan, the home country of Sushi, Samurai, Anime, Ramen, Ninja, and some other weird things that I shouldn’t probably say here…
Now let me tell you a little story.
Where I came from, and how I got started in this crazy journey.
Hoping to inspire YOU to push forward to living the life of your dreams.
The Darkest Moment of My Life
In 2014, I was lost.
A broke computer college student, with no goals or motivation in life.
All I had in mind that time was to get a job hoping to earn good salary. I was not good with academics in school, so I did not have much to help me build an ambition or have a crazy idea like starting my own business and traveling the world.
Despite being lost, I was still optimistic about my future.My life was falling in the right place, because my dream was just plain and simple, I have friends, I was able to study in college, and I have a girlfriend whom I love and cherish so much.
But of course… life as we know it.
Shit happens.
After 4 years of relationship, it suddenly came to the end.
After that eventful day, things in my life went downhill – slowly and painfully.
I lost myself and I tried hard to keep myself together, not knowing that I have already lost my sense of reality along with myself.
Sooner, I was diagnosed with Schizophrenia.
If you want to know how I healed it without depending on medications or anything else, but your own mind, I recommend you read this post I wrote.
Struggling With Schizophrenia
My thoughts were loud and I was lost in my own mind.
I didn’t know what to believe in anymore…
Everyday, I drown myself in anxiety, worries, and doubts on the things that are not even real.
This experience exhausted me so much that it caused me to have panic attacks, too.
I was falling apart, and the worst of it all, I had no one to tell what was going on.
Well, technically I chose not to tell anybody about what I went through, because I did not want to bother them, considering that it was MY problem, and mine alone.
I always understood that I’m the only one who can heal my own self.
Plus, since I was little, I rarely asked for help to my parents.
When I had a problem, I mostly ended bottling it up except when things really got dire and asking for help was best and last decision I could think of.
Being the eldest among my siblings, my family depends on me the most, so I carried this responsibility to take care of them and not being the one to be taken care of.
Nobody knew what was going on with me, as I tried my best to look fine and well.
But deep inside, I was crumbling to pieces and I got so depleted to the point that I started having crazy thoughts like…“Would it be better if I killed myself?”
I was that tired, exhausted, and empty – but this thought of suicide scared me, of course.
That’s not really what I wanted.
All I wanted that day was to escape from my own mind and end my suffering.
Trust me, I never had imagined that I would suffer from a mental condition like this in my life, and I never thought that such negativity took me over like a thief in the night.
I’ve always had that IDGAF (I Don’t Give A Fuck) mentality, that no matter how tough my life could get I would just go with the flow and be okay.
I was born and raised to be very optimistic, thanks to my ‘not so good’ childhood.
And since I always do things on my own, I became excellent at handling and controlling my emotions.
Meaning, I could change mood and get over a negative emotion rapidly in most cases.
When I was 14, I got beaten up by 6 senior thug students in the school yard for accidentally bumping into one of them.
It was terrible and I didn’t fight back even if I have my Judo skill. It was still 1 against 6, and those 6 thugs were older and bigger.
Even as a kid, I understood well that if I resist, I would just make it worse.
There were many students around us watching me beat up, but none of them stopped until a teacher came in.
Then, I was taken to the hospital to get my eyebrow stitched.
My face was all swollen and terrible, but it did not stop me from going to school the next day (despite my mom wanted to me to stay home considering what happened yesterday).
Looking back, I could not forget the faces of my friends and classmates the moment I entered the class.
Everyone, including my home class teacher was shocked and surprised; they told me that they were thinking I would not come to school for at least a week – but there I was.
It’s just me.
No matter what happens I could and would always find ways to be optimistic – and that’s always been one of my biggest strengths.
However, mental disorder could happen to anyone regardless of who you are.
Fast forward today, I have overcome my negativity and I’m back to being that positive bastard again.
You may be wondering, “What in the world that someone as positive as Reo would fall for a mental disorder?”
Falling for the Dark Side
As I mentioned previously, after the love of my life of four good years ended.
That’s when things have started to collapse, which triggered me to lose my inner balance.
Seems like my heart wasn’t as tough as I thought it to be when it came to love.
But I learned so much from this one relationship, good and bad.
