First off, what is a mentalist? Well, a mentalist is like a magician except it’s magic of the mind instead of with sleight of hand. Instead of picking a card and finding it like a magician, a mentalist can tell you the name of your childhood friend, predict the actions of your organizations’ president, or even give one of your guests the ability to “read minds” themselves. Below are five reasons why you should hire a mentalist for your next corporate event.

1. A mentalism show is more than likely a first time experience for your guests. This not only enhances the great time they’re already having at your event, it helps your event stand out. How many other events do you think your guests have been to that have a mentalist? My “premonition”…none.

2. The show is completely audience interactive. This serves two purposes. It gets people up, moving around and excited for one. Secondly, it gives them something to talk about afterwards. This makes for a great and comfortable way to get people talking together that don’t know each other.

3. A mentalism show requires very little logistically. Not only can it be done for groups from 15 to 2000 or more, it requires very little setup. As a client, this is invaluable as it saves a considerable amount of money and effort on arranging logistics.

4. Bespoke tailoring and customization of the performance. One of the unique aspects of having a mentalist is the opportunity for them to integrate a desired message (or branding) into a performance. While a band, DJ, or comedian is a nice option, they aren’t unique and memorable and they can’t provide this customization. It could mean the mentalist creates a personalized piece for a VIP, having the CEO or President involved, or incorporating the company or organization’s message, slogan, or logo into the performance. By using unique, live entertainment such as a mentalism show to deliver your message, you dramatically increase the memorability of your company or organization, branding, and message by helping your guests make the mental associations required to remember you by.

5. It’s FUN! This is the element that’s often forgotten in the event planning process. Whether you’re planning a breakfast event with your VIPs, or you need to keep 1000 people busy, you really want them to have fun. If you want your guests to laugh in surprise, scream in amazement, and leave going, “That was amazing! How did he do that?!,” then a mentalist is for you.

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2016 is quickly approaching. And with that new years resolutions are right along with it. Get in better shape. Eat better. Make more money. Travel more. The usual. They'll last about a month and then things are right back to normal. And then another year has passed and nothing has changed for you. I spoke to this topic before when we talked about people dying at 22 and making it official at 82. Your last day is inevitable. It is coming. Yes you are alive. But will you honestly say that you truly lived. I understand that holds different meaning for everyone. You have to figure out what that means for you. The thing is, what are you actually doing to make your life one that is lived?

For me, it means a lot of things. Of course I want to be healthy and successful and all that both those things entail. The thing I've realized though is that on my path to those things, I have to remember to live. I have to remember to enjoy the path. I have to remember to not get caught up in the day to day in and out activities. I need to instead truly take them in. Be mindful of every part of life that happens. I think we all get in this rut sometime of doing the same thing day in and day out and not realizing what a joy it can all be. Maybe the issue for some of you is it isn't a joy. The life you're living isn't one you'd be proud of at the end. Well what the heck are you doing to change that? I've said this before and I continue to say it because I truly believe it: Make a decision. That's right. It really is as simple as that. Instead of the normal bullshit that everyone makes a new years resolution to do, make a decision on how you can not just be alive, but live. Live fully. In every way it means for you.   

Time. Past. Present. Future. The illusion of time. The lack of it. Moving slow. Moving fast. No time. No time like the present. But then it's the past. Time..........................and the idea of time has fascinated me for a long.........time. Contradictory statements such as "We shouldn't dwell on the past."<----------> "We must learn from our past. In it lies the predictor of the future." Time paradoxes such as when time seems to move.......so.......incredibly........slow. Deja vu, which some people believe deals directly with time in a jumbled fashion as opposed to a linear one like we all use everyday. I've done magic since I was 15 and when  I was 20 I got into mentalism, i.e. mind reading. Yes it was all an illusion but could you really predict the future? Let's take the time to connect to the quote in my Instagram (@spcstudios) "The best way to predict your future is to create it." Maybe we can't see into the future of others, but you can see yours. At least in a sense.

