A to Z of Luck : J is for Juggling

I've been posting an A to Z of Luck, and today J is for Juggling.

When I first started juggling training at the Circus Space in London with Jebb the Juggler I was told that there were three rules:

1 - Don't stop till you drop
2 - When you do drop in a passing routine never say sorry. Mistakes are part of the process, every mistake is getting you closer to success. Just pick things up and keep going.
3 - Don't wait till you've perfected a trick to move on - always try something a bit more complex. When you come back to the initial trick you'll find it you can do it with ease.

The benefits of juggling are many. The constant failure forces you to get comfortable with mistakes. It's great for overcoming the crippling perfectionism which stops us taking risks and trying new things. I found juggling helped me to be more relaxed, more resilient, and more creative. And, in one scientific study at the University of Regensburg in Germany, brain scans showed that those who had learned to juggle had increased their brain matter after practising juggling for 3 months.

It's a general principle: the more you try, the luckier you'll get. Juggling is a great way to help you keep trying new things, and to persist. Throwing balls or clubs around can help you toss ideas around too. I love juggling with other people - and it can be a great social pastime, whether or not you're doing it for sport or as a performance.

I decided to use J for juggling today , as we've been planning the timetable for a conference "Speaking Professionally" run by the NSA Christchurch Chapter. I have a 5 minute break-out energiser juggling exercise which I learned in a workshop from the wonderful Denis Paumier. I cannot do 1/100th of the things Denis can do, but this exercise, which involves 1 ball per person to start with, is a lot of fun, and good for the brain and mood.