You probably don’t expect to hear this from your life coach…

But growing up, I wrote a shit-ton of graffiti.

I mean, how does a good kid with 2 loving parents find himself being chased by cops, climbing down fire-escapes, and running across NYC highways in the middle of the night?

Well, I first fell in love with this mysterious art when I was 10 years old and riding the 7-train in NYC.

As I commuted back and forth from Mom’s house (in Queens) to Dad’s (in Manhattan), I’d look out the windows and wonder:

“Who were these graffiti ‘superheroes’, and how the hell’d they pull it off?”

For the next decade of my life, I was addicted to writing graffiti.

Sometimes it was on paper…

And other times on phone-booths, mail-boxes, lamp-posts, store gates, highway walls, subway tunnels, ghetto rooftops and girlfriends’ breasts.

Basically, anything I could get my hands on.

By the time I was 20, I was in my “bombing hard” phase. (Translation: Tagging often!)

I kept a list of “spots” I wanted to “hit” on a folded-up piece of paper in my car’s glove-compartment.

If you had popped open the trunk of my car, you’d have found a milk-crate filled with mad different colored spray-cans.

You’d also find “fat-caps” (to spray thicker) and surgical gloves (to keep my paws clean).

At least twice per week, I was out in the middle of the night “bombing”.

Maybe at 2am on a Tuesday… (cops switch shifts at this time so there’s less police on the road.)

Or at 4am on a Saturday… (people sleep-in late on Sunday mornings.)

NY STATE OF MIND

I was “catching wreck”…

Which basically means “fucking shit up”… which basically means “being an insane person and living by my own set of rules with little regard for the law”…

It was a thrilling time in my life – jam packed with loads of adventure, self-expression, and a special sub-culture community…

As time went on, the ‘superheroes’ I used to look up to started looking up to ME!

But strangely, when I actually spoke with them, they’d hint that I should “chill out” and “take a break for while”.

Why though?

These were the graffiti-writers who I looked up to when I was growing up…

So why were THEY telling me to stop?

The reason is…

There’s a universal truth that you can’t avoid no matter how masterful of a graffiti writer you are.

Whether you’re one of the graffiti-writing pioneers from the 1980’s, or an all-city bomber of the 90s…

Whether you’re a rich-kid rebelling or from the most ghetto neighborhood in NY…

Whether you spent hours masterfully plotting your next “spot” to “hit”… or you had balls-of-steel and acted in an instant.

The universal truth every experienced graffiti writer knows is that…

You will eventually get caught.

Eventually – if you keep “bombing” – you will get arrested and it will SUCK!

Big —– Time —– Suckage!

Now you might think this doesn’t apply to the BEST graffiti writers — the ones with the most skill, the most wisdom, and the most experience.

But it does… the legends have been arrested more times than anyone!

Yes, strategy matters… but at the end of the day, it’s “a numbers game”.

In other words, it’s only a matter of time until the inevitable happens and you get busted.

I learned this the hard way…

But graffiti did teach me something valuable.

It taught me that “the numbers game” isn’t something that’s unique to graffiti.

“The numbers game” applies to all areas of our life – including the important ones.

And if you flip this idea upside-down, you can use it positively.

If you wanna fall in love, keep talking to people you’re attracted to… and eventually it’ll happen – it’s a numbers game.

If you wanna do more fulfilling work, keep applying for jobs you’d love… and eventually it’ll happen – it’s a numbers game.

If you wanna get your first client, keep helping people… and eventually it’ll happen – it’s a numbers game.

Strategy matters… and can make this process a whole lot easier… but at the end of the day – it’s also a numbers game.

I got caught writing graffiti when I was 20.

At 4am on a Saturday morning, I pretended that my car was broken down with its hood popped open on the side of the road.

I used this decoy as a strategic attempt to fool people… I had my friend look-out for any approaching cars and if he saw one, he’d yell to warn me…

Then I’d stop spraying, run over to my car, and pretend to be working under my hood.

Genius, right?

Well, not really… I actually had 2 friends “looking-out” that night but it didn’t seem to matter.

The numbers game beat me and I was finally caught.

The cops slammed me into my car, punctured my skin with the hand-cuffs, and took me to jail for the weekend.

It sucked, but was bound to happen.

5 years later, I learned to flip “the numbers game” concept on its head and use it toward something more constructive.

At that point in my life, my biggest passion was self-development…

(Mastering my mind… overcoming my fears… and getting paid to make a meaningful impact in people’s lives…)

So I started my business called Sensophy to help others create extraordinary lives.

In large part, the aim was to create a biz that brought me the same level of adventure, self-expression, and community that I felt when I was running through train-tunnels, climbing rooftops, and running across highways to tag the walls.

The caveat was: No landing myself in jail this time!!

The first 3 years had everything I hoped for – crazy excitement, big authenticity, and creating amazingly soulful friendships.

The only thing that was missing was the money!

I stressed myself silly about this and thought about giving up…

But in the midst of my self-doubt, I heard a whisper of universal truth from my graffiti days…

“If you stay consistent and keep learning as you go, it’ll eventually happen.”

And it did… After all, it’s a numbers game!

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