CHAPTER 4
The Transformation
(Learning to let go)
Most of you probably know who David Copperfield is. Certainly people of my generation; those who grew up in the 60’s and 70’s do. He is one of the most successful entertainers and magicians of the past 3 decades, and arguably one of the greatest illusionists of all time. I’ll talk more about him in a few moments. As a young boy I became interested in the art of magic. I was fascinated by it. It became a lifelong hobby as well as a source of income for me. I still enjoy it and utilize it in my lectures and workshops.
Many years after my business fiasco, I had given up on the idea of trying to get rich just for the sake of being wealthy. I was now desperately searching for my purpose in life…a purpose that would also give me peace of mind; something that I hadn’t had in a very long time.
I had gone to college to become a teacher. But back when I graduated there was a glut of teachers and I couldn’t land a permanent teaching position. I didn’t realize it at the time but that desire I had to teach and to make a difference in people’s lives was my “ember”. But because I didn’t know what to do with it, it faded into the background when faced with an obstacle; in this case, a tough job market.
I eventually chose work outside the teaching profession just so I could earn a full time income. I went from job to job pretty much unfulfilled with whatever I was doing. I started doing magic shows on the side to try and earn extra money. The more shows I did the better I got and the more I enjoyed it. In the beginning I mostly did children’s and family shows. I did birthday parties, scout banquets, holiday shows; things like that. Nothing was more enjoyable then hearing the laughter and screams of delight from my audience. I got better and better and as my skills grew so did the demand for my shows as well as the money I charged for them. Then it hit me! This must be what the books were talking about: “Do what you love and the money will follow”. This must be the missing ingredient that I have been searching for. Yes, I would head in this direction.
I started re-reading all my books on goal setting and success. I set a goal of being able to perform magic full time. I studied books on marketing and sales, and after about a year of preparation I was ready. I took that leap, quit my job (the one I hated anyway), and started performing magic as my only source of income.
It may seem as if I had found my passion but as I eventually discovered, there is a big difference between doing something that is enjoyable and fun and doing something that you are passionate about.
At first it was great. I had a feeling of accomplishment. I could tell everyone with pride that I made my living as a professional magician. I followed the suggestions of all those success books, had summoned all my will power and persistence and was now on my way. I felt that I was finally on the right path and would soon skyrocket to success and wealth. (You can probably see where this is heading, can’t you?)
It was incredibly exciting….for about the first 6 months. And then the reality of trying to pay all my bills, insurance and other expenses set in. But when things got difficult I thought; “This is the test. This is the struggle that everyone said was needed to be successful. This is where I need to demonstrate persistence and never, ever give up”. Isn’t that what all those books were telling me? So I simply worked harder. Translation – struggled more.
I frantically tried to think of ways that I could be more successful. I thought maybe if I added large stage illusions into my show I could charge more and be more marketable. I tried developing a show for the corporate market because I heard there was big money in that. I even combine my teaching skills with my magic and started to teach magic and run workshops. I even developed “The Learn-At-Home-Magic” video series that at one time was distributed nationally for me by Parade Video. I barely made enough money on that to pay for production costs. And on and on it went. Thinking success was just around the corner; just one idea away. Give up when adversity strikes? Not me! Take my eye off the prize? Not me! I would continue to fight the good fight. (Can you hear the theme song from the movie, “Rocky” in the background?)
I didn’t realize it at the time but I had fallen into the same trap of “chasing success” as before. My frustration continued to mount until it became unbearable. Once again I had to give up and look for the first job I could find.
All the while I struggled I continued to follow the career of my favorite magician, David Copperfield. The success he achieved was amazing. While still a teen he landed the lead in the Chicago musical, “The Magic Man”. At 19 he hosted an ABC Television magic special. It was so popular that he ended up doing a yearly special for the next decade. He now performs over 500 shows per year and has won 21 Emmy awards. In 2005, according to Forbes Magazine, he earned $57 million. Wow! Talk about being successful!
This is the type of success I desperately wanted. While everything I did seemed like an incredible struggle that got me nowhere; he seemed to skyrocket to success almost effortlessly. I couldn’t figure this out. What did he have that I didn’t have? I mean besides good looks, charisma, talent and a supermodel for a girlfriend.
