Steve Cohen is a magician who performs in NYC, and i saw him when i was 16 as a birthday present from my aunt and Uncle. He wrote A book called win the crowd, that I read at 16 years old, and the principles in the book and the practical application of them have significantly influence my life for the better. Steve introduces what he calls the Maksims of magic, they are principles he uses to gain over the trust of the room he is entertaining. The first maxim of magic is be bold. He tells a story of a Las Vegas magician who throws a card into a bank vault at 4:59 PM one evening. Magician comes back the next day with a reporter, just before The bank opens. He has the reporter ‘pick a card’ (he somehow forces the card tha the threw into the vault into the guy’s hand), then makes that card disappear from the desk, and asks the manager to unlock the safe. It was a little before 9am, and the manager said the safe was on a time lock, and it was impossible for him or anyone to open the safe before 9am. Once 9 am hit, they walked into the vault and found the ‘missing’ card on the ground. That magician was able to book any gig he wanted after the publicity that astounded reporter gave him.
The moral of the story is to be bold. Steve notes that the worst that could have happened when the magician tossed that card into the safe is that the guard would see it, and tell him to go get it, and that would have been it. But he didnt see it, and the magician’s life was changed forever because of the 2-3 seconds of boldness it took to take that chance.
I like to tell that story to my athletes, because it reminds them of teenage girls, but if they want results other people aren't getting, they have to do things that other people aren't willing to do. A lot of the times that means taking a chance, acting outside of the norms, and being bold.
