The Best Way To Consume 'Harry Potter'

The Best Way To Consume 'Harry Potter':

Happy Birthday to the world’s most famous wizard, Harry Potter! Hard to believe it’s already been 20 years since we first met Harry and his friends, isn’t it?

For me, these books by J.K. Rowling were more than just rousing good stories. They also made the idea of becoming a wizard something desireable. For me, of course, that led to writing about what it might be like to be a “real wizard.” That is someone with the ability to do things that seem impossible to others. 

I began my search for these real life wizards throughout history. The first ones I came across were those I knew already, from legend and fiction: Merlyn, Gandalf and The WIzard of Oz. Not good enough. Although these wizards of legend set out the parameters of what it means to be a wizard, they were works of fantasy, not reality. So I began asking friends and family, and their answers inspired me. Eventually, they led me to the remarkable lives of Leonardo da Vinci, Mary Ellen Pleasant, Mohandas Gandhi, Albert Einstein, Richard Feynman, Eve Ensler and Steve Jobs. Each one of these individuals accomplished far more in the way of changing the world than most other humans during the times they lived in. And, as it turns out, they all shared certain uncommon ways of thinking and behaving which gave them their “magical abilities.”

Put as simply as possible, these are: 

• a thirst for the kind of knowledge only obtainable by direct experience
  
• the drive to question every thought, every assumption
  
• the ability to view every situation from many different perspectives
  
• a creative, not reactive mind-set
  
• the ability to develop one’s metaskills

That’s as simple as I can make it, and I know it’s not enough… which is why I had to write The Wizard’s Way in order to expand these ideas into useful, workable techniques. If you haven’t read it yet, I hope you will, and that it will help you develop your own wizard powers… just like Harry Potter’s!

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Do you worry that we’ve stopped really communicating with anyone...

Do you worry that we’ve stopped really communicating with anyone we don’t feel is really “like us?” I do. In a world where your social media gets populated only with those who think and live as you do, we all live in our own filter bubbles. When many of us, in spite of our ability to travel the world, choose only experiences well within our comfort zone–which for most of us means experiences very much like the ones we’ve already had–how are we to expand our awareness? How are we to really know those who are NOT like ourselves?

In my experience, we only manage to reach across our differences by associating and communicating with, those outside our normal filter bubbles. We grow only by expanding our range of experience. Here’s the problem: Shouting and trolling at one another isn’t real communication. It doesn’t lead to either party in the conflict growing or becoming better, smarter, more capable human beings. Only real communication, does that. And real communications involves learning to express your beliefs in ways that don’t trigger your listeners. It involves real listening and honest consideration of other people’s points of view. It requires us to think and consider ideas we find uncomfortable. It requires a certain amount of real strength and courage. Are you up to that kind of challenge? 

If so, you might be ready to embark on the path to real leadership.

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Which is another way of saying that what you were absolutely...

Which is another way of saying that what you were absolutely sure was true yesterday, might be completely wrong today. Don’t just question everything–do it again and again. Life is a process, not something fixed in a single configuration. You’ll have much more fun learning to surf the change than trying to make things stay as they are!

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Why You Can Never Argue with Conspiracy Theorists on WIRED Video...

Why You Can Never Argue with Conspiracy Theorists on WIRED Video

A great series, apparently produced by WIRED… on how to spot false arguments on the internet, or wherever you encounter it. You’ve heard the terms, but probably not quite known what they meant (I didn’t). Well explained here. Enjoy!

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I heard something similar on a podcast recently. The interviewee...

I heard something similar on a podcast recently. The interviewee commented that he could often learn things from others that he had trouble learning himself, because once he actually saw the others doing the thing, some deep part of him realized it was a possible thing, and he could do it. Before he saw someone do it, that deep part of him didn’t believe it was possible.

I know this is true from working with young magicians, and my own experience as a young magician. There were many sleight-of-hand techniques which, when one attempted to learn them from a book, no matter how clearly described and illustrated, just frustrated you in your attempts. The result was that very, very few magicians every mastered those sleights.

However, once teaching on video became popular, with top performers teaching and demonstrating those same techniques, a whole new generation of young magicians was suddenly able to pick up the kind of sleight-of-hand skills very quickly. Those things you could tell yourself “were just impossible” when you tried to learn them without the human example before you showing you otherwise, quickly became much less difficult.

So… what tasks are you looking at and thinking must be impossible, or at a level of difficulty far beyond your abilities? Go find someone doing exactly those things. You’ll be amazed at what you can do once you know it’s possible!

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To put it another way: Your comfort zone is your greatest...

To put it another way: Your comfort zone is your greatest weakness. Embrace discomfort, embrace fear, embrace the things that bother you. We learn far more from discomfort, from failure, from our willingness to admit our shortcomings and our ignorance, than we ever do from our successes, our comfort, our sense that we “know it all.”