What he had that I didn’t is the heart and soul of what this book is all about. He created for himself a life of joy, purpose and abundance. At an early age his passion (that “ember”) was already glowing so brightly that it captured his imagination so strongly that it is all that he thought about. At a young age he was inwardly driven by this passion and you can see the results it produced. He wasn’t “chasing” success like I was. He was following his passion which developed into a burning desire that propelled him to success. He was in the flow of life. Where I was trying to swim against the current and it was wearing me out.
Some people are fortunate and identify their passion clearly and at an early age. But what about the rest of us? Most of us don’t feel that passionate about anything or if we do, we are not sure what to do about it or lack the belief that we can do anything successful with it. Do we just go on and “lead lives of quiet desperation”? Not at all. So, what do we do? How do we get into the flow of life?
How do we develop a burning desire that propels us to success? This book was written to answer those questions.
My personal journey and struggle combined with an insatiable appetite for discovering the answers to all these questions eventually lead me to a personal transformation. I will not only describe how that transformation came about but take you step by step through a process that will allow you to do the same.
The first thing I did was I gave up trying to chase anything. I knew I had to learn to “let go”. It wasn’t easy because for my entire life I was goal oriented and was constantly trying to achieve something. I didn’t pick up one book that mentioned goals, or success or wealth. I started reading books about passion, peace, happiness and letting go. Most of these books talked about the spiritual side of life and taking an inward journey. I started reading about the power of your subconscious mind and how thoughts attract like thoughts. The more I studied and the more I continued on this inner journey the clearer things became. I started to see clearly all the mistakes I was making. I could see that I was living life in a “fog”. And it was a fog that I had created for myself. And it was this fog that was keeping me from seeing my true self and my true path. I learned to listen to my intuition; that small “voice” inside that has all the answers. And soon this fog started to lift and eventually I started to get a glimpse of “daylight”. And the more daylight I saw the more excited I got because I knew I was finally on the right track. It started to get clearer and clearer and then one day, BAM! There I was. The fog was gone. Everything, and I mean everything was clearer. It was an incredible feeling and more importantly, a tremendous relief. For the first time in my life my purpose had become clear. I went to college to be a teacher because I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. As I took this inner journey those feelings came to the surface stronger then ever before. It became clear that helping others discover their potential was what I was passionate about. And as my vision for my future became clearer my life started to change outwardly. Not because I was chasing anything but because I was now following my passion and any action I took was inspired action. The kind that requires no struggle.
It took about 3 months before I noticed any significant outward change. But during those three months there was no waiting impatiently for things to change. The relief I was seeking had already occurred, the clarity was already there, and I knew without any doubts that things would eventually change outwardly and that I was headed in the right direction. For one thing a new job opportunity presented itself that was perfect for me. It allowed me to go into high school classrooms and present a program that I created called “The Magic of Goal Setting”. It was designed to help motivate students to continue their education or training after high school so they could get into a good career. Of course, I used magic to grab their attention and make the message memorable. I loved it and so did the students and teachers. This job also allowed me to work out of my house and gave me the flexibility and freedom to develop the new ideas I had that just flowed from within. I also volunteered my time to work with at-risk high school students to graduate high school and find a path to success. This is something that is very important to me and I continue to do. I also developed a lecture and workshops to present to college students to help them understand how to achieve true success after college regardless of their major. And of course I utilized my skills as a magician and mentalist to grab their attention, illustrate key points and make the message memorable. Nothing brings me more absolute joy then delivering those messages and feeling the connection I get with the audience. I started to develop workshops to teach others who were frustrated and stuck like I was how to find joy, purpose and abundance in their life. And of course, I eventually put my ideas down on paper that became this book.
The ideas for all of these projects just flowed out of me. I didn’t have to try and force anything. It poured out because I was aligned with my passion and on the right track. After about a year and a half the life that I once had was almost unrecognizable. And as of this writing things are still changing for me and my future is looking brighter and brighter.
So take heart; now that I can see clearly all the mistakes that I have made and what to do about them I am anxious to share this information with others. This “inner” journey can sometimes seem like a confusing and mysterious one. My goal is to take the mystery out of it and give you a clear step by step process that you can understand and follow.
Your greatness is calling you. No matter how faintly it is right now, it’s there. In the chapters that follow I will show you how to identify your passion and your purpose and just as important; I will show you what to do once you have identified it. Eventually that fog will begin to lift and one day in the not so distant future everything will become crystal clear to you. And you will know the absolute joy of living the life you were meant to live.