Often people do not perform to their full capabilities because they have been conditioned that they will not succeed. You may have a dream or a goal you want to achieve, but it seems impossibly out of reach. Now, there are many factors that contribute to this kind of thinking, one of which is conditioning. Conditioning in this example may simply be the people around you telling you that you won't be successful, or that what you want is beyond your ability. Once you become trapped by what other people's expectations are of you, it can be very hard to break free and reach further.

I am going to share a short example with you all. Something I learned from the teachings of a man named Zig Ziglar. It is the story of the flea trainer.
Now fleas are little creatures that like to jump around. What a flea trainer would do is put fleas into a jar, and the fleas will repeatedly try to jump out. When you place a lid over the top of the jar, the fleas will jump up and hit their heads on the lid. After a short period of time, and the fleas have hit their heads over and over again on the lid, the fleas will continue to jump, but they will no longer jump high enough to hit the lid. When the lid is removed altogether, the fleas will still continue to jump, but they are now unable to jump high enough to get out of the jar. They have been conditioned and can no longer jump as high as their potential.

When we let other people dictate our boundaries for us, we become like the flea. Our potential is bound by the rules set by other people. Often this happens without our knowing, and we live our lives within the confines of a jar. It is important that all of us as individuals reflect and recognise whether or not we have been conditioned in this way, so that we are capable of reaching our true potential!

Now, I am not saying you should set unrealistic expectations of yourself. I am saying it is important to reach beyond what you THINK you are capable of. You will be pleasantly surprised!

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you are right." -Henry Ford      

Wow great post Jeff, love it.

Speaking about the idea of being in a control group I will share this some what related experiment conducted by university students. And it seems suitable because it is about monkeys ;)

This was actually a research experiment conducted by a group of university students:

So just like the fleas in a jar, monkeys are put in a room where there is a ladder and a banana at the top of the ladder. So everyone monkey will naturally try to grab that banana. However, whenever a monkey reached the top of the ladder, the sprinklers would automatically turn on and all the monkeys would get wet. Now obviously at first no one's ability was limited by their environment , not knowing about the sprinklers, every monkey fought the hardest they could to get the banana. Eventually one monkey got it, but every monkey got wet. Slowly and slowly the monkeys, just like the fleas, realized that it is a bad move to get the banana because the sprinklers would turn on.

Now, an old monkey was taken out and a new monkey was put in. The new monkey, obviously not knowing about the sprinklers, ran straight for the banana. Every other monkey knowing about the sprinkler all jumped on the new monkey , stopping him from climbing. After a while the new monkey would never attempt the climb the ladder, even though he never reached the banana. Slowly and slowly every monkey was replaced by a new one. Until eventually in the end every original monkey was taken out and replaced with a new one. Now the whole crowd knewthat they were not to go up the ladder, however because none of the new ones have activated the sprinklers, none of them knew the reason, but they just didn't go up anyway.

So yer, as Jeff mentioned don't let anyone restrict your ability or how far you take your magic. Don't stop in your tracks just because everyone expects you to do so, or because everyone else is. Don't be like the dumb monkeys in the experiment, be a smart monkey (like Jeff).

Cool ey?      

Sorry, I know many of my posts are long, but I hope you find them worth reading anyway. In this post I exceed the maximum number of characters by only a fraction, but it is over and rather than edit it further I will break it into two segments. To get the entire picture, please read both. Thanks.

Another animal story and extended applications that tie these to a career in magical entertainment: Not only the little flea or the mimicking monkey, but also wise old elephants are subject to such influences. In India, baby elephants are tied by their front foot with a chain to a strong stake hammered into the ground. At that age, they learn they are not able to escape it. Since the elephants learn this lesson early, then whenever attached to one, even when they grow large enough to easily pop it out of the ground with little effort, they never think to try.

The elephant may never forget, but like the flea and the monkey, this may not be an advantage when those memories are colored by experiences that no longer apply.

However, in the case of the monkeys, it may actually be collective wisdom; that is, assuming the sprinkler is still active and that it would still be considered as a sufficient deterrent for their community that outweighs the partial benefit to only one. Of course, in the case of the simian world, it is impossible (according to current research) to know at what level they are able to communicate the extent of the problem. It could be that none any longer knew the reason why; just an uninformed taboo as Scott and the researchers assumed. Yet, rather than just a community custom, an actual threat, with or without details, may have been communicated as a reason not to climb the ladder.

In the case of the monkey, and many of us, the more reliable the information we have, the more reasonable following conventional wisdom becomes. It is when we lack knowledge, or a current frame of reference, that it may pay to seek new information, calculate the risks, and then to test the boundaries through reasonable thought and physical experimentation; if possible along with a safety net, shield, buffer, or other protection.

But lacking a reason behind the information alone should not be enough to trigger experimentation. The believability and reliability of the collective wisdom, informed or not, must be weighed against the amount of potential harm, the chances of success, and the value of the anticipated reward, and particularly in the case of public or would be public figures (like magicians), the threat or promise of accolades VS notoriety; these would all factor into determining our willingness to step outside the box of inherited supposed truisms.

To further complicate the wise decision making process, some wisdom may apply collectively or generally in most instances, but not individually in unique cases. For instance, looking at another pachyderm predicament, not everyone handed a “magic feather” by a well meaning little friend should ascend to the high wire, let alone jump from it. Most elephants doing so will break more that the tiny kiddies’ pool below. Unless you know you are Disney’s Dumbo it is nearly certain death immediately or when the veterinarian puts you out of your misery, to take the plunge.

