I had dreams of being an entrepreneur since I was 18 years old, I remember when I was applying to Junior College, my advisor asked me what I wanted to be and I told her that I wanted to help people. At that time I didn't know exactly what I wanted to be yet, all I knew was that I wanted to be great. So time went by and I graduated from TC3 which was the junior college I was attending. I came home from college when I was 22 years old. I got my first career job working as a medicaid service coordinator. I was the youngest person at my position, and I did great at my job but I wasn't happy. After working for about a year and a half, I decided that I didn't want to work anymore, so I started selling weed and hanging out with a different crowd. I went from hanging out with college kids all days to being around drug dealers and people that never wanted to go to college. I needed that experience to get better, while finding myself and figuring out my direction in life, my grandfather got sick and was diagnosed with dementia. A couple months after, he had a three strokes and lost his short term memory. I spent the next five years looking after my grandfather and making sure that he was OK. I stopped working and going to school while he was sick. To be honest for a while I lost my way and I didn't know how I was going to get back on track. Being that I was hanging out with the wrong crowd and I spent a lot of my time outside because thats how I made money, I ended up getting into trouble with the police. So with the grace of God I was able to stay out of more trouble, and I decided that it was time for me to get my life together and make myself and my family proud. So I got a job working at Boys and Girls as an Assistant Dean. That job changed my whole life around. It gave me confirmation that I was supposed to be doing something great with my life. With the help of some great mentors I decided to go back to school and get my bachelors degree in Social Work. When I entered into Medgar Evers my mentality was kind of the same. I just wanted to do enough to get my degree. That didn't work for too long because my GPA was too low and I got kicked out of my program my second year. Through the process of me fighting to get back into my program, I promised myself and the people that got me back in, that I would give my all. For the next three semesters, I was on the Dean's List until I graduated out of Medgar Evers. My ending GPA for my last semester was 3.994, I got all A's and I graduated with Honors.

I tell you this story because within the last ten years I have had dreams of being my own boss and running my own successful company. When I was in college I started a company called KoolforLife Inc. The basis of the company was to bring people together through Love, Spirit and Unity. I wanted to use KoolforLife as a symbol for change and I wanted to use my company as a tool to inspire and uplift people throughout my community and all over the world. So my first task was turning KoolforLife into a blog and I did. I created a website which is KoolforLife.com and I turned that website into a blog site. I kept writing until I started to inspire people all over the world. Then I reached out and brought on guest writers to help me inspire more people with different point of views. I started a T-shirt line with KoolforLife, and going to colleges and high schools for motivational speaking. I evolved my website and currently, I have a hotline on Kollforlife.com. So, if your going through something you can write me and I will give you advice or direct you to somebody that can help you. Currently right now I am working on creating the KoolforLife Inc clothing line. I have created four samples, and working on eight more samples. By the summer, my entire line should be finished and I will be ready to go in production by the Fall of 2017.

So if you look at the studies most successful businesses take up to five years before they start turning around profit and making the business owner money. Through that process you have to remember that you will have a few great days and you will have more hard days working on mastering your craft and learning how to grow your business. One of the trending topics for business owners is STRESS. So how does a new business owner stay away from being stressed. Well...

Rule 1: Failing to plan is planning to fail: This means that you need a business plan. So that you know what direction your business is going in. 

Rule 2: Is create a team of people that you trust and want to share your successful business with. Once you do that then you have a team that can help you grow your business instead of you trying to do everything by yourself. 

Rule 3: Remember that you can not create a successful business by yourself. You need a consumer base, you need a team, and you need a support system outside your business. Why I say you need a support system outside of your business? It's because most of your time and energy will go into you building your business and figuring out how to evolve. So when you're not working on your company you needto spend time with your family and people that mean the most to you. 

Rule 4: You should meditate daily so that you keep a clear mind. Meditation teaches you how to quiet your thoughts and focus on one thing, this tool can be used for your business. 

Rule 5: Keep a journal so that you can keep up with whats going on in your world. We get caught up sometimes in our business and forget about the world that is going on around us. 

Rule 6: Find a way to do more with less. Even if you have the money learn how to cut cost and get as much dome without going in your pocket. Running a business is very expensive so every dollar you save will help you succeed in your business venture. 

Rule 7: Make sure you have a healthy eating habit. You will give a lot of your energy running your business and that has nothing to do with the other energy you will spend living your life. Make sure you eat a lot of electric base foods and drink a lot of water. The human body works great on electric based foods like vegetables and fruits. 

Rule 8: Make sure you get rest and you take care of your body. I see a lot of people that run their own business say that they don't sleep and they're up all night. Keep in mind that a lifestyle without sleep is a stressful lifestyle. It doesn't matter how successful your business becomes, if you can't enjoy it because you get sick and end up fighting some type of disease. You will have long nights and early mornings but just make sure you take care of your body. 

Rule 9: Remember that the only validation that you need is from yourself. It doesn't matter if anybody believes in your dream as long as you believe in your dream. You will have days where you don't see progress and you feel like your world is crashing down on you but those are the days you dig deep inside yourself. Those are the days you find your greatness and you look adversity in the face with a smile. 

Rule 10: Is my last rule, and it's remembering that no matter how successful you get never get too comfortable and stay in your comfort zone. I've learned through experience that you don't grow and evolve in your comfort zone. You only get comfortable and you start thinking that you got all the answers until you wake up one day and your old news. In order to stay on top you have to constantly reinvent yourself and in order for you to do that you need to step outside of your comfort zone and push yourself to grow and evolve everyday. Teach yourself a new language, travel the world, meet new people and experience different cultures.

I end this piece by letting you know that in the business world, you never will have it all figured out, and you will never have all the answers. If you pace yourself and you strategically plan out your greatness,  you will have the best opportunity as an entrepreneur to succeed at any business. The best way to not be stressed while running your own business is by never connecting yourself to that word stress. Words only have the power we give them so if you say to yourself that you don't believe in stress then thats your reality. If you tell yourself no matter what the universe brings in your direction you will be able to handle it then that will be your reality. Not being stressed is choice and a particular state of mind. I don't believe in stress, I believe that for whatever situation the universe brings my way my spirit and my Creator will help me find my way through it. I hope this blog help shift your consciousness and made you think outside of the box. The next time somebody asks you if you're stressed just tell them you don't believe in stress. Follow the rules, make a plan and take action. When living like that you don't have the time nor the energy to entertain stress or anything else that is stopping you from being your best self. Stay KoolforLife, remember that we were all born with greatness, sometimes we just have to dig deep within ourselves to find it.