A book published in America in 1986, entitled Peak
Performers, makes a study of the lives of a number of
individuals in modern America who have played a
heroic role in life. One point which the writer
especially emphasizes is that a great mission can
beget in a man the powerful urge to superior effort
which ultimately leads him to exceptional
achievement.
America sent its first manned spacecraft to land on
the moon in 1967. The launching of the rocket had
been the result of the combined efforts of a large
number of experts, who had been engaged to work
for this mission. One of this team, a computer
programmer, said that something extraordinary
began to happen as the work got under way. The
thousands of ordinary men and women, who had
been working to make the space programme
materialize, had all of a sudden been transformed
into super-achievers. They had started performing
with an efficiency that they had never in their
whole lives been able to muster.
Within the short period of 18 months, all of the
work had been accomplished with exceptional
rapidity.
“Want to know why we’re doing so well?” our
manager asked me. He pointed to the pale moon
barely visible in the eastern sky. “People have been
dreaming about going there for thousands of years.
And we’re going to do it.”
It is understandable that what inspires a man more
than anything is to have a great mission before him.
That is what arouses a man’s hidden potential and
makes him capable of all manner of sacrifices. It
makes him, in short, a peak performer.
Ref - The Moral Vision
- by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
