Have you ever stayed up all night because your mind and thoughts are continuously doing circles? I used to have this problem bad as fuck, and honestly I still deal with it to this day. Before I started tattooing full time I had to do an apprenticeship, and even before that when I was working a regular job I use to day dream so much. Honestly it felt like I dreamed more while I was awake than when I was sleep. Sometimes my dreams felt so real just thinking about it that it just gave me an adrenaline rush and would motivate me to go harder at what I was doing. Between that, praying to God, and following his footsteps led me to where I am today.
I am a strong believer in following your dreams. I feel like if you are a hard worker, keep God first, and actually are passionate about what you do, nothing can stop you from reaching your goals. I like to use my personal examples to show how true that actually is. Let’s get this straight, when I share personal success stories I don’t ever want you all to think I am bragging or boasting about things I’ve achieved, but I want to use those to inspire others to go out and do it too. I use to watch interviews on rapper, celebrities, etc. talk about the things they went through to get to where they were at at that moment. I feel like we can learn a lot from other people’s struggles, because we may be going through the same shit.
This past year my tattooing career has taken off like crazy. It is a true blessing from God. I am one of the cities hottest artist right now. (At least that’s what people say.) My clientele has grown, I’m booked out pretty far, and it just continues to grow. I’ve tattooed multiple professional athletes, and also tons of college athletes. My city really shows me love. Shout out Oklahoma City one time. This did not happen over night though. It took a lot of hard work to get there. I’m talking about many long, sleepless nights, just up drawing or painting. Everything that is happening right now is what I use to dream about when I couldn’t sleep. I was recently on the front page of the sports page on our state newspaper, The Oklahoman. Do you know how that felt? I had everyone hitting me up telling me congrats, seeing my moms so proud of the kid, knowing I’m making my family proud and being a positive influence on the younger generations meant everything to me. I want my nieces and little cousins to know they can go out and do the same thing. The way they’re dreaming about what they want to do and be when they grow up, that was me, just a kid with a dream.
Yesterday one of my cousins sent me a picture of a video game, NBA 2k21. The picture was actually a picture of my homie/brother Terrance Ferguson that plays for the OKC Thunder. He was my first NBA client. I met bro at a concert, and just networked and we ended up linking up. Also networking is huge!! But that’s a whole other blog.. Back to the picture though. It showed a tattoo I had done on T Ferg. My artwork is on one of my favorite video games. To me that’s dope as shit. Also this year I tattooed NBA All-Star Trae Young. This was a huge milestone as well. When you have top professional athletes like that reaching out to you, when in reality they can go to anyone in the country, means so much. That alone pushes me to go harder. You have to be able to get inspired by your success and not get comfortable by it. I never want to come to a comfortable stage, I feel like every day is a new chance to grow and get closer to your dreams. I also try to stay humble. I know there is still things I can get better at or work on, I also don’t think I am the best YET. (See how I said “yet?” Speaking things into existence.) When you start experiencing success it’s easy to get a big head and start thinking you’re better than everyone. I never want to be that person, I always take in what everyone tells me no matter who they are. Wisdom is wisdom. Never think that there’s nothing you can learn from someone, even if you may be doing better than them at the time. I feel like that’s how a lot of people miss out on knowledge. Take in everything and use it, whether it’s for motivation or maybe it’s a learning situation to where you’re like, “I’m not ever going to do that shit or fuck up like that.”
In conclusion, I just want everyone out there to continue to work towards your dreams. I am a prime example that dreams come true if you work hard for them. Pray about it, and work on speaking things into existence. It’s never too late. Sometimes some stories take longer than others, maybe it’s just not your time yet, but don’t give up. Continue to dream big and shoot for the stars, and when that time comes you’ll shine so bright! There is no better feeling than knowing your hard work and dedication has, and is paying off. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, or happen over night. But when it does, just know you deserve it all.
Anything’s possible, you gotta dream like you’ve never seen obstacles.
J. Cole
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