Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Trends and Observations from the 2017 PGA Show
While the daily propaganda blasts from show organizers might have you believe otherwise, I’m here to tell you that the 2017 PGA Show was an absolute sloth. With noticeably light traffic in the aisles and plenty of open space (both on the show floor and the range at demo day), 2017’s easily qualifies as the most depressing PGA Show during my time in the industry.
Take it for whatever it’s worth, but several of my media colleagues (and others I’ve spoken with from inside the industry) are in complete agreement. Call it a worse show on the heels of a bad show on the heels of a not so good show.
Bottom line; whatever the actual state of the equipment industry and the game of golf itself, the PGA Show is broken. It’s trending downward, and without some serious intervention, I suspect that’s going to continue until we reach the point where there is no point.
A sample size of one, but inside MyGolfSpy we’re already discussing whether or not we should attend the 2018 show.
That said, the show wasn’t all bad. It still provides an opportunity to pulse-check the industry and gauge where the companies that power it are headed. So with all that buildup out of the way, here is my take on the show, the trends, and other things on which you should keep an eye.
TaylorMade Won the PGA Show
Maybe that’s overstating it just a bit, but if you’re looking for the defining moment of the 2017 PGA Show, it was TaylorMade’s announcement that it had signed Tiger Woods to a long-term deal. Tiger will eventually play 13 TaylorMade clubs. For now, it’s just metalwoods in the bag, as the company willfully admits it’s going to take some time to develop irons and wedges that are suitable for the notoriously difficult Mr. Woods.
The announcement at 8:30 AM of Day 1 of the indoor session overshadowed absolutely everything else at the show. Lost in the Tiger news; Michelle Wie signed with Callaway, PING released its Sigma G line of putters, and Titleist formally announced a new generation of Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls.
All good stuff, but none of it escaped Tiger’s shadow.
A quick aside overheard inside the TaylorMade booth; Tiger tweeted his half of the announcement a bit early, which forced TM CEO David Abeles, who was in a meeting at the time, to step on the gas a bit in making the company’s official statement.
Tour players….amirite?
The TaylorMade/adidas situation is getting weird
And speaking of TaylorMade…while the PGA Show booths were side by side, for the first time I can recall, you couldn’t walk directly from the adidas booth to the TaylorMade booth. We’re talking a firm or at least a semi-firm barrier between the two brands.
While future ownership of the TaylorMade brands remains unsettled, it appears to be operating as an adidias company in name only. I would describe the current relationship between the two brands as married, but sleeping in separate bedrooms.
Metaphorically speaking, both sides are holding it together for the sake of the children, but there is a clear division between the two. While the addition of Tiger Woods is inarguably good for the TaylorMade brand, it has also served to expand the growing internal rift.
Two Nike apparel staffers are now part of the TaylorMade staff, and that’s an issue. I can assure you that the prominent display of the Nike Swoosh inside the TaylorMade booth (and within the company’s marketing efforts) isn’t sitting well with some on the adidas Golf side of the business.
The New Srixon
Call it something to keep an eye on, and it’s nothing I can quantify, but there was a decidedly different vibe coming from the Cleveland/Srixon booth. The fresh attitude likely stems from the significant amount of turnover within the company over the last year, but I’d be remiss not to point out the positive energy.
Granted, some of that probably comes from the free beer, but it’s perhaps noteworthy that Srixon threw the best booth party at the show...perhaps the best since TaylorMade was riding high.
The company is excited about its clubs – irons in particular – and its new ball. Whether or not any of that resonates with the consumer remains to be seen.
Is this real momentum, or unrealistic enthusiasm? As it often does, time will tell.
The USGA…Grumble, Grumble
The consensus within the industry is that the USGA’s smackdown of the Wilson Triton driver was total bullshit. The thinking is it was petty, ill-tempered revenge for Wilson having the audacity to put a product on the shelf without the expressed consent of golf’s fun police. God forbid, right?
The same is largely true with respect to the flap over Bryson DeChambeau’s putter. Again…asserting power for no other reason than because it can. My sense is that a majority of companies have grown sick of the USGA’s authoritarian policing of the equipment space.
Don’t expect anything to change, however. Most appear afraid of going toe to toe with the USGA and, I believe, all would prefer a competitor be first to wrestle with the agency.
Nearly everyone is pissed off, but no one is willing to actually do anything about it.
It’s Callaway’s World
It’s tough to get an absolute read on traffic through the Callaway booth given its strategic location in the epicenter of the PGA Show floor. Sooner or later, even if it’s by accident, everyone walks through the Callaway booth. It’s unavoidable.
That said, my sense was that Callaway had a most excellent show. Granted, the Michelle Wie announcement was overshadowed by Tiger. But traffic was steady, and no single product garnered more chatter than Epic.
Callaway believes it has something special, and I’m on record with my belief that it will be the best-selling driver of 2017…and that makes it all the more odd that Callaway had but a single launch monitor on the downwind range during demo day.
How good is Epic? I still have absolutely no idea.
Callaway Taking on Cameron?
If you didn’t take the acquisition of Toulon Design as a sign that Callaway was serious about trying to own the putter market, the addition of David Mills and the T.P. Mills brand might change your mind.
The market gap between Callaway (Odyssey/Toulon) and Titleist (Scotty Cameron) is much narrower than many believe and Callaway has proven it can erase large deficits in relatively short time.