Too much of contemporary life is about getting more stuff in order to make ourselves more comfortable. I think that’s probably what those folks relegated to the pods in The Matrix did. Wouldn’t you prefer to actually LIVE your life? I know I would!

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When was the last time you just took a few hours off, by...

When was the last time you just took a few hours off, by yourself, without any devices? No input streams other than the natural ones? Time to think, to feel, just to let yourself be?

It is so important to take this kind of time. Time to step outside your busy schedule, all the “doings” you are involved in. Sometimes you’ll look in and feel great about what you’re accomplishing, where you’re going. Other times you might see just how ridiculous it all is… and see a need to change directions that you would never have seen had you continued that marathon of urgencies, race to do more, faster.

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Loved this… but I’m curious. What do YOU see when you...

Loved this… but I’m curious. What do YOU see when you stare at it for 30 seconds or so? Do it now…

Okay. What did you see? How do you feel different than you did beforehand? Just curious…

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No one can hold back your progress better than yourself. This is...

No one can hold back your progress better than yourself. This is the thing you are truly the very best in the world at!

Others may try to hold you back. They’ll say, “You can’t do that.” “That’s impossible.” “You don’t have what it takes.” They’ll say whatever they think, whatever would hold them back if they were trying to accomplish what you are set out to do. They can’t stop you unless you believe them. They can’t stop you unless you let them. Don’t let them. You don’t need them to hold you back–only you have the ultimate power to do that, and you’re more than capable, all on your own!

Just get yourself in the habit of telling yourself, “I don’t the time.” “I can’t afford it.” “I just don’t know how.” and the hundred negative thoughts that we all use to keep us from doing things, and you’re sure to stop yourself.

Or… you could just stop wasting your time with all that, and get on with creating the changes in yourself and your world, get on with achieving the things you really want to do. Just get out of your own way! THAT’s the Wizard’s Way.

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Fun is underrated in our adult world. And yet most of the great...

Fun is underrated in our adult world. And yet most of the great improvements in our lives come from people so driven by their passions, people having so much fun creating the things they are creating, they can’t imagine doing anything else. Food, sleep, other things in life–things you and I might consider essential–get brushed to the side. 

My last real boss, when I had my last real job, liked to say, “If we’re not having fun, and not making money, we should be doing something else.” I learned more from him than anyone else I’ve ever worked with, and had more fun doing it.

So: Are you having enough fun, and making money while you do it? If not, either you’re doing it wrong, or you need to find something else to do. Someone else, who CAN find the fun in doing what you are doing, will do it far better than you ever can. And in the meantime, there is that thing out there that will spark your passion, your curiosity, sense of adventure… that you’ll find so much fun doing that you can’t help become the very best at it. Find that thing!

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Bezos is right… and it certainly has served him well!...

Bezos is right… and it certainly has served him well! Currently worth an estimated $72 billion, and rated best CEO in the world (2014/ Harvard Business Review), Bezos has proved himself a true world-changer many times over.

So, what innovation are you waiting to create? Why aren’t you creating it right now? Let’s all get busy, right this minute. There is certainly no shortage of changes we can make to improve the world.

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Not all of our fears are instinctual–many have been...

Not all of our fears are instinctual–many have been implanted by parents, teachers, and society. “Don’t do that!” can be a powerful instruction when given by someone you think of as an authority. This is one of the reasons real wizards “question everything,” especially things we fear.

Fear prevents us from having many of the experiences that might help us grow and overcome our limitations. Questioning everything, overcoming your fears, is one of the keys to doing the impossible.

And THAT’s the Wizard’s Way! You can learn more from the book:

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Did you know the word “Wizard” was a magical word? I see this as...

Did you know the word “Wizard” was a magical word? I see this as a happy synchronicity… the word also comes from the same root as “wisdom,” – wizards are “wise-ards.” 

So, where does one go to get “wisdom?” Probably not to school. Wisdom is that special kind of knowledge one can only get from having experiences, and then reflecting on them. Have you had unusual or special experiences which taught you life lessons others might not have had? Perhaps you are on your way to becoming a real wizard!

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goodvibesandchilltimes:ᎾᏢᏆᎥᏟᎪᏞ ᎥᏞᏞusᎥᎾᏁ Try doing what the title...

goodvibesandchilltimes:

ᎾᏢᏆᎥᏟᎪᏞ ᎥᏞᏞusᎥᎾᏁ

Try doing what the title says. Have a little fun with your senses… in this case vision. Perception shapes our reality, and perceptions can be manipulated–by artists, by others, and even by ourselves. When you realize that most of your experience is an illusion, it becomes much easier to shape that experience.

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Still my favorite Steve Jobs creation – a true wizard,...

Still my favorite Steve Jobs creation – a true wizard, celebrating other real-life wizards. I don’t know about you, but this is the club I aspire to join!

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