He who masters his craft, becomes the architect of his future…

I remember being in the seventh grade and we all had to remember a speech. The speech I chose was The Gettysburg Address. The speech stuck with me so much that till this day, over 20 years later I still remember it word for word. I really didn't know it at the time but that speech became the foundation for what would become a passion of mine later on in life.

In life we have two choices, either we live the life that we want to live, we plan our lives, we architect it from day one, or someone else has the pleasure of architecting that life for us. I feel that for most of us, not all, that when someone else architects our lives for us, we end up unhappy in some way, shape or form. Either we are in a job we don't like, we have a lifestyle we don't want or simply the inability to do the things that we want most in life.

I am a firm believer in gratitude, and I try and be grateful for everything in my life, but even I still find myself unhappy sometimes. And I start to complain, sometimes to myself, sometimes out loud, and it's always the same thing. I feel that I have come such a long way in my life, but I am not near where I want to be.

That's when I remember two things:

1) It's not the destination it's the journey.

2) If I want to get to where I want to go, I need to master the things necessary to get there.

This is I used to get it so wrong, and I wish I could go back and tell myself years ago that it doesn't matter what bright idea I decided to follow, what mattered is that I mastered the craft.

I never wanted to master the craft, I thought I did but I really didn't. I wanted to tell a story about how I had this great plan, how I was going to do big things. I would do that day after day over wings and beers until the dream faded and I was right back to complaining about where I was in life. What I wanted was something easy, I wanted to go halfway in, learn a little bit about something, talk the talk and then just have success come.

Let me be clear, you can have anything you want, just go master the skills required to get there. It doesn't come easy and don't expect it to. Don't give yourself the excuse that you don't have the time, you don't have the money, you don't have the resources, or whatever it is you keep telling yourself you lack. Don't become a master excuse artist, I need this I need that. Don't master the tough talk, I am going to be big, I have these amazing plans. Don't master going out to parties every Saturday. And most of all, don't master complaining. Master your craft.

So back to the Gettysburg Address, I didn't know it at the time, but the feeling I had in seventh grade when I gave that speech, is now one of the best feelings I get. I love when I can talk to people and lift them up with my words. My dream is to be an amazing motivational speaker. And it will happen, want to know why, because I choose to master my craft every single day, I am obsessed with it. I read speeches, I give speeches in my head. I listen to a speech nearly every night before I go to sleep. I study how certain words, the tempo of your voice, and the tone at which you deliver can move someone. I am simply obsessed with it.

Some of the best advice I can give you, if you are not where you want to be, master what you need to get there. Have a plan, study from the greatest people doing it. If you make it your mission in life to completely and utterly master the thing that you are after then there is nothing in this world that will hold you back from greatness.

Become a master, and I will see you at the top.

Stay Inspired!

-Raf