Between Odyssey, Toulon, and T.P. Mills, Callaway can offer quality everywhere from the entry-level to premium markets, and with demonstrated best-in-class marketing, coupled with a changing ball market that will require more of Titleist’s attention, Callaway has a legitimate shot of taking over #1 in the category.
A Shift In the Launch Monitor Category
Like Callaway, Foresight Sports had an outstanding show. The new GCQuad drew plenty of attention and made Foresight’s booth one of the most trafficked of the week. Sufficed to say, word is spreading about the GCQuad and what it can offer instructors and fitters in terms of accuracy and consistency.
The company is going to be making a huge push into the market while putting significantly more effort into promoting what it sees as a clear technological advantage over radar-based units.
Big things are being promised.
We’re taking a wait and see approach, but with top instructors (“Trackman Guys” whose names you know) taking a long look at the technology, an industry-wide shift from radar to cameras is well within the realm of possibility.
Tyson Lamb is the Real Deal
Young Mr. Lamb spent his show in the Table Rock booth (formerly occupied by Scotty Cameron) where his putters sold briskly for upwards of $5000 each. If it wasn’t obvious already, there’s more than enough evidence to suggest that Tyson Lamb has arrived as the next big thing in the high-end putter market.
Collectors already know his name and his work, and several OEMs are taking notice too. Opportunities are beginning to present themselves, and if he’s inclined to do so, Tyson could jump to the mainstream at any time.
But is milling for the man really how Lamb wants to spend his time?
Arccos Is Pulling Away
It was a slow year for digital tech at the PGA Show, and frankly, some of what was on display, wasn’t nearly ready for prime time, but Arccos was the clear exception.
With the announcement of its Course Analyzer product in partnership with Microsoft, Arccos established itself as a tier (maybe two) above anything else on the market right now. And with the kind of horsepower Microsoft brings to the table, it’s unlikely anyone else is going to be able to keep pace.
If you’re looking for a round/stat tracker, Arccos is clearly the technology leader right now, but guys, seriously, can we get the phone out of the pocket and maybe make it easier to mark the actual location of the flagstick?
Figuring Out North America
Perhaps the oddest trend at the PGA Show was the number of Asian companies who told us they’re trying to figure out North America. Honma, Yamaha, Epon, and others all used exactly that phrase while describing their efforts to penetrate the US Market.
Frankly, I’m not sure what there is to figure out. The market is oversaturated, and without a targeted approach to advertising and something truly special in the lineup (and I didn’t see that from anyone), opportunities to kick the doors open are limited.
I wish everybody luck, but I don’t see anyone breaking through in any meaningful way.
Where’d All the Shaft Companies Go?
KBS, Nippon, and Oban had booths. Graphite Design had a spot on the indoor range. Fujikura and Veylix had conference rooms. Others, like True Temper, Aldila, Matrix, MRC, UST, and upstart VA Shafts had no official presence inside the convention center.
Some pretty basic cost/benefit math has shown these guys that it makes much more sense to hold meetings in a hotel room, the lobby, or one of the remote and otherwise abandoned corners of the show floor than it does to overspend on a booth.
It’s Time to Shake Up the Show
The hottest trend at the PGA Show over the last several years is companies abandoning the PGA Show. Many are struggling to find the proverbial R on their I. For a growing list of companies, attending the show is just bad business.
Take the previously mentioned shaft guys, toss in Nike (even the shoe guys), Bridgestone, SKLZ, Mizuno, and a growing list of small to mid-sized companies, and plenty of names you know are choosing to skip the show, while others like Wilson, Fujikura, and Yonex have traded floor space for conference rooms. Some even double or triple up in those rooms to further save.
Part of the blame can be placed on Reed Exhibitions. Costs continue to rise, and Reed is anything but accommodating when it comes to handling requests to downsize booths. When the choice is overpaying or being exiled to one of many poorly trafficked corners of the floor, many are choosing to bail entirely. Good for them.
Last year a representative of one company told me that it cost them $6000 just to have his merchandise moved from the loading dock to the show floor and back again. $30 a day trash can rentals, more for chairs…companies are being nickeled and dimed, and plenty have had enough.
For many inside the industry, there’s nearly nothing to lose by skipping the show. That’s evident by the dwindling number of fitness products, training aids, colleges, travel agencies, and even big name companies that take up space on the show floor each year.
It’s also worth noting that the timing of the show no longer works with the cadence of the industry. Come the end of January, nothing is new, orders have been placed, and there’s very little in actual business to be done.
My thinking is that the fall apparel show in Vegas should be expanded to include everything and the January show should be dropped entirely. It’s an idea that will likely be considered blasphemy for an industry that’s often overly content with doing things the way they’ve always been done (because that’s how they’ve always been done). Without an industry-wide resurgence (hold your breath for that), the current model isn’t sustainable.
If nothing else, Vegas, by virtue of the fact that it’s Vegas (baby), would likely draw bigger crowds.
What I Like About the Show
None of this should suggest I don’t find value in the show. 2017 was a down year for products (and floor traffic), but the value in the show remains in the opportunity it creates to build and maintain relationships. It provides an annual opportunity to catch up with old friends, and with Harry Arnett. As travel budgets decline and the number of media events dwindle, this aspect of the show is becoming increasingly more important.
