Kelly Conaboy is writing an advice column for Dipp readers. It's going to be very serious. So serious, in fact, we named it Very Serious: An Advice Column by Kelly Conaboy. Just email her at kelly.conaboy@gmail.com with your most crucial conundrums and each week, Kelly will solve one lucky reader's biggest problem. You can read all of Kelly's excellent advice here.

Dear Kelly,

How long, realistically, would it take me to learn to do a handstand?

From,

Maddie

Maddie,

I’ve picked up on a red flag in your question and I’d like to address it immediately. It's the use of the word “would.” When you speak of future accomplishments, do not speak in hypotheticals. They will set you up for failure, and I urge you to choose the path of success whenever possible. You have decided that you will learn how to do a handstand; the only question left is how long it will take. Ask it again with me, Maddie, now with confidence. "How long, realistically will it take me to learn how to do a handstand?" Or maybe:

How long, realistically, will it take me to learn how to do a handstand, starting from the point at which I first try to do one until the point at which I land a perfected handstand in front of adoring onlookers, acting as though it is a skill that has come to me naturally — no big deal, really — rather than one I have worked, for some amount of time, to perfect? To restate my question, how long will that take?