but the majority of my working year is
spent practicing for every move you see
on stage today I’ve spent countless
hours training that skill I’m a
professional practice ER and as a
professional I want to challenge you to
reimagine what we view as practice see
to me
practice is everything that I do right
now
I’m practicing how to speak normally
under pressure
yesterday I was practicing my
procrastination skills by binge watching
Netflix
we are constantly practicing something
24/7 often when I’m performing I’ll hear
someone say oh I can never do that but
what they are really saying is my life
is already full and I don’t want to give
up anything in my day in order to learn
what you are currently doing and that’s
totally fine we all put value in
different things but it’s important to
remember in order to be better at
something we can’t find the time or make
we all know with intentional consistent
practice we can accomplish amazing
things but sometimes it seems so far
away often when I’m practicing or
training something I’ll feel like I’m
starting from square one from scratch
but it’s important to remind ourselves
we’ve accomplished so much in our lives
so far take a moment to marvel at the
fact that you can type an email without
looking down to find each key before you
press it or that most of you got here by
car today not giving a second thought to
the intricate skills required to get
here safely in one piece
these are mind-blowing things that we
take for granted on daily basis I love
to hike and I think of practice as
climbing a mountain when we first start
were motivated but motivation is
fleeting it will fade in an hour
a day or a week and we can renew it with
games or shifts in perspective but
eventually it will fade and what do you
do when it does we use willpower
determination and determination is great
it forces us to are here to her schedule
pushing us up or slope bit by bit but
there’s no joy in it you’re just going
through the steps determination and
motivation each of these are steps on
our hike if you have one of them without
the other it’s like trying to hop up the
mountain on one leg you’re not gonna get
very far and you’re gonna look pretty
silly doing it
but if you can take these intentional
steps the rewards can be life-changing I
love that intentional practice is such a
large part of my job a whole world
unfolds before my eyes every time I
train have you ever stared at a spot in
your yard at first glance it’s just a
bunch of grass covering the dirt but if
you spend a few minutes your eyes will
detect some movement a Robin hopping
around trying to find a bug or a
squirrel squirreling underneath the leaf
looking for a nut you study it for a bit
longer and you realize there’s a highway
of ants tracing their way through the
jungle of grass bringing food home to
their queen
and he realized it’s not just grass
there’s clover and dandelions and
countless other plants covering the soil
an image constantly expanding the more
you study it those moments of delight
when I discover a new level of
complexity is what has kept me training
through many challenges throughout my
career I was rejected from circus school
three times deported from Europe dropped
on my head from six feet in the air and
had been struggling with an autoimmune
disorder about ten years ago I was
working with the circus when one day I
discovered a patch of dry skin on my
forehead despite much moisturizer it did
not go away and when I made it back to
the United States
I saw a dermatologist who informed me I
had psoriasis over the next several
years it spread until it covered most my
body the doctor I saw said it was the
worst case he had ever seen it made the
most mundane movements extremely painful
some nights I wouldn’t be able to sleep
as the feeling of the bed in contact
really I had budget leprosy as a
starving artist I couldn’t afford the
real thing thankfully now it’s under
control
but at the time we all know if something
hurts you don’t do it but I did in fact
physical practice was the thing that got
me out of the house having something I
was so focused in allowed me to forget
about the pain and struggles I was
dealing with I’d like you all to try
this for a second
lift up your index finger and look at
the center of your fingerprint now close
your eyes now ask yourself what is the
color of the shirt that the people on
either side of you are wearing see this
is what practice was for me by having
something I was so focused on it allowed
me to fall into that world and for a
time forget about the problems I was
dealing with and the color of my friends
shirts not to say it wasn’t difficult
continuing to Train over time I did see
a decrease in movement and on the bad
days I would question the choices I had
made but at the end of the day I would
go to bed with the knowledge that no
matter how small or incremental the
change I was continuing to grow and it’s
a joy to know that whatever we choose to
practice we will continue to grow
we’re always practicing something we
might as well focus on the things that
are meaningful to us I’d like to end
with the short demonstration of where my
practice has led me I’m just gonna use a
little more space thank you you
