Comments on: Where’s the Quality? A Creative Conundrum http://www.thecreativeinstinct.com/2007/07/04/wheres-the-quality/ Personal development techniques for artists, writers, musicians, photographers... Tue, 06 Jan 2009 07:46:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1 By: Long Finger Rob http://www.thecreativeinstinct.com/2007/07/04/wheres-the-quality/#comment-176 Long Finger Rob Mon, 19 Nov 2007 16:18:56 +0000 http://www.thecreativeinstinct.com/2007/07/04/wheres-the-quality/#comment-176 I'm a MASSIVE believer in top quality equipment (wrongly or rightly) if you want to improve yourself at anything 'physical' (As for writing etc, if you're more 'comfy' with a slate and chalk, use it. If you spend two hours wondering how to turn on your state of the art w/p and then worry if the work you're doing is going to get lost in the ether, surely, that must be a 'brain drain'????) What I mean by that is, for me, when I played tennis, and realised that I loved the game, I went straight out and bought a £390 raquet (It was reduced in the sales to £200.......a bargain!). When I say "went straight out", I mean I actually saved/worked overtime etc for a couple of months, so please don't think that I'm a millionaire, or anything close! What did this achieve for me? I knew (once again, wrongly or rightly) that the equipment could NEVER be the cause of a missed pass down the line or a poorly executed lob or drop shot. It HAD to be my own failings, and that was what I had to work on to become a better player. It completely took away the feeling of 'is it me or the raquet' and left me KNOWING for sure that to win the set I was losing, I had to 'put more in'. Sometimes I won, sometimes I lost, but at the end of EVERY game I felt that I was playing better than I was at the start. To me, that left me with the feeling of success - win or lose. Now I play golf (and have done for about 3 or 4 years), and yes, I have a nice set of industry standard clubs. I am rubbish. I have played well on 2 days out of the thousand. But that's golf for you! I’m a MASSIVE believer in top quality equipment (wrongly or rightly) if you want to improve yourself at anything ‘physical’ (As for writing etc, if you’re more ‘comfy’ with a slate and chalk, use it. If you spend two hours wondering how to turn on your state of the art w/p and then worry if the work you’re doing is going to get lost in the ether, surely, that must be a ‘brain drain’????)

What I mean by that is, for me, when I played tennis, and realised that I loved the game, I went straight out and bought a £390 raquet (It was reduced in the sales to £200…….a bargain!). When I say “went straight out”, I mean I actually saved/worked overtime etc for a couple of months, so please don’t think that I’m a millionaire, or anything close!

What did this achieve for me? I knew (once again, wrongly or rightly) that the equipment could NEVER be the cause of a missed pass down the line or a poorly executed lob or drop shot. It HAD to be my own failings, and that was what I had to work on to become a better player. It completely took away the feeling of ‘is it me or the raquet’ and left me KNOWING for sure that to win the set I was losing, I had to ‘put more in’. Sometimes I won, sometimes I lost, but at the end of EVERY game I felt that I was playing better than I was at the start. To me, that left me with the feeling of success - win or lose.

Now I play golf (and have done for about 3 or 4 years), and yes, I have a nice set of industry standard clubs. I am rubbish. I have played well on 2 days out of the thousand. But that’s golf for you!

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