What Does Aluminum Foil, Magic and Goals Have to Do With One Another?
What does aluminum foil, magic and goals have to do with one another?
Quite a bit.
You start by taking an ordinary object like aluminum foil, add imagination and skill, and on the other side of that equation you’ll find something extraordinary; something beautiful, like the stars. At least I did.
Fernando Velasco mesmerized the audience with his ability to create aluminum foil stars. Maybe this doesn’t sound glamorous to you, but if you keep reading you’ll understand why it was so magical. Fernando takes an everyday object, practices with it over and over and turns it into something that not only wows the audience but leaves behind a lesson for all.
Questions to Ponder
What is your proverbial aluminum foil?
What do you want to turn into stars?
How will you do it?
My aluminum foil is my planner. It’s what will ultimately turn into my stars. I, like Fernando, rely on my vision, skills and priorities to help me reach my goals. He did too. He used his imagination, his vision. He added his skill that grew over time. He set a priority to honor his grandfather and honor his vision. Fernando reached his goal. He made stars out of aluminum foil.
How will you reach your goal?
When I get serious about my plans, I write them down and start the not so effortless practice of folding, tearing and reshaping my proverbial aluminum foil. The folding, tearing and reshaping is the journey towards my goals. I only hope that I create something as beautiful and in some small way, as entertaining as Fernando Velasco does for his audiences.
The Link Between Aluminum Foil, Magic & Goals
Last night, my daughters, daughter in law, and I went to the theater and saw the Champions of Magic. The performers are 5 world class illusionists and they put on quite the show. Illusion is definitely their game and it was truly a magical, head scratching kind of night.
We watched the typical types of acts expected at a magic show. There were people getting cut in half, disappearing into thin air and reappearing, only to be found hanging from the ceiling. Somehow, strange as it may seem, those illusions seemed typical.
It was the death-defying feats, the Houdini style acts, like The Jaws of Life which suspended Fernando upside down, while on fire that really got our attention. He was also the same guy who was put upside down into a pad-locked, water tank, complete with a straight jacket, only to escape minutes later. And did I mention he re-appeared at the BACK of the performing arts center soaked! Not even on stage!
A mentalist added to the entertainment. He cited the serial number from a random twenty dollar bill. He picked out the make, model and nickname of a certain guest’s car, and played mind games with my daughter in law, front and center stage! If I had not been at an “illusion” show I would swear that Alex, the mind reader, could actually read minds!
I could go on and on about the other acts, like the duo, Strange and Young, who had been friends since they were 8 years old. That fact, is magical in and of itself. These two brought an element of comedy and a very gifted sleight of hand to stage, but there was one very REAL moment that captivated my attention.
Fernando the 21-year-old, Houdini like, escape artist was telling a story. His story about his grandfather, a telescope and some aluminum foil.
Each magician was on the stage, taking turns, speaking about how they first became interested in magic. Most of the stories were moving, or at least inspiring, but Fernando’s story spoke to your heart in ways that only true magic can.
Magical Stars Made From Aluminum Foil
When Fernando was a young boy, he would go and stay with his grandfather. His grandfather had saved his pesos to buy Fernando a used telescope. Fernando and his grandfather would spend hours looking at the stars, planets, and galaxies. It was such a special time for him.
When the weather was bad, Fernando’s grandfather would move the telescope into Fernando’s bedroom. His granddad would take a larger piece of aluminum foil and fold it in half. He would then tear off little pieces and throw them onto the floor as Fernando watched through the telescope. The small pieces of foil looked like falling stars.
Fernando’s grandfather would tell him, “You see Fernando, you can make anything happen with your imagination.”
The theater was silent.
Fernando took out a larger piece of aluminum foil, folded it in half and with a small handheld fan blew on the foil. Thousands of tiny “stars” began to fly in the air. The stars suspended all around us, then fell to the ground. It was magical. Like shooting stars.
May you find your aluminum foil, fold it, bend it, tear it a time or two or a thousand. Throw it in the air, blow on it, and turn it into your vision.
Look into the telescope of your dreams, so that you might see your stars come true.
And remember ….
“Keep Your Eyes on the Stars and Your Feet on the Ground.”
— Theodore Roosevelt
Your goals are only one twinkle away.
Kimberly Sheldahl is a Practical Priorities™ coach and Full Focus Planner, Certified Pro. She is Certified in Talent Optimization (Predictive Index) and in the science of Conation (the innate way people solve problems -Kolbe™) She enjoys helping others get focused on their goals and will soon launch her mini course, “Ditch Competing Priorities for Completed Priorities.”
If you are interested in learning more about saving time and energy so you can focus on your priorities, follow Kimberly here on Medium and she’ll let you know when Module 1 is available!
You can follow Kim on Facebook @ The Practical Prioritizer and on Linked In where she writes a weekly Newsletter, Practical Priorities.
