How To Master Any Skill (Become Top 1%)

Summary

In this podcast episode from The Other Pill Podcast, the host interviews Laido Ditmar, a world-class juggler who has performed in Cirque du Soleil and is one of only four people to juggle 11 rings at once. Laido shares his unique approach to mastering skills, focusing on 'deep end practice.' Instead of spending most of the time perfecting familiar techniques, Laido advocates dedicating 70% of practice time to pushing beyond your limits. This method, he says, accelerates improvement, even in skills you're already familiar with. The episode also includes a sponsorship from Skillshare.

Takeaways

• 🎪 Lido Ditmar is a world-class juggler who still performs with Cirque du Soleil and is one of only four people in the world to juggle 11 rings simultaneously.
• 🤹‍♂️ The secret to mastering a skill, according to Lido, lies in how you practice, specifically focusing on challenging yourself beyond your comfort zone.
• 🔥 Most people spend about 70% of their practice time perfecting familiar skills, but Lido suggests spending 70% of practice on activities that push your limits.
• 💡 The new practice method Lido recommends involves warming up, then working on things beyond your capabilities, and finishing by refining old skills.
• 🏊‍♂️ This method, called 'deep-end practice,' is like being thrown into the deep end of a pool—forcing you to adapt and grow quickly.
• 🕺 The speaker, who struggled to improve in dancing during middle school, saw significant growth after adopting this deep-end approach in college by practicing in new, challenging ways.
• 📈 Practicing beyond your limits helps improve your overall skills, as Lido found that practicing juggling eight rings made him better at juggling six.
• 🎯 Pushing your limits forces you to be more present and focused, which improves the quality and effectiveness of practice sessions.
• 💪 Deep-end practice helps you learn new techniques that enhance your mastery of old skills when you revisit them.
• 📚 The episode is sponsored by Skillshare, an online learning community offering courses on a variety of topics, including animation.

Q & A

Who is Laido Ditmar?

Laido Ditmar is a world-class juggler who performs in Cirque du Soleil and is one of only four people in the world who can juggle 11 rings simultaneously.

What is the main focus of the interview with Laido Ditmar?

The main focus of the interview is to understand how Laido Ditmar became highly skilled at juggling, and the secret behind mastering any skill.

What is the common way most people practice according to the speaker?

Most people practice by warming up, then spending the majority of their time perfecting familiar skills, and only a small portion on trying new, challenging tasks.

What is 'deep end practice' according to Laido Ditmar?

'Deep end practice' is the concept of spending the majority of your practice time working on skills that are beyond your current abilities, instead of focusing on perfecting what you already know.

How did Laido Ditmar's method improve the speaker's dance practice?

The speaker saw rapid improvement in their dancing after adopting 'deep end practice,' focusing on challenging themselves with new movements outside their comfort zone.

Why does practicing beyond your limits improve older skills, according to Laido Ditmar?

Practicing beyond your limits improves older skills because you learn new techniques that enhance your overall abilities, and the increased focus and presence during challenging tasks lead to better quality practice.

What example does Laido Ditmar give to explain this improvement?

Laido found that practicing juggling eight rings made him better at juggling six rings, as compared to only practicing with six rings, because the more challenging practice enhanced his overall skill.

How does practicing outside your comfort zone affect the quality of practice sessions?

Practicing outside your comfort zone forces you to be more focused and present, which improves the quality of your practice sessions by ensuring that you're fully engaged.

What advice does the speaker give to people who want to improve their skills?

The speaker advises adopting 'deep end practice' by spending most of your time pushing your limits and working on movements or techniques that are beyond your current capabilities.

What additional resources does the speaker mention for learning new skills?

The speaker mentions Skillshare, an online learning platform, as a resource where users can learn various skills, including animation for illustration, with a beginner-friendly course by Libby VanderPloeg.