Martin Luther King's Blueprint for Success

Early in December 2009 I gave a presentation speech at the Salisbury East High School graduation and awards ceremony. The basis for the talk was taken from a similar talk given by Martin Luther King. I used notes but I will attempt to give you my speech as closely as possible below.

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I want to share something with you. Something that is important to me and is heavy on my heart. Some of you may have heard this before. Some of you may have never heard it before, and I’m glad that you’re here… but before I do, I want to tell you about a man. An ordinary man, but he was a man that believed in something. He stood up for it… and ultimately died for it. But you know… he changed the world.

He lived in a world where the colour of your skin decided whether you were worth anything or not. He lived in a world where the colour of your skin decided whether you could walk down that street, or enter that shop or go to that school.

You see, this man had a dream. A dream that would become famous all over the world. A dream that would have such an impact that the world would be changed forever… but not right away. His dream would be the reason that we would see Barack Obama would create history and become the first African-American President of the United States of America.

Of course, many of you will have worked out by now that the man’s name was Martin Luther King Jr … and he changed the world.

One day, he was talking to a group of students like you, and he asked them a question… I’d like to ask you the same question. First, I’d like to know how many of you know what a blueprint is?

Whenever you construct a building, an architect or draftsperson usually draws up a blueprint… and that blueprint is the guide, the pattern to making sure the building goes up successfully, has a sound structure, and won’t easily fall down.

Just like a building, our lives need a blueprint to make sure they are successful, have a sound structure and don’t easily fall down.


Now, I want to ask you… "What is the blueprint for your life?"

I want to suggest two key things for a sound blueprint for your life.

Number one should be a deep belief in your own sense of dignity. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you’re nothing, that you’re worthless, that you’re nobody. Never let anyone tell you that you don't matter. You do count. You are worth something. You ARE somebody.

A long time ago, a great king named David famously wrote a profound statement. He said, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” He knew that he had been made especially to serve a purpose. He knew he counted. He knew he was somebody. He knew his life had ultimate significance. See, David was a shepherd boy with older brothers that were much bigger and stronger than he was. But it was David who eventually became king. He was handpicked by God. He was unique.

And you see, just like David was unique, you are unique. There is no one else on this planet that is like you. Noone else has your fingerprints, your DNA, your thoughts, your skills. In fact, there is something that each of you can do better than anyone else on the planet. Each one of you were made with the ability to do some things so well that no one can do them as well as you can.

This leads me to my second key point for a sound blueprint for your life. You need the determination to achieve excellence. Many of you have already begun deciding what it is that you will do in life, who you will become, what your life’s work will be. Whatever it is, set out to do it well. Remember, you were fearfully and wonderfully made. You were made with the ability to do some things better than anyone else in the world.

In 1871, a man named Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “If a man can write a better book or preach a better sermon or make a better mousetrap than his neighbour, even if he builds his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door.”

When you discover what it is that you will be in your life, set out to do it as if God Himself called you at this particular moment in history to do it. Don’t just set out to do a good job. Never accept mediocrity. Instead, set out to do such a good job that the living, the dead or the unborn could never do it any better.

If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry, sweep streets like Michael Jordan played basketball. Sweep streets so well that all of heaven and earth will stop and say “Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well.”

Let me put it another way.

If you can’t be a pine at the top of the hill, be a shrub in the valley. Be the best little shrub on the side of that hill. Be a bush if you can’t be a tree. If you can’t be a highway, just be a trail. If you can’t be the Sun, then be a star. You see, it isn’t by size that you are made a winner or not. It’s whether you are the best you can be of whatever you are.

Just look at many elite footballers. A lot of them are not the most naturally talented players, but those that make it at the elite level simply believed in themselves and worked the hardest to get where they are.

Like them, if you believe in yourself and strive to be the best you can be, then your dreams can come true… and just like Martin Luther King, you can change the world.