You have a higher calling. And you know it.
Your Masterpiece is the thing you’ve been hiding from. Just thinking about your Masterpiece fills you with fear, self-doubt and an enormous amount of inner resistance. Your inner resistance is a compass that lets you know exactly which direction to look in, to find your own Masterpiece.
Your Masterpiece is the thing that is most likely to bring you fame, fortune, recognition, and respect. And if you worked on it every day for the rest of your life, and it never brought you any of those things, it wouldn’t make the slightest difference to you. Of course, if you haven’t yet consciously acknowledged what your Masterpiece is, it seems impossible that you would ever deserve any of those things, as much as you may fantasise about them.
Here are some common attributes to give you an idea of what your Masterpiece may look like:
- A piece of creative work: a book, symphony, song, video, podcast – that you have fantasised about creating, but haven’t been brave enough to actually get to serious work on, yet. Or maybe you are working on it right now, in which case you already know exactly what I mean.
- Anything which seems like a higher calling – that morally, ethically, or spiritually uplifts you and the world
- Any kind of business venture you dreamed up
- Your body – if you’re working on any kind of diet or exercise regime, to shape the temple from which you make every prayer
- Anything that you know will improve the quality of other people’s lives if you follow through on it
- Anything to do with learning, developing, or self-improvement (although if you’re a self-improvement junkie like me, it’s the thing you’re hoping the next self-improvement book or program will give you the strength to do).
- It is always something that takes you to a higher plane of consciousness. If you’re current work is feeding and educating hungry, impoverished children in Africa, and you want to leave that to make big bucks as a recruitment consultant sales rep… that’s most likely not your Masterpiece.
- It’s often something you don’t believe you can achieve – like becoming a professional football player.
- It’s most likely something you’ve secretly been fantasising about for a long time.
- You may already be working on it, and secretly hoping that it’s something else, because the thing you’re working on freaks you out, fills you with self-doubt and fear, and you’re dying to quit because of it.
- It always fills you with inner resistance. Thinking about doing it is usually way harder than actually just doing it.
- To achieve it will most likely take years of hard work and daily dedication, but each day you do work on it, brings its own rewards
- You will never be done working on your Masterpiece. Before you finish one piece of it, ready for the world to see, you’ll already know where you need to focus your work next.
- It will likely leave behind a legacy. And yes, raising beautiful, healthy children may well be your Masterpiece.
- It may be something society, your community and even your family, tells you it shouldn’t be. (Like leaving a career in Medicine, to become a personal coach… Ahem…)
Realising what your Masterpiece is, is about 1 billion times more powerful and inspiring than writing out a goal. Often we create goals in all areas of life, just to avoid thinking about or committing to our Masterpiece.
You only have 1 Masterpiece. Your may have different Masterpieces in different phases of life, but in any one phase of life, you only have 1 Masterpiece. 3 years ago, my Masterpiece was to get coaching clients, and make a successful business out of it. After achieving that, my Masterpiece evolved into something else.
Do you already have a pretty clear idea about what your Masterpiece is?
Or are you still in denial?
When I coach a client, often the first thing on my ‘secret agenda’ to completely transform their life, is to help them consciously realise what their Masterpiece is. It’s the most empowering thing I can give them. Here are a few more ideas to help you become more conscious of yours…
- What is the one goal that, if you achieved it, would make all your other goals look like an absolute piece of cake?
- What is something that if you worked on every single day, and still never achieved it, would still bring an enormous amount of joy to your life?
- What goal are you afraid to tell your friends & family about?
- What would you work on if you didn’t have to go to work?
- What do you feel inspired to learn about or do, for no apparent reason?
If you’re brave enough to let this moment be the one that changes your life, go ahead and write down your Masterpiece in the comments box below. (You can opt-out of having it post directly to Facebook if you want – that really depends on how courageous you’re feeling in this moment.)
Why Is Your Masterpiece So Important?
Your Masterpiece is an outward expression of your inner freedom. We’ve all been indoctrinated by a constant bombardment of advertisements, TV, radio, MTV, internet ads, etc., to believe that the freedom we seek can be found in the instant gratification that we’ll get when we buy a certain product. It cannot. It can only be found by dedicating yourself whole-heartedly to your Masterpiece.
This requires a certain level of self-mastery. That’s why most people will never even come close to creating or pursuing their Masterpiece. It’s also why we have an enormous amount of respect for anyone who overcomes their inner resistance and is brave enough, every day, to work on their Masterpiece. Here are some people who inspire me, for this very reason:
- Professor Tariq Ramadan – who wakes up every day, researches & writes his books, even in the face of enormous external criticism
- Bruce Lee – who’s pursuit of martial arts mastery was strikingly evident just by looking at his physique & skill
- Paulo Coelho – who masters himself every day he writes his next book of inspiration
- Lionel Messi – who’s humility is proof that he knows that his Masterpiece of footballing skill comes from a combination of God-given talent and hard daily work
- Jessica Ennis – and every other Olympic gold-medal winner, and competitor, for that matter
- Mahatma Ghandi, Malcom X, Martin Luthor King, Nelson Mandela – their Masterpiece was expressed in their willingness to be imprisoned & even die for their political ideals, which raised the consciousness of humanity (or at least of their followers)
Working on your Masterpiece, is your highest form of worship. There is no way for you to serve and adore the Master of the Universe more, than by creating & pursuing your Masterpiece. All other forms of worship simply serve to prepare you internally to do this.
Your most beautiful, inspiring life is awaiting you. So, what are you waiting for? Get to work.
[If you’d like me to help you discover your Masterpiece so you can get to work on it, watch this webinar, and if it makes sense to you, join the Instant Ihsan program. If you sign up now, you can catch Module 5 which will be taught on Wednesday 8th May 2013, and is called “Inspired Action, Effortless Productivity & Uncovering Your Highest Ibada (Your Masterpiece)…”]