There is no question, the decisions you make now directly relate to your future outcomes. Not in a blog post, but in a future book, I'll outline how crazy it is how my decisions have led to where I am today. Have you ever taken the time to think about that? Can you think back to a moment in time where you can say wow, if I'd made another choice my life would be so different now. What I want to add to that is, be mindful of your decisions. They literally make all the difference in how future moments are lived. So how do you want your moments to be lived? How do you want your time in the future to be spent? Once you answer that, take a long hard look at the decisions you're making currently and see if they'll get you to the moments you want to have down the road. Once that's done, continually be mindful of your moment to moment decisions. 

So I know you've all heard it before. "Do what you're passionate about!" "Follow your passion!" Well what the hell do you do if you have no idea what your passion is? That is the problem most people have starting out. That is where I'm sure you are at this point. You want to start a business or just simply have the possibility of something more but have no idea where to start. If you've already figured out your passion then great. Run with it. If you're anything like me though, it took me FOREVER to figure that out. I'm 34 years old and I didn't figure out what my passion was until one year ago. That's right. One year. 

So how do you figure out what your passion is if you have no idea? Easy. What are you curious about? I call it hobby A.D.D.. Make a list of five things that interest you and starting pursuing those. One by one go down the list. I guarantee you you'll figure out your passion along the way. You might exhaust that list and have to come up with five more. One thing that happens in this whole process at the very least is you learn about new things. Maybe it's not your passion but it turns out to be something you enjoy doing. I'll give a brief rundown of my curiosity path to get to where I am now; which is with something I'm passionate about. When I was in my early teens I started singing. Thought that was what I wanted to do. Then I started playing guitar. Obvious progression right? You can see where that was leading. Obviously I was going to be a music star. Turns out I have a horrible time remembering the lyrics to songs without them in front of me. So no go on that career path. Then I really got into cars. Classic cars. Import cars. Racing cars. A lot of money goes into that. So that was shut down. Also around the same time I got into magic. I absolutely loved that. It is the only thing I consistently stuck with. It turned out to be a great way to make friends (I had a really hard time doing that. I wasn't one of the "cool" kids) and it has been something that I still do today. I'm just not passionate enough to make it a business. Yet I still incorporate it into my vlogs I put out every week and into my public speaking talks. When I went to college I majored in business and photography. My dad was a photographer so that's the reason for that. And I knew at that point I wanted to own my own business one day. Turns out I hated school. So I left when I was a junior. 

Fast forward to three years ago when I became interested in photography again. I bought my first digital camera and I knew very quickly that this was what I was going to make my business. A year into my photography business I knew what my passion was. It was taking the stories of individuals and bringing them to the forefront so that everyone can see and hear them. And I do that with my photography and filmmaking. Those two things are the catalyst for my passion.

So there you have it. 33 years to find my passion. So don't think for a second that you need to quickly figure out what your passion is to begin to be successful. Hell some people work a job so they can simply fund their passion. Point is, figure out what your curious about. Let that lead you and your passion will follow.

So I gave you the hint on my Instagram (@spcstudios). And the answer is this: the majority of people enter the workforce at 22 years old. Get it now? The thing is most people absolutely hate their jobs. You hate getting up early to go there. You work for a boss you can't stand. With people you don't like. And ultimately for a job you don't feel rewarded in. Why do you do this? Why do you subject yourself to this?! Because someone told you as you were growing up that the "right" thing to do was to go to school, go to college, and get a good job? It simply does not work like that anymore. And then on top of that you get a job in a field you're not passionate about. You're only there because you thought you could make money doing it. Or it was what your family wanted you to do. Or possibly you like the field you're in, you just have a horrible boss. Do you know that you don't have to go that route? Do you know that you don't have to stay in that job? To stay in a job you hate is literally killing you. Day by day. The stress alone from it all is the biggest factor. 

So how do you get out? What if you're saying "Well I don't know what to do. I don't know how to get out. I don't know what I'd do if I wasn't doing this." Start pursuing things you're interested in. See if there's a way to turn that into a side business. And then maybe that eventually turns into a full-time venture. You never know. But do you really want to be at the end of your life and wonder "What if?" For me at least, that is something that I absolutely will not be saying. I hope you can say the same thing.