It seems to me that some people are really afraid of change. They sit and moan endlessly about things that they don’t like, they might ask your advice for what you think they should do, but even after you’ve made suggestions, they still don’t do anything. Except moan some more!
The fact is, in life nothing stays the same for ever, and so being open to change is a pre-requisite of modern living. A few minutes thinking about how technology has changed our lives this century is testament to that reality.
Now some changes are forced upon us (look at the lockdowns we experienced, for example), but others are less major and are more down to personal choice, and it’s these types of alteration that I’m referring to.
In my magic career I have fairly regularly made changes to the way I do things. For instance, lecturing regularly all over the country at all manner of different types of venue meant the facilities I was offered to display my saleable items and to present my lecture were massively inconsistent. I could never be sure whether I would be offered tables and plenty of space or would be forced to distribute packaged tricks across a variety of small circular pub tables!
Because I wanted to put across a professional image, I decided to invest in some portable display units which I took the trouble to transport to the venue so that I knew exactly what space I would have no matter where I went. It took effort and investment but it was a change that brought huge benefits.
But that’s just one example. I changed my performance website and had a totally different style and layout designed with a consistent image and colour scheme complete with stylised logo. I made a major decision to no longer have a dealer stand at magic conventions, and I also transferred all my products from physical to digital format.
If I had been afraid of change, none of these things would probably have happened. I would be trying to do what I had always done even though I would have felt dissatisfied with it all. Some of the decisions I have made felt a bit risky, but I have always tried to think things through carefully and to consider the pros and cons – I rarely make snap, impulsive changes – so there is always an underlying reason behind it all even if that is perhaps not apparent for those outside looking in.
So if you feel a bit disenchanted with your magic life, or have goals that you want to achieve, think it all through and then actually do something about it! Life’s not a rehearsal so if not now, when? It may be that one or two relatively small changes to what you do will bring larger than expected benefits, but if you don’t try, you’ll never know.
Things to change….type of show you do, fees you charge, what you wear when performing, hairstyle, tricks that go to make up your act, social media presence, advertising avenues, magic club you attend, what you carry your act in…..go on, there must be lots of things you’ve always done which you could change in order to get out of a magical rut. The key to it all is having the courage of your convictions and taking action, even if others try to put you off.