The companies we cover get their chances to hold me accountable and make me answer for every rock that I’ve thrown over the last 12 months. It gives me the opportunity to clear up any misunderstandings and set the record straight on the rocks I didn’t throw.
The problem is that, for many – us included – while you can’t always put a value on relationships, airfare, hotel, rental cars and other associated costs are easily quantifiable, and as the costs begin to pile up, the PGA Show, in its current form, makes less and less sense.
The show needs fixing, but golf loves its status quo, so I suspect nothing will change anytime soon.
from MyGolfSpy http://ift.tt/2kMAkqm
Why You Should Vomit Your First Draft
There was no hesitation as I vomited. I didn’t put on my glasses, clean the seven litter boxes, or put on shoes before I ran to the toilet and vomited. The virus was forcing me to avoid perfection and get rid of what was in my stomach.
Vomit your first draft as quickly as a virus makes you run to the toilet.
What is a Vomit Draft?
According to The Free Dictionary, “vomit” has two meanings:
- To eject matter from the stomach through the mouth
- To be discharged forcibly and abundantly
“Draft” in the phrase “the vomit draft” refers to a preliminary form of any writing, subject to revision. I am not talking about a current of air moving in an upward or downward direction, or a drawing or a sketch.
Note that it is called A Vomit Draft, not A Vomit Final.
Vomit is Disorganized
Literal vomit is not neatly organized, like the food was originally presented on your plate. On your plate, the peas didn’t touch the steak or the potatoes. In the toilet bowl, everything is all blended together.
A vomit draft is similar to digested food in a toilet bowl. The first draft of a written piece will not look like a table presentation at a five-star restaurant. The writing may need be reorganized. The final paragraph may work better in the beginning, and you may need to restructure sentences and correct grammar.
Vomiting Prevents Hesitation
Like a virus prevents hesitation, approaching your writing like vomiting allows you to avoid the internal editor, fight resistance, and get the words on the page.
Avoid your internal editor. Get your words on the page. Vomit your first draft.
I never understood why writers would call their first draft the vomit draft until I spend a full day vomiting. Why would a writer think of their words like bits of food that use to be in your stomach? How could words on the page be anything like vomit?
Vomiting for fifteen hours helped me see why we need to vomit a draft, as in discharge your words forcibly and abundantly.
When you write a first draft you have one mission. This mission if you choose to accept it is: Get your words on the page.
Writing your words on the page is as urgent as getting your vomit in the toilet bowl.
The Slow Dance of Perfection
You know the slow dance of perfection to your writing chair. You might sharpen your pencil, check your power cord, check your email eighty-four times. You may worry about what you look like, worry if you have cleaned the seven litter boxes, walked the dogs, or emptied the dishwasher.
Now you are at your desk about to start your story, and you just can’t get the words out of your head and on the page. You think of the sentence, and try to edit it before you have written it.
There is no slow dance or perfection to the toilet bowl when you have to vomit. Vomiting is purposeful, with one mission: Get your vomit out of your stomach and into the bowl.
Get your words out of your head and onto the page. You just have to get it out. Write, write, write.
Marion Roach Smith agrees:
It’s called the vomit draft, too, because it will both stink and be pretty much everything you’ve got inside you. In there is beauty and success and everything you ever dreamed of.
Why Vomit a Draft?
Okay, good question. Why should you be quick about writing a first draft? There are two sides to writing.
- Writing
- Editing
Okay, there is also planning, plotting, or not plotting, or thinking up a situation like Stephen King, or buying a new writing chair, or sharpening your pencil. But the basics, are writing, editing.
A vomit draft is writing without editing. Turn off the internal editor that is screaming at you, “YOU FORGOT A COMMA! STOP WRITING ABOUT HOW SHE IS GOING TO GET OUT OF THE SINKING SHIP AND SAVE HER SIX CATS FROM THE SHARK!”
(I hate to read all caps, but I had to leave it that way, to emphasize how persistence and annoying the internal editor can be.)
Go ahead, vomit.
Celebrate the Vomit Draft
Yes, that’s right. Once your first draft is finished, your imperfect vomit draft, it is time to have a 30-second dance party. Celebrate your bravery in writing something that is not perfect. Celebrate beating your internal editor.
Celebrate completion, not perfection. Celebrate your imperfect vomit draft.
How do you like to write your first draft? Do you edit as you write? Or do you write and then edit? Let us know in the comments.
PRACTICE
For today’s practice, we are going to vomit our writing.
Write for five minutes, without editing. Then go back and correct your commas. Seriously, no, I mean really. Write for five minutes, without fixing any typing mistakes. You can always fix a capital letter that you missed after your five minutes are up.
Choose one of these words, and write for five minutes. I know we usually write for fifteen minutes. This exercise with a timer is to take away hesitation. You don’t have time to comb your hair, or get a glass of water. Once the timer starts you are focused.
Vomit for five minutes. (Not fifteen hours.) Choose from these topics, or pick your own:
- Content
- Embarrassed
- Sorrow
- Joy
- Home
When you’re done, share your writing in the comments, and please leave a note of encouragement on your fellow writers’ pieces. Let’s all celebrate our imperfect vomit drafts together.
xo Pamela
p.s. I feel better.
The post Why You Should Vomit Your First Draft appeared first on The Write Practice.