My biggest mistake was to let someone become my whole happiness.
Our relationship was so deep and intense, that we used to believe that we could not be happy without each other.
This made our relationship excessively dependent to each other, which became harmful to us eventually.
Whether or not you’re going through the same phase I did, here’s a piece of advice from me to you.
Never Put Your Happiness on Others
Don’t rely your happiness on other people or things, your external reality.
Because, remember, they are not yours, totally beyond your control. They can be taken away easily at any moment.
You are the only one who is responsible for your own happiness.
I learned my lesson the hard way, but you don’t need to.
Hope you learn something from my mistakes.
The End Of A Love Story…
They say, “Love makes people blind.”
Well, it was damn right.
She was my first love and was my whole happiness at that moment.
She was the first one who showed me that I am capable of loving someone this much, and it used to be the same for her, too.
In fact, we were deeply in love with each other.
Our relationship used to be passionate and romantic like an eternal flame, but now, I can see that it was also kind of unhealthy, as well.
Don’t get me wrong, though.
There’s nothing wrong with a romantic and passionate relationships, but for me and my old lover, our attachment to each other was so strong to the point that it was making our relationship unhealthy.
"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." - Yoda
Master Yoda is never wrong, eh?
Not gonna compare myself to Anakin and Padme in Star Wars but…
The more I fell in love with her, the bigger my attachment to her became.
And so was my fear of losing her…
It used to scare me a lot whenever I think of living my life without her, but as it turned out, my worst nightmare manifested into reality.
How ironic is that?
Before our relationship ended, she was not the person that I knew.
She was a completely different person.
Says she loves me but all she did was to push me away despite how many times and ways I tried to help her.
It was one of the hardest times.
The worst part is, she started doing self-harm, took drugs, and made a fuss of everything.
As the situation worsens everyday, she got depressed.
Of course, I tried helping her, but she did not let me.
After 5 months of trying to fix our relationship, I realized that I was the only one fighting for this relationship.
I was mentally, physically, and emotionally drained and I knew then that this relationship was toxic.
Then we talked and decided to put an end to our 4-year relationship, and go on our separate ways.
I admit, the whole relationship went terrible, but at the end but I don’t regret the best times and moments that we shared.
The Day I Lost Myself…
After we ended our relationship, everything in my life has changed, as well.
Losing the one I loved and cared for so much left a hole in my heart.
My life suddenly became empty and I forgot how to be happy on my own.
I was devastated and hopeless about my future, and I did not know what to do with my life anymore.
I went on to be like this for a few months when I realized that I was too late, because negativity has already overflowed in my mind and I couldn’t control my emotions anymore.
I totally lost my balance.
I fell to the dark side, and suffered a lot.I quitted my part time job, because I couldn’t focus on school or anything else in my life.
Soon after, I also failed to pay my college fees that I almost had to leave, until my grandpa decided to help me with it.
I couldn’t be thankful enough for him, really.
I suffered more for the whole year to the point that it was enough for me.
Remember, no storm that lasts a lifetime, even the one in your life.
How I Turned My Life Around
One day, I decided that enough is enough.
Finally, I have decided to stand up for myself and CHANGE my life.
I was just sick of living that way, feeling depressed and miserable like a total loser.
All I knew was that I didn’t want to stay there for the rest of my life.
And so, I did.
I concluded to face off my negativity, instead of escaping from it.
Yes, it took me some time, but I managed to overcome and heal Schizophrenia naturally on my own without taking any therapy, medication or whatsoever.
All I clung to that day was my will to discipline and insane drive to change.
I stared out my life full of hopes and new beginnings.
I healed myself from negativity and stated focusing on the best things I could do with my life.
So, in 2015, I graduated from college and got a job.
That simple goal to have a decent job, finally came true and my parent couldn’t have been prouder of me!
But as you know, I’ve quit my job anyway.
If you want to know how to overcome schizophrenia, depression or any mental disorder by reprogramming your mind, click here.
Starting Out My New Life with Full of Hopes
Why the hell did I quit a job that was good?
Even though my colleagues were nice, I ended up hating my job.
And I knew I would never be happy as long as I’m in there.
When I joined the company, it was an extremely busy season and everyone was usually overworking on their desks until 11:00 P.M – at least in my department.
