Perception is the lens to our reality. Everyone has their own perception.

The stories we tell ourselves and our expectations of life shape our perception and influence our thinking and the actions we take - sometimes without us even knowing.

When American magician Apollo Robbins was learning his magic techniques he would do things that others would squirm and shy away from.

But this helped him perfect becoming a celebrated Las Vegas magician who famously picked the pockets (with prior approval) of Secret Service agents protecting President Jimmy Carter.

When he was practicing his complete vanish technique, he’d try and hide a coin in someone else’s pocket without them knowing.

Other people would be hesitant doing that for fear of being caught, perceiving that would be a bad situation that they needed to avoid.

Apollo's perception was getting caught was not a problem, it was just an invitation to learn how to become better at his craft.

We often think of problems as problems. What if we thought of them as invitations to something better instead?