What you see, may not be true.

Here in Las Vegas we have a wonderful Magician (Illusionist) named Lance Burton. We’ve seen his show many times. He’s so successful that his contract continues to be renewed and he gets to thrill sold out audiences each night. Like every good magician, he refuses to tell how he does his tricks. Each time I go to his show, I sit in awe. How the heck does he make things disappear?

There’s another famous act here – Penn & Teller. You’ve probably heard of them. (Teller is the one who never speaks.) One of the differences between them and Lance Burton is that part of their act includes a description of how they do their illusions. Of course, that makes the audience even more alert and hopeful of figuring out how they do the things they don’t explain. I still can’t figure out how they catch a bullet in their teeth or any of the other spectacular stunts they pull.

What does this have to do with having a successful life or a successful business?

An illusionist uses our assumptions, beliefs, and perceptions against us. They get us to “see” and “believe” what they want us to, even if it’s not true. And isn’t life like that? We “see” an event or situation from our perspective and believe it to be a certain way. Yet if we look at it from a different perspective, it often appears very different.

What we realize is that much of life is an optical illusion. It’s not really as we see it or how we have interpreted it.

Wouldn’t it be nice if there were someone like Penn & Teller who could tell us how something really works?

Written by Philip Cohen