MINDSET STORY: THE SWORDSMITHS STORY ABOUT WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BECOME THE BEST

Many, many years ago, there was once a swordsmith, that was known worldwide by his reputation for creating swords of unparallel quality. People revered this man. He was the greatest master of his craft in the world.

One day a great king had heard about this swordsmith and wanted to meet him no matter the cost. So the king’s people went out and found this swordsmith in a very distant and small village, and they brought the swordsmith to meet the king. The swordsmith came in and was very humbled to get the opportunity to meet the king. The king, in return, was also very gracious and welcoming.

Then the king asked the swordsmith his favorite question when he would meet a master. He said, “Swordsmith, what is the secret to your extraordinary excellence at what you do?” The swordsmith said, “It’s very simple my King. Ever since I was a young child, I was exposed to the craft of making swords. I fell in love with it. It didn’t only speak to my head and my logic, it spoke to me at the deepest and soulful level. It spoke to my heart. And then when I was a young child, I made a decision that I would be the master swordsmith. So as I grew up, I read books on sword crafting, and if something did not relate to sword crafting, if it did not have the word sword in it, if it did not look like a sword, if it had nothing to do with the art of sword crafting, I did not spend my time with it. That is the secret of my mastery.”

Lessons from this story:

Decide which skill you wish to master and then focus on it. Do not let the ups and downs of the learning process distract you from your goal.

By focusing on many things you end up mastering none. The key to mastering a skill is to know how to say NO to things that do not get you closer to your goal.