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Monday, January 30, 2017
Club Building 101: A Guide to the Things that Matter
In our last article, we talked about all of the factors involved in a well-executed clubfitting process. But that's just one-half of the battle.
Once a proper fitting is performed, it's up to the build team to assemble and achieve the desired specs the golfer performed best with. This is no easy task.
It takes a well trained and experienced technician to build up what I call "A Balanced Set of Clubs". I'm not talking about balance in the traditional sense - what I mean is that every club is built to an exact specification with extremely tight tolerances that produce a consistency in the set makeup.
There are a number of factors that a club builder must address to create a balanced set of clubs, as follows:
- Grip
- Shaft
- Loft and Lie
- Club Length
- Swing Weight
As you can probably guess, no one factor is more important than another if you are serious about building a balanced set of clubs.
Grip Size and Weight
An experienced builder looks for consistency for an installed grip size as well as sorting the grips so that all of the grips are the same weight. This helps contribute to a consistent swingweight when the build is complete. Grip sizing is extremely important, and unfortunately, this is typically the most overlooked spec.
The majority of golfers do not realize what size grips they are playing throughout their set. Terms I hear out there: “standard”, “midsize”, or I love this one, “just add two wraps”. Grips are no different than a lie angle or CPM; they are a measurement, a number. There is a very specific way a builder measures a grip. The figure to the right shows grips sizings for both men and women.
A shaft’s O.D. (outside diameter) plays a huge part in determining what size grip will be installed. The way we accommodate different butt OD’s in a set is sometimes adding more or less tape under the grip. In some cases, we may not use any tape or stretch the grip down the shaft a certain amount to achieve the desired size. In a lot of cases, we will use different ID’s, Inside Diameter grips to achieve the desired size. Some grips come with different ID’s in the same model.
A good builder recognizes this and knows how to match up the sizing throughout the golfers set.
Shaft
Not every shaft is perfectly round or the same in diameter size. The tolerances in shaft diameters or butt O.D.’s usually differ +- .002” to .004”. I have seen some shafts differ as much as .007” to .008”. Weight sorting shafts is also a must in achieving a consistent swing weight as well as getting very good outcomes in frequency once the build is finished. The builder has more control dictating the final CPM of a shaft using a parallel tip shaft, which requires tip trimming and butt trimming.
Taper tip shafts do not require tip trimming, only butt trimming, so weight sorting each shaft is especially important for this type of shaft.
A great builder looks for a consistency in weight to help assist in creating a progression in the slope and gradient for the CPM's (Cycles Per Minute) of the iron set as well as wedges. As far as woods and hybrids, a builder knows how to manipulate the flex or CPM's of a shaft, so the golfer receives a club that is identical to what they tested during the fitting.
Loft and Lie
Once the builder is ready to address the loft and lie angles of the irons, they can find challenges in adjusting these specs. Cast clubs, in a lot of cases, can be difficult to adjust and the builder has to be very careful in the technique to ensure there is no damage to the clubhead. It’s been said over the years that cast clubs are not bendable. This is 100% not the case. All cast clubs can be bent, some more than others.
Forged clubs are generally much easier to adjust, but the builder also needs to be careful not to create marks on the club head with their bending technique. Forged clubs are usually a much softer metal, and a good builder knows how to accommodate these types of clubs. What we typically look for is a consistent progression in lie angle and loft angle of the set, based on what the fitter prescribed for the golfer. A very specific machine is used for this adjustment called an Angle Machine or Loft and Lie Machine.
Club Length
The length of a club or set of clubs should also fall in a progression, generally differing a ½” between each iron and a ¼” in the wedges. However, this may not always be the case for every golfer we fit. Sometimes a fitter will recommend the golfer’s wedges be the same length or that they follow the progression of a ½” all the way down to the lob wedge.
When it comes time to build to these specs, a good builder knows how to properly weigh out the club heads so that the swing weights are consistent to what was prescribed. Length plays a huge part in determining what a swing weight will be as well as what the final CPM is for the shaft. If this is not addressed properly, the result will be a very inconsistent set of clubs. This can really hurt a golfer in achieving a consistent ball flight.
Swing Weight
Swing weights should also be consistent throughout the set, whether the fitter or builder want the same swing weight for every club or they want to have a MOI matched set. Depending on the golfer's swing, a fitter may prescribe a typical swing weight for their clubs, but in a lot of cases, the fitter knows to introduce a heavier or lighter swing weight in order to get a better result in ball flight.
A trained eye knows when it is best to introduce swing weights that differ from what we as humans and golfers have felt for a very long time. This is where the fitter and builder work closely together to ensure that the customer is testing a set of clubs that can be duplicated for the final build.
The Final Product
I firmly believe that if a golfer has a balanced set of golf clubs to match up to a repeatable swing, the golfer will be much more consistent with better misses and a tighter dispersion, ultimately resulting in lower scores.
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3 Character Development Questions for Writing About Jobs You’ve Never Done
Storytelling is world building. Whether you are writing horror, science fiction, or romance, your readers must believe in the world you are creating. Often this requires us to develop characters who are in positions we have little to no personal experience with.
Thankfully, replicating things we haven’t already done is not impossible; it just takes practice. Below are three tips that will help you reproduce professions you’ve never been a part of and create believable character development.
