In one of Houdini’s most famous and spectacular feats, he broke out of Scotland Yard. There were conditions for him to meet, and one was that he be allowed NO clothing at all; this was in order to keep from concealing tools or keys to help in his escape.
He was victorious in his escape. But how did he do it?
Quite simple, really. You see, Houdini cut a small slit in the heavy callus on his heal where he concealed a small piece of watch spring. Then alone he was able to use this piece of watch spring to pick the locks then simply tossed it away to walk out!
Houdini being successful in his escape from Scotland Yard was challenged by a London Bank to break out of their new, state of the art locking system. They were certain that the Great Houdini had finally met his match.
Houdini accepted the challenge that he would break out in just the 3 and a half minutes he was allotted. The press was there to see if Houdini had met his match or if was still the greatest escape artist of all time.
Did you know that Houdini had a clause in all of his contracts? In his contracts he was always allowed to kiss his wife. Not knowing if this would be the last goodbye it was always allowed with out question. What no one knew was that this kiss was more than a simple kiss goodbye. When they kissed his wife would secretly pass a small wire into his mouth. Then hidden behind the doors or curtain he’d use this wire to pick the locks and be freed.
The wire didn’t do its job in this challenge to break out of this London Bank. Here is what Houdini had to say about the experience… “After one solid minute, I didn’t hear any of the familiar clicking sounds. I thought, my gosh, this could ruin my career, I’m at the pinnacle of fame, and the press is all here. After two minutes, I was beginning to sweat profusely because I was not getting this lock picked. After three minutes of failure, with thirty seconds left, I reached into my pocket to get a handkerchief and dry my hands and forehead, and when I did, I leaned against the vault door and it creaked open.” You see, the door was never locked, however Harry Houdini believed it to be. It was locked in his mind and he had nearly been defeated if not for that small accident of leaning against the vault door. This “accident” is what saved his career.
We must all understand that this is the same for us. The things we believe to be obstacles, and problems are just like the vault door. The only lock is in our minds, and as long as we believe that we CAN’T do something, then we can’t. Once we begin to believe we CAN we’ll start to give our imaginary door a push and we’ll be amazed there was no locked door to begin with. Once we take a problem or obstacle we are currently facing and choose to find a solution we’ll shove that door clear out of our minds because after all its just an illusion. When we choose to focus on the positive to every negative and the solution to every problem we will begin to change our mindset. We envision the outcome — and then it becomes a reality.
“No matter how tremendous an obstruction may appear at a distance, you will find that if you continue in the certain way, it will disappear as you approach it — or that a way over, through, or around it will appear.” by Mr Wattles.
I wanted to share this with you because we ALL have the potential to have massive success BUT there are some of us who seem to be caught behind one of these so called “locked doors.” We have to understand that even if we are moving slow as long as we are moving we will arrive at our destination.
The door is open, will you walk through it? What is currently holding you back? Keeping you from achieving everything you have ever wanted?
Take some time to really think about it and write it down, laminate it and keep it with you as a reminder and share that information with your loved one’s so you can begin to work past it!