I love gratitude stories. You know the type: a disguised master meets a beginner. With his sharp intuition, the master sees something in the beginner that he didn’t see: a certain talent, a quality or a precious personality trait. And, without revealing his true identity, the master gives the beginners a chance. He points him to a specific direction or just push him to do some work. Make him use his precious, yet hidden talent. In years, the beginners become a new master.

And somewhere near the top of his career, the beginner, now a master, remembers that story and tells it to world: “If it wasn’t for that master, I wouldn’t be here now. He saw something in me that I didn’t. He made me chose my path. Thanks to him, I am now a master, ready to teach others.”

I’m telling you, I’m in love with these stories. That specific moment in which the master sees “through” the other person is the key. That moment is the ignition of a new existence. That subtle moment in which the reality veils are transparent changes an entire life. What’s interesting is that most of the time us, the beginners, don’t even realize that. We just follow somebody’s advice and, magically, everything starts to “click” around us. We’re suddenly on the right path. And we don’t know we actually met a master until 20 years have passed.

Seeing the Invisible

Now, how exactly a master sees “through” a person? Is this specific ability something you learn? Or something you just naturally get when you’re born? Is this a gift? A special talent? I always was curious about that.

Browsing through those gratitude stories, an idea popped out. What if?…

What if the master doesn’t see the invisible? What if the master is not aware of any hidden talent in the beginner? And he’s just planting a seed? Now, that’s something to think about, right?

What if instead of seeing something which is already there, he is just imagining something that could be? Maybe the master is just “seeing” the beginner in 20 years as a master, nothing more. He trust the beginner to become a master. Maybe there’s nothing really special about that beginner and all that’s happening is just a simple, human hope that the master set up for the person in front of him. “Just do that, and everything will be fine with you”, tells the master, and the beginner, relieved and sure that now everything will be fine, start doing what he does best.

The more I read those gratitude stories about masters and beginners, the more I’m inclined to think that masters are just setting up high expectations. They see something, but what they really see is something which is not there. Yet. It’s just a hope, a potential. In the end, it’s the beginner’s hard work which makes that hope real, not that hidden quality.

Meet Your Master

If there’s nothing magic about those masters, if they’re human just like us and they don’t need anything supernatural to “see”, it means we can play a little game. If all you need to be a master is to set a high hope, why don’t just do it yourself? Like right now.

Let’s start a game in which the players are you and the future you.

Pretend you’re the master. Play this role. Look at yourself and “see” something you want to become. The person you’ll be in 20 years from now. How is that person? Happy? Balanced? Successful? You’re the master, you can “see” that person anyway you want. You’ll make a difference around you? You’re going to create something fantastic? See it. Remember, you are the master, you can see it.

And once you focused on that image, just tell to yourself that everything will be fine. “Just do your best and everything will click around”. And keep thinking to yourself: “I’m the master and I know that for sure”.

All you have to do now is to follow the master’s advice. Start doing your best, relieved and sure that everything will be fine.

As innocent as it may seem, this game is really, really powerful. Because it makes you understand the only real difference between you and a life master: the life master knows that everything is possible. That’s the only difference between a beginner and a mentor: the mentor knows through his own experience that there aren’t any limits to what can be accomplished. Maybe he tells you to insist on a certain quality you have, but it’s not that quality which makes you stand out and be successful. It’s your own work and determination and trust.

Nothing is really impossible. Just think about it…

Give Yourself A Chance

What if you are the master who sees something in yourself nobody else’s sees? What if you plant a seed so valuable yet so hidden in you that, within years of constant effort and work, will make you the master of your own life? Why don’t you give yourself a chance?

20 years from now, near the top of your career, you’re going to tell one of those gratitude stories I love so much: you’re going to thank to yourself. 🙂