3 Questions to Develop Characters You Don’t Understand
Mimicking voices can be a difficult thing, especially when the voice we are trying to produce has experience and a worldview radically different than our own. I worked in churches for fifteen years, so if you ask me to write a pastor’s voice then I’m going to have no problem. During that season of life, I spent a lot of time working with homeless addicts. Again, even though I’ve never suffered from addiction, because I’ve spent time in the community, I can mimic the voice of someone who has in a realistic way.
Recently, a project I was working on required me to write the voice of a therapist. My experience with therapists is close to none. I found reproducing this voice to be a difficult challenge. Thus, my research began.
I watched videos of therapy sessions and spoke with a few therapists. Unfortunately, for me listening to a voice isn’t enough. If I want to write a profession I don’t know, then I need to figure out what is going on behind the scenes. To do that, as I research, I ask these three questions:
1. What do they do when X happens?
Before beginning your research, it is important to narrow down the scenario you will be looking into. You don’t need to become a lawyer in order to write a court scene. You only need to know how a lawyer would behave in the particular court scene you are writing. If you know your scene before you begin your research, it will help you understand exactly what to look for.
This means when I come to my time with the professional, I have the scenario already designed. I need to know what the character I’m writing is going to be faced with before I dive into any research.
In my struggle to write the voice of a therapist, I narrowed my pursuit down to a specific type of therapy. I also knew how long the therapist had been working with the client and what particular problems the client was going to experience. This cut my research time in half. When I got a chance to speak with a therapist, I was able to set the scene for her and then ask multiple versions of the question, “So what would you say if you client said . . .”
Often when I use this approach, I find the subject matter expert expands my scene in dynamic and realistic ways.
2. How do they do it?
Often knowing what a professional will do isn’t enough detail. Every profession has behaviors and tactics that are so ingrained in the profession, the practitioners may not even know they are doing it. These actions are reflexive and based on long practiced muscle memory.
Ask a quarterback what he did to win the big game, and he will tell you he threw a touchdown pass. Ask him how he threw the pass, and he will explain how he read the defense, rolled to the left, set his feet, faked his head to the right to freeze the linebacker, and then threw to the receiver on the left.
To realistically replicate a moment, we need to pull the details of an action out of our subject matter experts.
In talking with my therapist, it wasn’t enough to ask her, “When your client said he was drinking, how did you respond?” I needed to follow up with, “What was your tone? What were you feeling? How did you ask the question? Is there a wrong way to ask that question?” These follow-ups dig deeper into the moment and help me recreate a realistic scene.
3. Why do they do it that way?
At some point in time, the thing that “everybody does” was new and innovative. There’s a reason it became commonplace. Why does a police officer make a suspect put his hands behind his head? Because before that was commonplace, encounters with suspects were messy.
Understanding the reason behind the action will help you get to the root of your scene. It will help you uncover the unconscious decisions happening in your professional’s mind.
When I was talking to my therapist, I caught her repeating back sentences I had already said. When I asked her why she did that, she gave me a lengthy explanation in the difference between asking a question and reflecting a statement. She talked about how the impact on a client is different and how asking questions can lead to false assumptions being made by both parties.
This was gold for my scene and allowed me to build a wonderful exchange between my characters.
Get Into Your Characters’ Heads
Even if you don’t have the time and resources to do research behind characters, pausing to ask what a character would do, how she would do it, and why she would do it that way will bring depth and realism to your scene. This character development will help capture your reader and pull them into your storytelling.
What tricks do you use to understand your characters? Let us know in the comments.
PRACTICE
Take fifteen minutes to get into your characters’ minds. First, ask these three questions of a character. Then, write a scene in which that character acts out the behavior.
When you’re done, share your scene in the comments, and don’t forget to leave feedback for your fellow writers!
The post 3 Character Development Questions for Writing About Jobs You’ve Never Done appeared first on The Write Practice.
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How Going to the Gym Scared the Death OUT of me
I remember my first stint at the gym like I remember my first kiss: My heart was racing. Okay, that was the only similarity.
My first visit to a gym was far more traumatic than my first kiss
I was humiliated to even walk through the door. I felt the eyes of 32,230 judgmental, gorgeous women on me. I felt like everyone was staring at me and I could practically hear their thoughts: “Go home, fatty! Go home!” It was horrifying, and it almost made me cry. Anyone who knows me well knows I do NOT cry. That day, with every fiber of my being, I wanted to run out of that gym—which, ironically enough, would have pushed me in the direction of my goals. But I digress.
I was on a mission: I was pushing 260 pounds and I needed to commit. I had already joined Jenny Craig, and I was off to a great start. But I knew I was missing a key component. You know, exercise.
When you’re tipping the scale at twice the weight of your 7th grade son, fitness isn’t a topic you casually throw around. It’s something you hear “other” people talk about. You know the type: fit, toned women with perfectly coiffed hair and their mascara on fleek. Or men who sit in the sauna, flaunting their sizzling six-pack and perfect pecs. (Not that I’ve been in a sauna with men—promise!)
Anyway, it was always “other” people who were interested in fitness. Not for nothing, but I had interests, too—like challenging myself to eat three rows of Oreos and rearranging the remaining cookies in the carton so nobody would notice. Or like, digesting an entire Domino’s pizza during one or two episodes of MTV’s The Real World.
But fitness?
