David Copperfield grew up hearing of the great magicians like Houdini and knew that someday he, too, wanted to be a great magician himself. He bought magic books, and he learned about many different tricks, but he performed a major trick of his own. In our interview with him, David told us, “I used to go to the library and check out magic books. I would read the effects but I wouldn’t read the explanation or the method. I would see if I could invent a solution of my own for that piece of magic. I found that I could invent my own stuff and it came very easy for me.
“I wasn’t good at anything else, but magic I was good at. A lot of my inventions were published in magic books even before I was twelve.” David continued, “My idols weren’t other magicians; my idols were people like Orson Welles and Walt Disney. People like that. My goals were very high. I wanted to make magic as important as the cinema, dance, and music. I worked hard. My work was to emotionally move the audience as well as to entertain. That has been my goal throughout the years.”
In other words, David Copperfield looked to non-magicians like Welles and Disney as mentors. The results? After years of learning and practicing the principles of diverse research and mentoring, David Copperfield is now recognized as one of the greatest magicians in the world. In your life, you will discover great insights as you “look outside the shoebox” by recognizing un-expected mentoring opportunities that are all around you.
