Harry Houdini. Who doesn’t know the name?
His daring escapes, his legendary stamina, his amazing resourcefulness and his uncanny gift for self-promotion have secured his name among the icons of the 20th century. Much more than a performer, Harry was an explorer, inventor, researcher and savvy businessman who almost single-handedly created the field of “escapology” by freeing himself from locks, shackles, jail cells and all forms of bizarre restraints. Harry constantly searched out new and exciting challenges. He was encircled in chains, handcuffed, and stuffed into a packing crate which was nailed shut and thrown into a frigid river. He was crammed into a metal can filled with milk, even a giant stein brimming with beer. Harry got out of all of them.
Houdini also created “ghost-busting,” the tireless search for legitimate apparitions and the exposing of phony “mediums” or psychics who preyed on wealthy, bereaved patrons reeling from the horrors of World War I.
Harry’s real name was Ehrich Weiss. He was a Hungarian immigrant who spoke little English, had few formal skills, and was just 5 foot, two inches tall. What he had in large supply was a deep love for his family and his adopted country, along with a steely resolve to conquer any challenge. Today, America faces challenges not witnessed since the Great Depression. In 2013, our country is still navigating a tenuous “recovery” and faces the specter of a government shutdown. Every time I speak with a neighbor, a business owner, or a family member I hear a slight quiver in their voices and see doubt in their eyes. Houdini’s greatest accomplishment was conquering his fears and embracing opportunity wherever he found it. We can do the same. But first we have to free our minds of constricting beliefs, irrational fears and negative self-talk. More than 80 years after his death, Harry Houdini can still show us the way.
His daring escapes, his legendary stamina, his amazing resourcefulness and his uncanny gift for self-promotion have secured his name among the icons of the 20th century. Much more than a performer, Harry was an explorer, inventor, researcher and savvy businessman who almost single-handedly created the field of “escapology” by freeing himself from locks, shackles, jail cells and all forms of bizarre restraints. Harry constantly searched out new and exciting challenges. He was encircled in chains, handcuffed, and stuffed into a packing crate which was nailed shut and thrown into a frigid river. He was crammed into a metal can filled with milk, even a giant stein brimming with beer. Harry got out of all of them.
Houdini also created “ghost-busting,” the tireless search for legitimate apparitions and the exposing of phony “mediums” or psychics who preyed on wealthy, bereaved patrons reeling from the horrors of World War I.
Harry’s real name was Ehrich Weiss. He was a Hungarian immigrant who spoke little English, had few formal skills, and was just 5 foot, two inches tall. What he had in large supply was a deep love for his family and his adopted country, along with a steely resolve to conquer any challenge. Today, America faces challenges not witnessed since the Great Depression. In 2013, our country is still navigating a tenuous “recovery” and faces the specter of a government shutdown. Every time I speak with a neighbor, a business owner, or a family member I hear a slight quiver in their voices and see doubt in their eyes. Houdini’s greatest accomplishment was conquering his fears and embracing opportunity wherever he found it. We can do the same. But first we have to free our minds of constricting beliefs, irrational fears and negative self-talk. More than 80 years after his death, Harry Houdini can still show us the way.
Lessons from the remarkable life of Harry Houdini:
1. Believe in Yourself
Only then will others truly believe in you and embrace your gifts.
Only then will others truly believe in you and embrace your gifts.
2. Recreate Yourself
Use your talents and channel your singular combination of abilities to create a new service, product or unique way of seeing the world to solve problems at work and home. Provide value to the world and the world will reward you with opportunities to thrive.
Use your talents and channel your singular combination of abilities to create a new service, product or unique way of seeing the world to solve problems at work and home. Provide value to the world and the world will reward you with opportunities to thrive.
3. Promote Yourself
Your accomplishments can only be leveraged if the world knows about them. Be humble, but don’t be invisible.
Your accomplishments can only be leveraged if the world knows about them. Be humble, but don’t be invisible.
4. Be resourceful
Read voraciously, become an expert, then apply your knowledge to solve tough challenges and open up new avenues for advancement. Plus, you’ll be a more interesting person at parties!
Read voraciously, become an expert, then apply your knowledge to solve tough challenges and open up new avenues for advancement. Plus, you’ll be a more interesting person at parties!
5. Set lofty goals
Even if you don’t achieve every goal, your extra efforts open new doors and help you grow in areas you never thought possible.
6. Learn from your mistakes
Houdini had an encyclopedic knowledge of locks and kept a diary of all his escapes – what worked, what didn’t, and what he would do the next time he found himself in a similar predicament. Do you have a success diary? How do you build on lessons learned, especially from your failures?
Houdini had an encyclopedic knowledge of locks and kept a diary of all his escapes – what worked, what didn’t, and what he would do the next time he found himself in a similar predicament. Do you have a success diary? How do you build on lessons learned, especially from your failures?
7. Anticipate and embrace change
Harry saw that vaudeville wasn’t the future, so he made movies, presented lectures, wrote books and created the fields of “escapology” and “ghost-busting”.
8. Think differently to solve problems
Use your past experience and apply it in a completely new way to find unexpected approaches and possibly reveal entirely new opportunities, product ideas, inventions, even an entire school of thought!
9. Look for new combinations
Harry turned an interest in locks, magic and athletics into “escapology” and helped define entertainment in the early 20th century.
10. Free your mind
Houdini loved to explore and try new things. He was the first man to fly solo in Australia, not long after the Wright Brothers’ groundbreaking accomplishments at Kitty Hawk. Try meditation or yoga, browse through the library and check out a book chosen at random and read it. Listen to different types of music on the radio or at home. Go to a new restaurant this month. See a play. Go to a magic show. Watch a foreign film. Just do something new! New experiences stimulate your brain, stretch your mind and keep life interesting.
