MY BIRTHDAY WEEKEND-Another year has passed!

Another year has passed. I'm older and so must wiser.

I moved back to New York in April 2004. After law school, I didn't know what I wanted to do with myself. I was working for this NFL agent. He paid me eight dollars per hour, and I worked my ass off, but I loved what I was doing. I couldn't move back to New York on that salary so I started throwing parties. My first party was for Raekwon. My second party was for Erykah Badu. My third party was for Kanye West, and I made enough money to move back to New York. Thanks Kanye! I bought a ticket and packed a duffle bag, and left all of my clothes and personal belongings in my aunt and grandmother's house. My stuff is still there. In fact, they called me before my birthday and reminded me that I have a library of law books, dishes, and lord knows what else in their garages.

Last year, I wrote a list of things that I wanted to accomplish. At that time, I was working on Wall Street and I was miserable. In two years, I had a big house in North Jersey and a brand new BMW, and I still was not happy. I left Wall Street and a took a huge pay cut to pursue my dream of becoming a DJ. A dream that I had since I was 15 years old. No one took me seriously, and that just made me work harder. On my list, I wrote down several things:

**Practice Djing everyday (No one would teach me)
**Create a dope MySpace Page
**Design My Logo
**Build my email list up by networking
**Travel the World
**Get a APT in the City
**Go to the Mixtape Awards (I wanted to go since 1998)
**Start a Compliance and Legal Consulting Business

Well, I didn't practice DJing everyday, but at least 8 hours a week. I created a dope logo and my MySpace Page has been published. I've DJed at clubs throughout the city and aboard. I have a crash pad in midtown, and I was one of the DJs at the Mixtape Awards. I am a firm believer that you can do anything. You just have to write your goals down and focus. People may think I am focused, but Djing is the first thing in my life that has kept my attention. It's my therapy. School books came easy to me, but school doesn't teach you how to hustle, and I love the hustle. It fuels me and keeps my attention. DJing is a hustle-and I love music too.

Today, I still write down my goals, but I keep it in the form of a project list with deadline, statuses, and notes. Corporate America definitely was not a waste of time-it taught me the game. The game is the same regardless if you are a SVP at Goldman Sachs or a DJ on the rise. The hustle, on the other hand, comes from within. You must have no fear. If you fail-you fail. You try again, but you simply have to try. You can't wait to try-you have to do it now (today). One day, I realized that I will be on earth for a long time. My grandmother is 84 years old, and still goes to the gym. My other grandmother is 74, and goes to Las Vegas on the regular, and she is so smart. I have time to make mistakes, learn from them, and succeed-that's life and I am glad I was granted another year to achieve my goals because I am going to continue to try new things.

In 1989, in L.A., I was an avid fan of YO MTV Raps. There was this rapper named Big Daddy Kane, and I loved , "Aint No Half Steppin" and "Smooth Operator". I loved him to the point, that I broke my tapes. Well, this Saturday, I will be spinning before Tony Touch, and Big Daddy Kane is performing (Thanks, True Master) at Sputnik in Brooklyn. Dreams do come true eventually; you just don't know when.