So this year I will be turning 33 years old. Time is flying, and I wish it would slow down. When I was younger, I remember it would feel like it took two years for one year to go by. Now before you blink your eye, the next year is approaching. Throughout my life I would get so excited for my birthday. When May hit, you’d get the thought I had my own personal holiday. I wanted everybody to know it was my birthday, even if they didn’t know me. Then as my birthday approached I would start thinking about all the things I didn’t do that year. I would start to think about my dreams and why I didn’t work hard enough to bring them to life. I wonder if my mother and my father were going to call me. It got to the point that by the time my birthday arrived, I was already disappointed in myself for not working smarter and harder.

Now this didn’t happen every year of my life. One of the best years in my life was 2015 because I did everything that was needed to be done to receive my Bachelor’s degree in Social Work. I also started my company KoolforLife Inc. The following year, I walked in my graduation at the Barclays center. I told myself if I finished with a 4.0 that I would buy myself a car. When the semester was over I looked at my grades and saw that I finished with all A’s and my ending GPA was 3.994. That was close enough for me so got myself a car. Then I decided that I wanted my clothing samples to be made for my clothing line, and I got produced them from scratch. The process wasn’t easy; I had to hire a project manager to assure that I executed everything the right way. Once my samples were finished, I made sure I had a photo shoot and I consistently wore my samples all the time so people could see my dreams in color. 2016 was one of the best years of my life, that year I was really proud of myself.

By the time 2016 came my priorities were not in order. I was focused too much on material things. Instead of maintaining my credit, being responsible and taking my time, I decided to do the complete opposite. I spent money every day, I didn’t have any discipline and all I wanted to do was rush the process. I was living out my dreams but it wasn’t through spirit. I was living out my dreams through ego and I paid a major consequence for it. So being that I wasn’t organized, I started neglecting bills and wasn’t doing what I was suppose be doing. So by the end of the year, I had to sell my car, I was backed up on all my bills and my clothing line still wasn’t ready for production. Everything that was once working for me started to work against me. It took me most of 2017 to fix everything that I messed up, and get myself mentally back in a position to be great. I lacked inconsistency in 2017. I didn’t work on my speaking craft enough in 2017. I didn’t write enough blogs in 2017. I didn’t push my t-shirt line enough in 2017. My priorities were really not in order and that’s ok because I learned so much in 2017; I became a better man. I became a more complete and humble man in 2017.

As the year was ending, things started to come back together. I applied to go back and work in Boys and Girls High School to work with the youth. I paid off some of my bills and implemented some organization in my life. I worked on my self-discipline and got rid of the bad habits that wasn’t help me grow. I came up with a different strategy for my company. I read more books and I connected myself to a community of people that pushed me to step out my comfort zone and grow. When 2017 ended I was proud of myself.

Adversity knocked my off my feet, I got back up and looked it in the face with a smile. I became a better man because I used my adversity as a tool to grow.

I made some magic adjustments in my life and it showed me I was maturing and turning into the man I wanted to be.

I spent my New Years at home with my girlfriend, and we thanked the universe for all that we had. I realized I had lost my way because I was only living out my dream to a certain extent. I say that because I started to get too focused on money and what I had, instead of mastering my craft and giving back to my community. When I graduated in 2016, I could have got a job working with the kids and using my degree in social work to help people and children in need. I got too caught up in what I wanted to receive, rather than focusing on giving my time and energy to make things better.

So remember I told you that I learned from my mistakes and applied for a job at Boys and Girls High School. The principal of Boys & Girls called me on a Sunday night in January, and told me that she was going to hire me and gave me my start date. I started off the year doing what I love, working with the youth and giving back to kids in my community. I always wanted to be a leader and a positive role model within my community and now I finally can put actions to my words.

Also, I have realized that there was a way to live out my dreams, build KoolforLife Inc, and master my skills in social work. If I put my mind to it I could do both simultaneously, and I have. I continued building my business by selling my t-shirts, giving motivational speeches and writing blogs that void inspire and uplift people. I also did interviews with other entrepreneurs in how we could evolve and change the world. When I’m at work
my goal is to give every student I come in contact with amazing energy. When I speak to students I let them know how amazing they really are and that they can do anything they put their mind too. I tell my story and let them know that adversity will hit them at some point in their life. The goal is to use that adversity as a tool to grow and evolve. I work along with a social worker and we run the Restorative Justice program in my school. The goal is to use restorative justice as another tool to better connect with students in social and emotional way.

In five days I will be turning 33 years old and this year I am extremely proud of myself. I pushed myself to evolve this year mentally, physically and spiritually. I didn’t just focus on making money this year I focused on making a difference. The best way to receive is to give.

One of my mentors told me that failure is informative.

That means that every time you fail to you learn something that can help you or someone else grow into their best selves. Did you get the last sentence? Everything is not about you. Sometimes you go through adversity so that when you come across the right person you can leave them with a jewel that can help them grow and evolve. This year reminded me that when you work hard and stay consistent, you will see results. This year I respected the process just like in 2016. I decided to get a personal coach this year and he’s still changing my life. I’m still connected to my Grindation family and we push each other to grow every day. My business and my brand is growing but there is always be room for improvement. I don’t live my life through ego anymore. Grandma Edna taught me a long time ago, to be humble or humbleness will be bestowed upon you. This has happened to me a few times. Now I’m just going to be humble and leave my ego dormant… where it belongs. I realize that my goal is to grow and evolve daily not yearly. Every day I will become a better version of myself. I decided to go back to therapy this year. I cut some people off and the universe put more amazing people in my life. When I changed my mindset the whole world around me started to change. When I think about it took me 33 years to be 33, it was no short cuts to get to this point. Throughout these 33 years, I had to fail forward. I have learned so much about myself. I realize that in order for me to keep growing I have to unlearn a lot of the bad habits I picked up over the years and add new habits. I will have to continue to evolve my mindset and how I perceive the world and myself. I am a work of art but remember that it takes time to create extraordinary art. I am grateful and thankful for everything I have been through in my life because it made me into a person that I could be proud of. I promised my great grandmother that I would become something, although I’m just scratching the surface, Grandma. I’ve made something of myself. I’m applying to graduate school to get my Masters in social work. KoolforLife Inc is growing each day. I created a platform to inspire and uplift people all over the world. My grandparents poured unconditional love in my life since I was a little boy; now I’m giving that unconditional love back to the world.