He could play Beethoven's violin concerto while holding his violin upside down. A remarkable talent.

In the 1800s, Niccolò Paganini, one of the greatest violinists of all time, was about to perform in a sold-out opera house in Italy.

Just before his scheduled performance, he was running around backstage like a maniac.

The stage manager said, “Niccolò! Niccolò! You only have 5 minutes.”

So, Niccolò went into a room, grabbed a violin, went out on stage, and gave the performance of his life.

He received a huge, thunderous, standing ovation.

When he got backstage after the performance, the stage manager came in.

“Niccolò, you were a mad man before the performance,” said the stage manager. “Usually you’re cool, calm and collected. What happened?”

“Right before I went on stage, I couldn’t find my Stradivarius,” said Niccolò. “And I had to borrow somebody’s lousy violin.”

“Well, it couldn't have been that lousy,” said the stage manager.

“Well, it was indeed lousy. It wasn't my Stradivarius. But I’m glad it happened,” said Niccolò. “Because today I learned the most important lesson in my whole musical career.”

“What is the secret?”

“Tonight I learned the music is not in the violin,” Paganini declared.

“The music is in me!”

See, every single musical note was already there before Paganini played.

The same thing goes for you and anything you want to do.

As always,

Brian

P.S. — Another quote from Paganini is . . .

“I am not handsome, but when woman hear me play, they come crawling to my feet.”

Another “not too bad” reason to get truly great at something.

P.P.S. —

In the first cohort of O'Leary's Inner Sphere program — our online mastermind — we've dedicated this summer to get truly great at what we're doing.

To find out more and to be one of the first to get in when we open the doors again…