Here’s a principle that we take very seriously at The Daily Magician…
Focus on ‘lead’ measures, NOT ‘lag’.
That sounds confusing, so let us explain with an example…
Imagine a magican decides to practice his sleight of hand really hard one day, but then can only manage mediocre performances that same evening.
What’s happened here?
He practiced, right? Why didn’t that practice payoff?
Here’s why…
His performances, or outputs, are a LAG measure.
His performances today are a result of the practice he put in weeks/months ago.
In other words, it ‘lags’ behind the actual practice.
His practice, or input, is a LEAD measure.
It may take a few weeks/months for this practice to actually show up in performance—but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work.
Here’s a great way to think of it…
Today’s ‘outputs’ are a result of yesterday’s ‘inputs.’
That’s why we call it ‘lag’ measures—have you ever done something in a video game, only for it to take a few seconds for the screen to update with your action?
Look, we know this stuff gets a bit abstract sometimes. But it’s so powerful—at the very least research it further if it’s not making sense yet.
Here’s another practical example of ‘lead vs lag’ in action.
As you know we run a membership program called ‘The Daily Magician Inner Circle’, where we help magicians achieve mastery through unique thinking, group genius and our own magic experience.
You might have joined but not actually improved for a few months.
That doesn’t mean the membership doesn’t work—simply that your ‘lead’ inputs haven’t yet caught up to you and become ‘lag’ outputs.
We’re pretty confident that any magician who joins our program (lead input) will, at some point—whether it’s via the community or the magic training—experience serious growth in their magic (lag output.)
Hence, joining our membership can be a very wise ‘lead’ decision.