The First Step was Overcoming My Fears of the Gym
It was all new to me but still intriguing. It was like a foreign language I knew nothing about, but I figured: I could learn to do it—and maybe even master it. The first step, though, was to get myself into a gym.
The first day I showed up, I was already feeling judged. Most gym veterans have a name for people like me: I was a “resolutioner”—someone who came to the gym for a few weeks at the start of the New Year. Or maybe they figured I was someone who had been sent by their doctor after being told they were on the verge of suffering from diabetes and heart disease. I could imagine the trainers sizing me up as I waddled in, wearing an XXL tee shirt from Costco and a pair of my husband’s baggy shorts. At the very least, I’m sure they were thinking: “Someone get this heifer some proper workout clothes!”
I bit the inside of my cheeks to keep from crying as I walked into the cycling classroom for my first spin class—my first any kind of exercise class—ever. I saw the “others” busily setting up their bikes, and I sensed them giving me the side-eye while I desperately tried to remain unnoticed. I was sure I had a sticker that read, “Loser!” on my forehead, and I was mortified. Thankfully, the instructor recognized that I was a newbie and was kind enough to come over, introduce himself, and help me set up my bike. This was an absolute lifesaver for me. Getting proper guidance before your first spin class is worth its weight (!) in gold; getting it from a friendly instructor who goes out of his way to make you feel welcome—priceless.
My biggest fear at the start of the class was that I would fall victim to a sudden heart attack, and when that didn’t happen, it was replaced by another fear: that I must have done it all wrong because I was certain that heifers like me didn’t make it out of this kind of class alive. I was also fearful that maybe the instructor had decided to play his music particularly loud that day in light of my tremendous huffing and puffing. Nevertheless, I was grateful—both that I hadn’t keeled over dead and that I hadn’t scared anyone else off. I considered it a huge bonus that the lights were dim so nobody had to see me dying on a bike seat that was practically swallowed by my arse, which was about 10 times bigger.
Why Quitting Wasn’t an Option and What it Taught Me About Myself
When class ended, I remember a moment where I was proud of myself. I had followed directions to the best of my ability—and I didn’t quit. I didn’t even consider quitting, in fact, in spite of my extreme discomfort.
My pride passed quickly as I stepped off the bike to see a small pond of my own sweat circling the floor around me. I wasn’t the only one sweating, for sure. But I think I was the only one who had dropped a good 23 pounds of water weight in 45 minutes. I saw my classmates wiping down their bikes, so I took a cue and took care of my own. I don’t know if anyone tried to make eye contact with me. I was staring at the floor the whole time, embarrassed of how pathetic I thought I looked in comparison to the demi-gods all around. I was intimidated. I was humiliated. And yet, I was oddly exhilarated. I was ready to do it all again two days later. And I knew I would have to keep doing it, over and over again, if I wanted it to be fluent in the “body language” of fitness.
Throughout my journey in this class—and subsequent others—I kept asking the question: How badly did I want it? Did I want it more than being fat? Did I want to be healthy? I thought of my children, my husband, and my own future.
But how badly did I want it?
Turns out I wanted it so badly that not only did I go back the next day, but I kept going back—day after day—until days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. I am happy to report that I continued my quest to conquer cycling, and even made a few gym friends in the process. As time went on, I discovered that “other” people—the beautifully coiffed and perfectly stacked specimens—were much friendlier than I would have guessed.
The lesson?
My own insecurities had been holding me back for far too long. I was as prejudiced toward “healthy” people as I assumed they were toward me. I perceived cyclists as hoity-toity, stuck-up perfectionists, when, in reality, they were kindhearted people, many of whom I am proud to call friends.
The end result and my new lifestyle…
I lost about a third of my body weight with the help of that class and have an entirely different perspective now. I’m no longer the newbie, and my confidence is through the roof. But I’ll never forget how it felt to be the “other” woman—the one who feels like an outcast in a gym full of pros—and I am happy to remind my fellow gym goers to believe in the “other” men and women who have made the decision to walk through the door. It doesn’t take much to send positive energy to someone who appears to be a novice:
All you have to do is smile and nod and show up as one kind soul—one person who is not judging them for their beer belly, post-baby body, or fat-suit that they developed as the result of emotional eating or otherwise.
Consider making a NEW Resolution this Year
Set a goal to reach out and try to help if someone is looking confused and out of place. You may be the one smile they needed to see to keep going. You may be the one ray of light in a day that needs some sunshine.
It’s not just good etiquette; it’s the right thing to do.
Author Bio: Melissa Kahn
Melissa Kahn is a Jenny Craig brand ambassador and the proud founder of Run, Heifer, Run! —a fun-loving community of fitness enthusiasts dedicated to commonsense solutions for weight loss and healthy living. Melissa competes in triathlons now, having lost over 100 pounds, or the equivalent of 45 kilos of fear. She has maintained her healthy weight for more than five years—another proud accomplishment considering she’s yet to meet a cookie she doesn’t like. Melissa lives in Phoenix with her husband Dave (a pilot), four foul-smelling teenagers and two spazzy dogs who remind her that the glass blender is always half-full even when someone forgets the top.
from Dai Manuel: The Moose is Loose http://ift.tt/2kM45qa
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Dunster by Candlelight on a winter’s eve in Exmoor
The giant stag, carried aloft on strong shoulders, glows an unearthly white. Cowled figures carrying candles walk silently past. Lords and ladies dressed in rich flowing garb stride proudly past. Children carrying lanterns are shepherded down along the road. A musician plays a tin whistle as the procession wends its way past hundreds of people lining the streets of the medieval Dunster. Every shop is brightly lit and there’s a carnival atmosphere, mixed with a sense of awe. It’s the 30th anniversary of Dunster by Candlelight, a weekend of festivities and general merry-making that attracts visitors from around the UK and overseas.