spent practicing for every move you see
on stage today I’ve spent countless
hours training that skill I’m a
professional practice ER and as a
professional I want to challenge you to
reimagine what we view as practice see
to me
practice is everything that I do right
now
I’m practicing how to speak normally
under pressure
yesterday I was practicing my
procrastination skills by binge watching
Netflix
we are constantly practicing something
24/7 often when I’m performing I’ll hear
someone say oh I can never do that but
what they are really saying is my life
is already full and I don’t want to give
up anything in my day in order to learn
what you are currently doing and that’s
totally fine we all put value in
different things but it’s important to
remember in order to be better at
something we can’t find the time or make
we all know with intentional consistent
practice we can accomplish amazing
things but sometimes it seems so far
away often when I’m practicing or
training something I’ll feel like I’m
starting from square one from scratch
but it’s important to remind ourselves
we’ve accomplished so much in our lives
so far take a moment to marvel at the
fact that you can type an email without
looking down to find each key before you
press it or that most of you got here by
car today not giving a second thought to
the intricate skills required to get
here safely in one piece
these are mind-blowing things that we
take for granted on daily basis I love
to hike and I think of practice as
climbing a mountain when we first start
were motivated but motivation is
fleeting it will fade in an hour
a day or a week and we can renew it with
games or shifts in perspective but
eventually it will fade and what do you
do when it does we use willpower
determination and determination is great
it forces us to are here to her schedule
pushing us up or slope bit by bit but
there’s no joy in it you’re just going
through the steps determination and
motivation each of these are steps on
our hike if you have one of them without
the other it’s like trying to hop up the
mountain on one leg you’re not gonna get
very far and you’re gonna look pretty
silly doing it
but if you can take these intentional
steps the rewards can be life-changing I
love that intentional practice is such a
large part of my job a whole world
unfolds before my eyes every time I
train have you ever stared at a spot in
your yard at first glance it’s just a
bunch of grass covering the dirt but if
you spend a few minutes your eyes will
detect some movement a Robin hopping
around trying to find a bug or a
squirrel squirreling underneath the leaf
looking for a nut you study it for a bit
longer and you realize there’s a highway
of ants tracing their way through the
jungle of grass bringing food home to
their queen
and he realized it’s not just grass
there’s clover and dandelions and
countless other plants covering the soil
an image constantly expanding the more
you study it those moments of delight
when I discover a new level of
complexity is what has kept me training
through many challenges throughout my
career I was rejected from circus school
three times deported from Europe dropped
on my head from six feet in the air and
had been struggling with an autoimmune
disorder about ten years ago I was
working with the circus when one day I
discovered a patch of dry skin on my
forehead despite much moisturizer it did
not go away and when I made it back to
the United States
I saw a dermatologist who informed me I
had psoriasis over the next several
years it spread until it covered most my
body the doctor I saw said it was the
worst case he had ever seen it made the
most mundane movements extremely painful
some nights I wouldn’t be able to sleep
as the feeling of the bed in contact
really I had budget leprosy as a
starving artist I couldn’t afford the
real thing thankfully now it’s under
control
but at the time we all know if something
hurts you don’t do it but I did in fact
physical practice was the thing that got
me out of the house having something I
was so focused in allowed me to forget
about the pain and struggles I was
dealing with I’d like you all to try
this for a second
lift up your index finger and look at
the center of your fingerprint now close
your eyes now ask yourself what is the
color of the shirt that the people on
either side of you are wearing see this
is what practice was for me by having
something I was so focused on it allowed
me to fall into that world and for a
time forget about the problems I was
dealing with and the color of my friends
shirts not to say it wasn’t difficult
continuing to Train over time I did see
a decrease in movement and on the bad
days I would question the choices I had
made but at the end of the day I would
go to bed with the knowledge that no
matter how small or incremental the
change I was continuing to grow and it’s
a joy to know that whatever we choose to
practice we will continue to grow
we’re always practicing something we
might as well focus on the things that
are meaningful to us I’d like to end
with the short demonstration of where my
practice has led me I’m just gonna use a
little more space thank you you
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