The Rhythm of Life

When I was a child, I often dreamed of being a sports champion. So I looked to my sporting heroes—soccer champion Pele, golfing great Greg Norman, and cricket legend Don Bradman—and I said to myself, “I hope that happens to me one day.”

As I grew older, my fascination with famous people expanded to include men and women from all walks of life—movie stars, entrepreneurs, politicians, religious leaders, musicians, and artists. I began to read about them and watch movies and documentaries about their lives and work. I studied their lives with an insatiable curiosity.

Looking back now, I realize I was searching for clues. I wanted to know the secrets of their success. What makes a champion a champion?

Over time, I began to see how their success was achieved. Whether it was to make $100 million, to become a world-class football player, to raise a wonderful family, to become a great political leader, to be an inspirational artist or author, or to live a life of heroic holiness—I discovered that for the most part all of these people possessed a basic set of qualities. Their success wasn’t just good luck. I began to see a pattern emerge. Regardless of their field, each of them applied a set of principles to their individual situation, which produced phenomenal results.

There is a pattern. It is what leaders, legends, heroes, great achievers, champions, and saints do to excel in their given field. This is the way of excellence, from start to finish. Let me tell you about how I believe they achieve it.

The first thing they do is work out where they are—point A—and who they are—self-knowledge. They take a good, long, hard look at themselves. They establish their needs, talents, and desires. They define and list their strengths and weaknesses. They define who they are and where they are. They write it down.

The very next thing they do is work out where they want to go—point B. They call that the dream, their goal or ambition. They define it precisely, and they write it down. They dream without limits.

Now that they know where they are and who they are—point A—and where they want to go—point B—they establish which path will take them there the quickest. They have a vision. They pull together a plan. It may be an imperfect plan, but it is a plan nonetheless.

Those who fail to plan can plan to fail.

The next thing they do is begin to work the plan. They walk the path. They move in the direction of their dreams. And as they walk that path, they allow all of their actions to be guided by a life principle that summarizes in one sentence their purpose and ambition.

Every morning when they wake up, the first thing they do is remind themselves of their goal. Every night before they go to bed, the last thing they do is remind themselves of their goal. They remind themselves of that goal in every waking moment, of every hour, of every single day. They never let that goal out of their sight. They harness the power of common thought.

They do not let anything get between them and their goal. They are dedicated to their path and plan. They walk the path with unrelenting energy. They begin to use all their time, effort, and energy in pursuit of their goal.

If something does come between them and their goal, they consider it an obstacle, and they find a way to go over it, under it, around it, or through it. Guardians of the threshold try to hold them back, delay them, discourage them, and persuade them to walk other paths. But they resist distraction. They believe in their path and plan.

They realize they cannot do it alone. They take time to love and be loved. They cherish people—realizing that nothing worthwhile can be achieved without the love and help of others.

They are infectious. Everything they do and say communicates the passion and vision of their dream. They master communication. Who they are, what they do, and how they do it conveys a powerful message.

They experience difficulties and heartache, but they push on, always keeping sight of their goal. They meet and become intimate with real pain and deep suffering, but they resist the temptation to become bitter and jaded. They fall, but they get back up. They fall again, but they get back up again. They fall over and over, but every time they do they get back up. They persevere, and they persevere, and they persevere. They never give up.

In time they reach their goal. They grasp their dream. They achieve their ambition. It is not luck. It is not freak chance. Success, achievement, excellence, and greatness are not accidents. They are not just gifts from God for a favored few. They are the fruit of discipline. They are the result of a well-implemented plan.

When we witness success and achievement in other people’s lives, the temptation is to belittle it. We may say to ourselves, “Well, to be a Major League Baseball player is not the most noble goal,” or, “To be rich and famous, that’s not the most noble goal.” The question becomes: Do we even have a goal? Do we even have a point B in our lives? Or are we just wandering around in circles at point A, enslaving ourselves to all types of self-destructive behavior and saying to ourselves, “I hope that happens to me one day,” or, “I would give my whole life to be able to do that”?