Dunster at night
Dunster is in Somerset on the edge of Exmoor National Park in south west England. The village developed over the centuries around Dunster Castle which dates back to the 11th c. Mentioned in the Domesday Book, the castle was in the Luttrell family for hundreds of years; it’s now owned by the National Trust. The wool and cloth trade brought wealth to the area and the octagonal 17th c Yarn Market still stands in the heart of the village. Nowadays, Dunster is famous for being one of the best-preserved medieval villages in England. I’d never been before, so to see it during the Dunster by Candlelight festival was a real treat.
Dunster by Candlelight
Buses shuttle visitors from nearby towns; I got on at seaside resort Minehead overlooking the Bristol Channel. I follow the procession from its starting point at Dunster Steep near the car park. Villagers dress up as nobility and peasants, carrying racks of candles in jars or playing instruments. Two stilt walkers tower over us, one dressed as the devil with very realistic horns. We wend our way along the High Street past the Yarn Market towards the castle, lording it over us on a hill above the village. Turning off along Church Street we pass St George’s Church, where a choir sings Christmas carols. In a walled garden a man wielding a chain-saw is carving an eagle out of a tree trunk.
Along West Street we are entertained by a band of energetic drummers and candlelit Fire Spinners twirling and swirling. Collecting boxes are shaken and filled by generous onlookers. ‘The heart of Candlelight focuses on raising funds for St Margaret’s Hospice, which provides so much comfort for those who so need it’, writes Chairman Andy Fay in the excellent Dunster by Candlelight programme leaflet. Father Christmas waves as we walk by.
The procession ends at the 17th c Water Mill, where the miller is milling by candlelight. Teh mill still produces flour and has a popular Tea Room. The stag is gently removed from its plinth and the racks of candles are laid down. There’s a general air of merriment and relief. The following eve, Saturday, the villagers will be doing it all again, but for now they can relax and enjoy the rest of the evening’s events.
Dunster Castle
I make my way up to Dunster Castle, focal point for the village, brightly lit and enticing with the smell of BBQ sausages and burgers. The Stables have been converted into a Christmas Market, selling local food and drink and handmade gifts. People jostle each other to get a better look at the tasty treats on sale. I’m tempted by tiny Christmas Cakes, some very moreish-looking frosted baeks and jars of home-made preserves. I finally choose chocolate dogs and a bottle of Spiced Somerset Chaider.
Inside the castle the Quantock Musical Theatre Choir is entertaining an appreciative audience in the Drawing Room. In each of the ground floor rooms an enormous Christmas Tree, beautifully decorated, adds a festive note to its historic contents. It feels as if the Luttrell family have invited us in to help them celebrate a very special Victorian Christmas.
Back in the town I head off to the old Tithe Barn, where a man with a python round his neck is scaring and enthralling the audience in equal measure. Beside the path I find Ian Mabbutt and Seb Jay with a large telescope pointed up into the winter sky. Ian runs West Withy Farm Holiday Cottages, where I am staying whilst in Exmoor. Seb, a noted astronomer, runs Dark Sky Telescope Hire. “Exmoor is a great place for stargazing; it’s Europe’s first International Dark Sky Reserve. Once you get out of the populated areas, the stars take your breath away.” Later that evening, back at West Withy Farm, Seb gives a master class in the skies above us.
Dunster Christmas Shop lures me in with its charming display. Among the Santas, bells, elves and snowmen I see a pretty bauble with a hand-painted scene of Dunster; perfect souvenir of my visit. (More on the Dunster Christmas Bauble here.) In the street outside a man with a marked resemblance to Harpo Marx is playing a piano whilst another man juggles fire and plays a harmonica on top of it. The audience are laughing delightedly at their antics; it sums up the joyful spirit you find at Dunster by Candlelight. One day I will return to see Dunster by Daylight …
Many thanks to Visit Exmoor for hosting my weekend, and to Ian and Lorena of West Withy Farm for their warm welcome, hospitality and invaluable advice on what to see in this beautiful area in south west England.
Read more: A winter weekend in Exmoor
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How to Never Miss a Workout, Even When You Don’t Want to Go
If you want to become the kind of person who never misses their workouts, creating systems is the answer.
If you’re a busy parent, you know better than anyone that relying on motivation never works… (Life always finds a way to get in the way, doesn’t it?)
But what if you could take motivation out of the equation completely and start making a healthy lifestyle a “no-brainer”? Keep reading.
Make going to the gym a “no-brainer”
Motivation is like a flaky old friend that loves to drop in unannounced.
It comes knocking when you look in the mirror at the end of a long day, or get to the last hole on your belt…
And it’s right there cheering beside you when you finally decide, “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”.
But, as usual, it’s conveniently gone when you come home after a long day and need that extra push to get to the gym… Until next time.
We all know motivation is unreliable.