Unluckily, others even stayed so late (like 2:00 A.M) that they had to spend the night in the company. Crazy, right?
I felt like I’m dead even though I am very much alive.
Japan is one of the top countries with long working hours, which sometimes becomes a problem here.
My old company isn’t usually like that; however, it was just a really busy period of the year due to the crazy number of demands and it’s expected to continue for at least halfway through next year.
Yeah, I know, it’s insane.
My colleagues looked unhappy and tired just like myself.
But you know what?
They did NOT complain against their bosses, even though it’s evident that they couldn’t afford to spend enough time with their families most of their days, or even do something they like.
We (the Japanese) are probably too polite (and too hard-working) in this way, which could be a bad thing in certain occasions.
However, I could not be like my colleagues.
I couldn’t withstand the situation.
I was just physically and mentally exhausted.
When I thought of doing this job for more years to come, I remembered the feeling of nothing but being sick and hopeless about my future.
I’m working really hard, but for WHAT?
No matter how hard I work, my job never helped me get to my personal goals.
Not even close.
All I got is the spent time that I would never get back and just some money.
That time I knew I had to quit this job, even it had earned me a quit good pay.
Life is too short to waste time waiting for people's approval on how you live it.
A New Crazy Journey Begins
I really wanted to do something I am passionate about.
I looked for answers to living a dream where I can spend my life doing what I love…. and I found that Internet business could help me with it.
And so, I went against the advice or everyone and quit.
Long story short, since then I’ve been working full time and making a living online.
Today, I basically have more than enough time (which I was lacking the most when I was working like a slave) and money to enjoy my life without worrying about anything at all.
Sounds too good to be true?
I know, but of course, this lifestyle never happened without me going through hustles, challenges, and difficulties.
I have sacrificed a lot of my time analyzing how this whole online business thing works and learning from people who are already making a huge success in it.
When people around my age were partying and getting wasted on weekends, I was at home executing what I knew little-by-little, and trying to figure out how to make it work.
It seemed so far apart, but I just did what I could do to see how far it could lead me to.
To be honest, it was really boring, but I am determined to see the results.
I had to.
Plus, working from home without anyone around controlling and nagging on you sounds an awesome idea, doesn’t it?
The truth is, working at home could also be a bit of a challenge, because everywhere inside your home is filled with distractions (which makes it the biggest issue that many Internet marketers face).
It’s difficult to maintain your motivation and stick to your tasks since there’s no one else besides yourself.
Focus Is a Crucial Key to Success
The moment you pick your phone, you get a notification from Facebook and see what your friends are doing, an hour of your time is lost.
Once you open Netflix app…
BOOM!
Just like that, 3 hours of your time gone.
And when you realize? It’s already 10 pm, it’s the time time to take a shower and have a good night rest.
Hell yeah!
Another day of doing nothing!
Heck…
I faced this many times and wasted a lot of the time in the beginning which was the reason I didn’t proceed fast when I started out…
Eventually (and luckily), I could realize how I was just wasting my precious time.
So I did the necessary steps to complete the undone tasks first before using the time for entertainment.
When I was learning how this business works and going through training videos, my mom thought that I was playing some computer games and told me to get a part-time job.
She told me “Why are you staying at home when people out there working? You need to get some job, even your little sister (high school student) is working. Your attitude can’t bring you far in life.”
I tried to explain many times but she didn’t understand me.
For her, I was just a son without a job staying at home playing computer games…
And the worst of all?
I had no results to prove that I was doing something right.
I didn’t earn almost anything for the first 6 months regardless I was working my ass off 12 hours a day, writing 3 articles every single day, hoping it’d work out… but you know what?
It never worked out in the end.
At that time, I was really angry and sad because nobody understood what I was going through.
I felt so lonely but I had to continue to do that.
Remember, I started for myself, not others.
I kept sacrificing my time, energy and sleep to learn as much as I could and execute whatever I knew while most of the people around me were telling me to stop doing shit on the computer already, and do something that’s “proven” and “safe”.
Though internet business is also proven, just not much people in Japan are doing.
It’s a business that people all over around the world is doing it.
Your Mindset Is Everything
Nonetheless, I was still struggling to make money online at that time.
But my life changed when I met this wonderful person.
