Trying to learn a new skill? Learn a few tricks from a circus acrobat!

Trying to learn a new skill? Learn a few tricks from a circus acrobat!

Happiness is partly about personal development.

Yes, happiness is about accepting who and where we are; but it’s also about improving what we can and becoming better when we can.

Accordingly, happiness requires learning news skills and if you’ve ever tried this and become discouraged, keep reading…

via TED Ideas by Daryl Chen

Avi Pryntz-Nadworny knows what it’s like to make a big move, fall flat on his face, and get up and do it all over again — repeatedly. He shares a mental trick that can keep you going.

This post is part of TED’s “How to Be a Better Human” series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from someone in the TED community. To see all the posts, go here.

Avi Pryntz-Nadworny can do things that most of us earthbound humans can’t — he can do somersaults, whirl around in a Cyr wheel, and juggle fire, and he’s performed with Cirque du Soleil. You might call him an acrobat or a circus performer, but if you ask him, he’s a “professional practicer.”

After all, Pryntz-Nadworny spends most of his time learning jaw-dropping tricks — and relatively little time executing them. While it takes him seconds to do a backflip, he spent roughly 48 hours figuring out how to do it and then mastering it.

Even with his years of experience, Pryntz-Nadworny still gets discouraged when he’s learning something new — and the life of a circus performer professional practicer means he’s always adding tricks to his repertoire. He says, “Often, when I’m practicing or training [for] something, I’ll feel like I’m starting from square one, from scratch.”

Which is the cue for many of us to go back to doing what we already know. So, how can we get past that square-one feeling?

…keep reading HERE to find out