“This is a business where sometimes it’s up to a bunch of people who might not understand what a mixed race kid from Canada has to say or a fly Spanish girl from New York or anybody else, or a brother from Houston right there, my brother Travis [Scott]. But my point is you’ve already won if you have people singing your songs word for word, if you’re a hero in your hometown. Look, if there’s people who have regular jobs who are coming out in the rain, in the snow, spending their hard earned money to buy tickets to come to your shows, you don’t need this right here. I promise you, you already won.” – Drake

In what might have been one of the biggest moments in Drake’s life as well as his music career, he did something few do in the face of acknowledgement: he reflected on what the recognition really meant to him and what it should mean to all those not standing where he was when he uttered those words. Although the Grammy’s cut him off, the message sent by Drake was for more than just Travis Scott to hear…

Now let’s take a moment. What do you do and what do you do to perfect your gift. Is it five hours a day of lifting weights and practicing plays? Is it rerunning script lines to invoke the perfect sense of reality. Is it just strumming your guitar and putting words to your melody? The hours we put into perfecting our crafts and our gifts go often-time unnoticed. Worse yet, life oftentimes shows us that the most deserving, the most talented, or the one who put in the most of themselves into what they do, end up not being recognized by their peers or the critics for their profession. Drake took a moment to share work you put in, in pursuit of the perfection of your gift can be fueled by a variety of reasons. Maybe perfection of your gift is the only way out of your present reality. It might be the therapy that provides us peace in the midst of all this chaos, or it could just be so you can stand on a Grammy stage one day and speak your truth.

Drake reminds us that our gifts, art, or craft are not to be perfected for the sake of recognition. We are all blessed with a talent or gift that enables us to be unique. Your labor of love to perfect your talent shouldn’t find meaning in the money and the fame. Remember why you do what you love. You do it to bring joy to yourself and everyone around you. You do it because you have to make it. You work at it every day because you have to make it for your family and loved ones. So realize you have already won by being blessed with a talent or a gift and using it. You have already won because you have the ability to produce something that creates happiness in all those around you. Now with all that being said, perfecting your talents, your gifts, your craft, gives you the ability to change the conditions of those around you. So like Drake said, you already won, a Grammy, an Oscar, a Nobel Peace Prize – nothing can take away from the fact that you have won, perfecting your craft allows everyone to bask in the joy you produce.