‘Mind Twists’: The Greatest Speech You’ve Never Read (and why I quit my job)


The Magic Circle headquarters in Euston, London

In October 2011 a man called Ian Rowland, who is a member of the Magic Circle and has taught the FBI to read minds, gave a talk to a small group of people at The Comedy Pub in London. Ian was “pleasantly amazed” by the responses and made a written version of the talk available on his website, resulting in similar praise and thanks  from people all over the world.

When I first read ‘Mind Twists’ earlier this year, I was wrestling with the idea of packing in my job. My reasons were no more specific or complicated than anyone else who reaches a crossroads. Sometimes, it’s just time to move on. The difficult bit is letting go.

Every time a door opens in your head when you consider what might be achievable with another ten hours in the day, something starts gnawing at your ankles. It’s the Gremlin of Uncertainty and Ian Rowland’s ‘Mind Twists’ can help you squash the bastard. Here’s an excerpt:

I just walked out. I said, ‘I’ve had enough. It’s boring and I want more than this to look back on. And the biscuits aren’t very good either.’

People said, ‘Is this a mid-life crisis?’

I was 36. I said, ‘No, it’s called waking up.’

People said, ‘What are you going to do?’

I said, ‘I’ve no idea, but it has to be more interesting than this.’

People said, ‘How will you survive?’

I looked around the office and I said, ‘Do you call this surviving? This isn’t surviving. It’s existing. Anyway, I don’t want to survive. I want to live.’

People said, ‘Oh, it’s very brave – leaving the big salary, the car, the perks.’

I said, ‘The brave people are the ones who can look ahead and see more of the same – the commuting, the meetings, the spreadsheets, the wretched company parties – and go forward into that tunnel. I can’t do that. It’s just too scary to think that’s all I’ll have to look back on.’

So I quit my job and I went on an adventure called ‘Seeing what happens next’. It’s a great adventure, I’m still on it and I love every minute of it.

I contacted Ian Rowland to thank him for ‘Mind Twists’. I had enjoyed it immeasurably and told him that it was a very valuable affirmation of my intentions at a time when others had thrown at me terms such as ‘job security’ and ‘difficult economic climate’. Ian replied with two golden quotations:

First of all, if ever people start giving you grief about any of your decisions or how you do things or how you run you life, here are the finest words in the world from a truly great source. I LOVE these words:

“If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how – the very best I can, and I mean to keep on doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won’t amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.” – Abraham Lincoln

Secondly, here are words everyone should know, from another great source:

“What about the main thing in life, all its riddles? If you want, I’ll spell it out for you right now. Do not pursue what is illusory, property and position: all that is gained at the expense of your nerves decade after decade, and is confiscated in one fell night. Live with a steady superiority over life – don’t be afraid of misfortune, and do not yearn after happiness; it is, after all, all the same: the bitter doesn’t last forever, and the sweet never fills the cup to overflowing. It is enough if you don’t freeze in the cold and if thirst and hunger don’t claw at your insides. If your back isn’t broken, if your feet can walk, if both arms can bend, if both eyes see, and if both ears hear, then whom should you envy? And why? Our envy of others devours us most of all. Rub your eyes and purify your heart – and prize above all else in the world those who love you and who wish you well. Do not hurt them or scold them, and never part from any of them in anger; after all, you simply do not know: it might be your last act before your arrest, and that will be how you will be imprinted in their memory.” – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn from The Gulag Archipelago

Head here to download ‘Mind Twists’ in its entirety.