She’s a Law of Attraction coach, and is also doing IM like me and is killing it!
We talked. From business, to the Law of Attraction. A lot.
It seemed that what I was doing wasn’t that bad.But still and somehow, I wasn’t getting good results.
She had told me that there was a problem with my mindset, mostly towards money rather than what I was doing to my business.
Looking back, I could clearly see what she meant that I had many negative limiting beliefs towards money.
Deep inside, I thought that I couldn’t be successful and earn a lot of money, because I was not the smart kid in the class.
I was never that someone who was good when it comes to academics.
Vishen Lakhiani, one of my highly-respected entrepreneurs, (by the way, who has the same birthday as mine!), talks about “the abundance blocking” in his story.
It’s really inspiring and I encourage you to watch his video.
It’s an hour-long, so come back here after you’re done reading my story (almost done).
This video is an eye-opener.
With the help from her and a lot of wise successful people, I worked on rewiring my negative limiting beliefs to positive ones.
It took some time, but I started seeing some big paradigm shifts in my life after a few months.
I didn’t change my business model, but I suddenly started getting results which really made me surprised.
This was when I re-confirmed the power of the subconscious mind, even though I was already believing it.
“The big leap that happened to me and my business came to me when one of my rules disappeared… So much of what we believed about money was complete bullshit. An old rule that we’d been carrying around for years suddenly vanished.”
Long story short, it comes to this day.
However, I struggled for 7 months since the beginning and almost ended up looking for a job, but everything turned around really quick after I had a paradigm shift in my mindset, with the help of these awesome people.
Now I’m making $4,000 a month. Not shabby, right?
(Note: I originally wrote this post in June 2016).
What I’m trying to do now is to invest more to scale up my business, and I’m currently studying Advertising, CRM, Conversion Optimization, and Email Marketing.
I indulge myself reading a lot of personal development books, too!
There’s so much to do since I’m working on my own, but I could say that it’s worth it, knowing that everything I do is to help myself get closer to my goals.
Everything looked blurry and unsure in the beginning, but things have started to make sense.
I could see now how everything is connected.
So, no matter how miserable your life may be, as long as you have the courage to follow your passion and dream, I know you can achieve it!It’s all about your mindset.
Now’s Your Turn. Ready to Change Life?
In life, we can’t really predict what will happen but what keep us going is the DREAM and GOALS we have set for ourselves.
If you want to live your life without regret and make your dreams come true…
To do that, you have to stop doing what other people want you to, and listening to their negative voices, even they may be from your parents or best friends. Listen to your own heart, and do what it feels RIGHT for you.
Though, you will ALWAYS lose two things. Money and Time.
You can always get back the money you lost, but you can never get back the time you wasted. If you know you’re now not living the life you want… you know what you have to.
Go CHANGE it, and follow what your heart wants, instead of following what people wants.
This is your damn life!Have the courage to get out of your comfort zone, and start working for your dreams, for WHAT truly matters to you.
But remember it won’t be easy.
At some point, I guarantee you’ll want to quit.
I guarantee people will treat you like you’re insane.
I guarantee you’ll cry yourself to sleep, wondering why nothing works out for.
But never stop believing in yourself.
I know the world is full of naysayers, all of them eager to shout you down at the slightest indication you might transcend mediocrity, but the greatest sin you can commit is to yourself become one of them.
Our job isn’t to join that group, but to silence it, to accomplish things so great and unimaginable that you’re truly seeking in life.
BE extraordinary.
Don’t waste your precious time by staying with people who keep stealing your energy and happiness.
Stop doing things that don’t push you forward to your goals.
Once again I’m telling you…
DO what matters for you.You can do it.
I believe in you.
So get started.
Right freaking now.
32 Responses
I have been surfing on-line greater than 3 hours nowadays, yet I never discovered any attention-grabbing article like yours.
It’s lovely value enough for me. In my view, if all website owners and bloggers made just right content material as you probably did, the internet might be much more helpful than ever before.
Hi Kirsten, thanks for pointing this out! You know that’s what I was aiming for ;)
There are good articles out there, but most of them lack visual impact. Just boring long ass articles, without subtitles or images. If I were a reader, I wouldn’t want to read such things.