Take, for example, Itzhak Perlman, whom we discussed earlier. Do you think he ever said to himself, “What is the least I can do and still become the finest violinist in the world?”

Hearing Itzhak Perlman play the violin is more than a musical experience—it is a shattering eclipse—a symphony of sensory and spiritual delight. Itzhak Perlman does something much more than play the violin brilliantly. How do you suppose he came to be so gifted?

Every morning Itzhak Perlman wakes up at five-fifteen. He showers, has a light breakfast, and begins his morning practice session, which lasts for four and a half hours. He has lunch, reads for a while, exercises, and then begins his afternoon practice session, which lasts for four and a half hours. In the evening, he has dinner and relaxes with his family. This is Itzhak Perlman’s schedule every single day of the year, except for concert days.

On the day of a concert, he wakes up at five-fifteen, showers, has breakfast, and begins his morning practice session, which lasts for four and a half hours. He has lunch, reads for a while, exercises, and takes a nap for ninety minutes. When he wakes, he gets dressed and goes to the concert venue. There they perform a sound check and have a brief rehearsal. Forty-five minutes before the concert, Mr. Perlman is found alone in his dressing room. Two security guards are placed outside the locked door with explicit instructions to let no one in under any circumstances.

What do you think he does?

He prays. Itzhak Perlman prays. How do you think Itzhak chooses to pray at this time? Do you think he says, “God, will you please let me play the violin brilliantly tonight?” This could be, but it is not the type of petition that leaves Itzhak wondering if God will answer his prayer. When Itzhak Perlman says to God, “Will you please let me play the violin brilliantly tonight?” he does not doubt for one single moment that God will answer his prayer.

Why? Because Itzhak Perlman plays the violin brilliantly for nine hours a day, every single day, day in and day out, in an empty room, for nobody but his God. Itzhak Perlman upholds his part of the deal. Passion. Dedication. Belief. So when Itzhak Perlman says, “God, will you please let me play the violin brilliantly tonight?” he knows with absolute certitude that God will answer his prayer.

Is that the end of Perlman’s prayer?

Absolutely not. So how does he spend the other forty-four minutes of prayer? Itzhak Perlman then visualizes what he wants to take place at the concert that night—how he wants to harness his brilliant performance. Do you think he merely tells himself, “I’ll go out to the middle of the stage, play the violin, the people will all stand up and clap, and then we will all go home”? Absolutely not.

He visualizes exactly what he wants to achieve; he visualizes much more, because Itzhak Perlman doesn’t just play the violin brilliantly. He reaches into the very depths of people. He grasps ahold of their souls and lifts them up as high as he can. Itzhak Perlman makes people cry, and they don’t know why they are crying. He makes people feel and hear things they have never felt or heard before—things that cannot be put into words but must be witnessed and experienced to be understood and believed. He shares his excitement and passion for life through his music, filling his audience with an inexpressible joy. He energizes people. He inspires people. He moves people. He motivates people. He touches people. He changes people. In his own way, he makes a difference in people’s lives. And having raised up their souls, he sends them home, knowing that he has instilled in them an excitement and passion for life that is almost uncontainable.

Moments of genius. The inexpressible expressed.

That is what he visualizes in his prayer. You would be mistaken to think that Itzhak Perlman aspires just to play the violin.

Later that night, Itzhak Perlman lies in bed at his hotel, and just before he goes to sleep, a gentle smile comes across his face. He is filled with the quiet satisfaction of knowing that all around that city there are men and women tossing and turning in their beds because they cannot get to sleep. They cannot sleep because their lives have been changed.

Itzhak Perlman has found a way to touch other people’s lives, to raise others up, to share his passion for life. He knows that there is no greater satisfaction and fulfillment than to make a difference in another person’s life—and that is what it is all about.

Sit in a dark room, turn up the volume, and listen to the theme from the movie Schindler’s List. It is the first song on the sound track, and you will know that it is not by chance that Itzhak Perlman has achieved excellence, success, and greatness.