--- Continued in next post      

--- Continued from previous post
Few, if any magic careers require a huge initial investment. [Some, who think they do, flirt with disaster (like Steve Wyirick, perhaps, but you could either call it poor planning or just wrong economic climate bad timing. Either way it sucks for him)]. There may at some point be an opportunity for a profitable major investment (think Siegfried and Roy), but without proper experience with smaller venues, not only in the areas of technical performance and audience rapport and support, but also in the areas of business management, marketing, contract law, contingency and liability insurance, a general awareness of the mindset and how to communicate, barter, and work with and around other elements of show business and the media, you are more likely to break your career than to make it by plunging in headlong with only a hope, a wish, and a “magic feather.”

So while it is good to let your imagination and creative juices flow cautiously outside the box, and not a bad thing to step out and try a career move in magic if that is your desire, in general it is not wise to consider yourself the exception to most rules of thumb; first get an education, do not (immediately) give up your day job, consider all your options, make a realistic long range plan not only for magic or a livelihood, but for your life, and consider the fact that you may not be Dumbo or the next Criss Angel, Lance Burton, or whoever it is you emulate.

Magic is one of the least typecast entertainment mediums in show business. There are so many “looks” as well as styles to magic and magicians that it is up to you to decide where you best fit in. Well, that is only partly true. Your audiences will also decide whether or not they will accept, tolerate, or affirm, applaud, and amply pay you to assume that role for them. Until, or unless you find it, you may not be as solvent as you might hope.

You may need to try on many magical personas, possibly including creating an entirely new genre, to find the one that really works for you. It may not be the role of magician you initially hoped to play, but not all can portray the suave leading man type of magician (David Copperfield, John Calvert, Tony Clarke, or Lance Burton). Face it; some of us just do not have the looks or the style to pull it off (even if we may think we do).

It would be better for some of us to come across as pitchmen, hustlers and cheats (hopefully lovable and charming ones like Harry Anderson and Martin Nash). Others will be suited to be clowns (Silly Billy – David Kaye, The Magic Clown – Josh Norris and an early James Randi, or Wizzo – Marshall Brodien). Some will, for their day, be the contemporary or avant garde magician (Doug Henning and in some ways Jeff McBride), or just enigmatic or bizarre (Enigma or Bizzaro – but not all who go by those names, often Penn & Teller)]. Others will confine themselves largely to the streets (Gazzo, some aspects of David Blaine, Jimmy Talksalot, or Kozmo); and then there are the mysterious, the mentalists (Max Maven, Dunninger, Annemann, Derren Brown, or Ross Johnson), and those who seem just mental or cartoony but wonderful (Sylvester the Jester, Kevin James, or The Amazing Jonathan), and the list of both styles, genres, and types of magic could fill pages or books. (Sorry if I did not get to your favorite, or all of mine, or list many other great magicians as examples.)

But the point is, just because you feel limited, like you can’t jump out of your box, pull up stakes, and climb your ladder to success or where ever you think it may lead you, it does not mean that you should climb that ladder. It may mean you need to dig a very deep hole and become famous in the magic underground. It can, and often will mean something very different for each one of us, even if it means staying in the box or jar where we are and being the best right where you really already fit in most. Applicable adages for this scenario are “Bloom where you are planted,” or “Polish what you have and you will soon shine where you are.”

We are not all meant to be pressured into moving beyond our comfort zone. Some who do will only “rise to the highest level of your [their] incompetence” (as the business gurus wisely remind us). So, don’t let yourself rise so high so fast that you are bound to take a painful nose dive.

If you don’t like who you are, then odds are that nobody else will either (although some will anyway, you may want to shoot for a bigger and better audience). Perhaps it is time for you to change.

Because we behold and contemplate, we are constantly being transformed, changed, transfigured (2 Corinthians 3:18 KJV/ AMP/ NIV). Be careful what you emulate for it will determine what you become, not only now, but forever.      

Thanks to everyone for all their input.

MagiKen does raise a good point which is largely counter to the example I gave at the beginning. Your examples are like a warning sign for those that seek to extend beyond their reach in an unrealistic way. While I do agree that yes, sometimes it is better to stay inside the jar, what I am trying to highlight is that it is important to at least consider reaching outside. As with the majority of success, thought should come before actions. (and yes, there are most definitely exceptions to this as well)
Fear and uncertainty are not good enough reasons to let yourself be confined. If you do indeed prefer to stay in the jar, then make sure it is an educated decision, and not because you are there by default.

Interestingly, you can find adages or truisms in almost every context that are directly opposite to another. A quick example would be "Don't judge a book by its cover" vs "First impressions count". So please don't just take anything at face value, think about how it will apply in your situation.

I feel that it is important to take the positive attributes from each lesson, and leave the negatives behind.. because no matter where you look, if you are out to find the negatives, they will most certainly be there.      

What to Look for in a Hard Drive That You Are Purchasing?
When you are going to buy laptop hard drive, it is extremely important to look for one that is going to be fast and large enough to accommodate all of your files and data needs. It

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I always use Dell Hard Disk Drives, what about you, guys?

Gateway!!!lol      

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