So I always put time and effort when creating a content, even a short content it usually takes up to 1 week including proofreading and formatting my article to make it look awesome. Seeing you satisfied with my articles make me happy, it seems it’s paid off :)
It’s perfect time to make some plans for the future and it is time to be happy.
I have read this post and if I could I want to suggest you some interesting things or advice. Perhaps you can write next articles referring to this article. I want to read more things about it!
Yes, I agree with you Christine. Now is always the most important time, for you to change and pursue your happiness.
Thanks for the idea! :)
Well, can you tell me a little bit more detail, I mean what kind of things about this article, do you want to hear?
Have you seriously considered creating an ebook or guest authoring on other websites?
I have a blog based on a single information you discuss and would love to have you share some stories/information. I am aware my audience would value your job. If you happen to be even remotely interested, go ahead and send me an e-mail :)
Thanks for your suggestion, Evan!
I’ve considered about these things before but not too soon since I’m currently working on other things. However, when I have enough time, I think I’ll do guest post.
Thanks for your offer, what is your website? :)
I look at this paragraph completely about the resemblance of newest and earlier technologies, it’s amazing article.
Thank you Helena!
Quality content will be the secret to invite the visitors to check out see the web site, that’s what this website is providing ;)
Amazing article Reona!
True Bruno. Worth the time and effort! ;)
It’s hard to find knowledgeable people with this topic, however, you sound like do you know what you’re talking about! Thanks
Of course, I know what I’m talking about haha! :-)
Howdy just wanted to offer you a simple heads up.
The text inside your content appears to be running off of the screen in Firefox. I’m unclear if it is a format issue or something connected with web browser compatibility nevertheless I figured I’d post to inform you.
The design and design looks great though! Hope you obtain the issue fixed soon. Kudos
Hi Dorothea, thanks for letting me know about the issue!
I’ve just checked this article on Firefox on my Mac, but seems like there’s no such issue for me. Perfectly visible on my side. But I know the issue occurs sometimes, and it can be mostly resolved by clearing your cache from your browser.
I like looking through a post that may make people think. Also, many thanks for permitting me to comment!
You are welcome Barbara!
Hi Reona, I read your website from time to time and that I own a similar one and I also was only curious should you get lots of spam remarks?
If how can you prevent it, any plugin or anything you can suggest?
I get a whole lot lately it’s driving me crazy so any help is quite much appreciated.
Hi Mertie,
I also get many spammers on my blog, though I don’t use any plugin since it didn’t work for me that much in the previous website I had. So I’m currently moderating comments from first commenters on this blog to make sure spam comments won’t be posted here :)
You’re so cool! I don’t think I have read through anything such as that before. So great to find another individual with genuine thoughts on this subject.
Really.. many thanks for starting this up. This site is something that is required online, someone with some originality!
Thank you for such an encouraging comment Keneth! Glad you liked it though.
I believe what you posted made a lot of sense. However, what about this?
What if you wrote a catchier title? I am not saying your content isn’t good, however what if you added a title to possibly grab folk’s attention?
I mean Zero to Hero: From a Broke Student to Living His Dreams is kinda vanilla. You could look at Yahoo’s front page and note how they create news titles to grab people interested. You might try adding a video or a related picture or two to get people excited about what you’ve written. In my opinion, it would make your blog a little bit more interesting.
Thanks for the suggestion Vinne :)
There’s definitely a good deal to understand this subject. I really like each of the points you’ve made! :)
Glad it helped you understand some points!
Wow! The whole thing is going nicely here and no wonder why I see every one is sharing this article. This is truly good, keep up writing.
Thank you Ryan! Glad you liked it :)
You’re amazing!!!! Thanks!
So are you Shuan!
Would you mind basically if I quote a few of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources to your blog? My blog is incorporated in the exact same niche as yours and my visitors would definitely benefit from a few of the information you provide here.
Please tell me if this ok with you. Many thanks!
Of course, you can quote as long as with credit :)
A remarkable discussion is unquestionably worth comment. I truly do believe that you should write a little more about this material, it might not become a taboo matter but typically people don’t discuss such issues. To the next! Kind regards!!
I’m honored to hear such words from you.
Thank you very much. As soon as I find enough time to focus on blogging, I’ll come back!