But when we plan for our goals, we assume our future-self will be motivated, inspired and ready to go when the time comes.
There’s a simple way to make your plans much more powerful, and make it much more likely you’ll get to the gym when you say you will.
BJ Fogg, the director of the Persuasive Tech Lab at Stanford University, said in an interview on habits,
We should assume that our ‘future self’ is going to be lazy with no motivation. We need to set up systems to make achieving our goals as easy as possible – even when our motivation is low.
When you plan to make a change in your life, assume your future self will have NO motivation. Assume your kids have been throwing tantrums all day, and you’re feeling run-down, tired, and unmotivated.
Now ask yourself:
“In THAT situation, how am I going to get to the gym?”
That’s where systems come into play.
(Note: There are also those days when you just really, really don’t feel like it, and we’ll talk more about how to overcome that below.)
A system makes a task simple, repeatable, and essentially a “no-brainer”.
And a successful system does this by taking all the decision-making OUT of the result.
For example: Going to the gym 3x a week in the morning.
Let’s be systematic about this and remove all the little decisions in the way of our goal.
If I plan to work out in the morning, I take 5-10 minutes the night before to:
- Set my alarm for the morning and put my alarm clock across the room,
- Put a water bottle beside my alarm clock,
- Pack my gym clothes in a bag and put them by my bed,
- Put my gym shoes by the door, and
- Put my car keys by the front door
Getting up is the hardest part – but setting and moving my alarm helps me overcome that.
Now I know that as long as I take the 5-10 minutes to set my system up the night before, I’m much, much more likely to get into the gym the next morning.
This also works for eating healthy. Take the time to decide what you’d like to do (let’s say eating more vegetables instead of processed snacks), then add the food you need to get to your grocery list, wash and prep whatever you’ll need for the week once a week on a certain day, and then commit to your system.
Now you’ll have vegetables ready to go when you need them, instead of having to prepare them every time, making it much more likely that you’ll eat them.
James Clear, author and entrepreneur, tells us to ask ourselves,
If you completely ignored your goals and focused only on your system, would you still get results?
Once you perfect your system, you’ll be ready to do regardless of how you feel.
Remember, there will always be days when an unexpected wrench gets thrown in the middle. Your kids may have an emergency, you might stay late for work, or you get sick.
(I’ve written more extensively on consistency and how to deal with the unexpected on my website, and you can find a link to that below.)
But your system will make it much easier to overcome the expected obstacles – like a lack of motivation, feeling tired, or being unprepared.
At the bottom of this post, I’ve included 4 simple questions you can use to build your own system for any goal.
But even with your system in place, there are still those days when getting yourself to move is like moving mountains…
What if you really, really don’t feel like exercising?
On the days when I’d really rather lay on the couch or stay in bed, I tell myself one thing: Motion creates Emotion.
Contrary to popular belief, motivation doesn’t only come before action… Taking action can lead you to feel more motivated.
When you feel “stuck” and nothing can get you going, pick an extremely small task and work through it to completion.
This could be as small as standing up. Or going to the kitchen and drinking a glass of water.
Be very deliberate – even say it out loud. Pick a tiny task, and do it.
Then once that’s done, pick another. Keep taking tiny steps until you get to the thing you need to do.
This works for two reasons,
- The act of completing little tasks creates a feeling of momentum – and eventually, motivation. And,
- You’ll find it much easier to keep moving once you’ve already begun, and starting to move doesn’t take much.
You can even start with a task that has nothing to do with the thing you’re trying to get to. Once you start moving, break down the steps to your end goal into tiny pieces and work through those until you get there.
The next time you feel stuck, try this out.
4 questions to build your own “no-brainer” systems
There’s no one-size-fits-all system that you can use in every situation, but there’s a simple process you can use to build your own.
Take some time to think about this. It’s worth it to focus on building a clear process to achieving your goal, even if it takes a little longer to plan it out.
Once it’s in place, you’ll set yourself up to be more consistent long-term and more focused on what matters.
Build your own system by asking yourself these 4 questions
- What is the result I want to accomplish?
- What are all the things I need to be able to do that thing?
- How can I prepare all those things ahead of time?
- What obstacles might I face – and how can I overcome them?
Then test it!
Remember your goal is to take all the decision-making OUT of your end result, so that it becomes a simple step-by-step process to get there.
And finally, a way to supercharge this process is to add accountability. Having someone to check in on you, or share your wins with, is a proven way to keep you going through hard times.
BONUS: Dai actually has a Facebook group designed for this purpose. You can join the WLFM Tribe HERE. Share your challenges and WINS with a supportive group of people on the same journey towards health.
Once you take a little time to plan out your system, pay close to attention if it fails.
It might take a little tweaking to get it right, but when you fail you’ve simply discovered what doesn’t work and you are now closer to discovering what does.
If you’ve found this helpful, SHARE this article and COMMENT your biggest insight below. I’d love to hear what you think!
Author Bio: Ridwan Mao
Ridwan Mao shows busy men how to completely lose their belly fat, increase their energy and still have time for their families. His goal is to show you that a healthy lifestyle is possible even if you’ve been struggling with time, energy and motivation – and he spends all his time creating strategies to do just that. Become the man your family needs you to be. See how at www.ridwanmao.com
from Dai Manuel: The Moose is Loose http://ift.tt/2jEnHPG