#in which people keep promoting this incredibly unrealistic expectation of ''talking''

[ginneke]

In which we're a step closer to the culprit...

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Pairing: Link/Revali

Rating: T (mild innuendo, mild swearing.)

(Chapter 5 of 5 now 5 of 6)

[wordsnstuff]

20 Mistakes To Avoid in YA Fiction/Romance

* This is a re-upload due to the original being flagged a few months ago for having a gif of two teenagers...*GASP*... dancing. What, tumblr? What is “adult” about that? The post has been in appeal for 4 months, and I have a feeling it won’t leave, so I decided to finally repost it. 

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YA Fiction is an incredibly popular genre of literature, and most people have picked one up and devoured it in less than a day, but there is a trend in the genre where in certain instances, people forfeit quality for a cheesy dramatic plot. A lot of these stories are just regurgitated cliches with vaguely interesting characters and just enough drama, fluff, and mildly (or extremely) sexual content to keep the reader paying attention. (No shade to the authors, because obviously, any author who writes and publishes a book works hard, no matter the end product.)

There are a lot of aspects of YA Fiction that repeatedly rear their ugly heads and annoy readers or flat out scream dangerous messages to the young people that indulge in them. I thought I’d put the spotlight on a few in the hopes that it will help clean up the genre’s reputation as new and more awakened authors contribute content to it.

Below you will read about some common mistakes that YA Fiction/Romance writers make that either ruin the story, promote dangerous messages, or unrealistically portray teenagers.

Forgetting The Supporting Characters

The supporting characters are an important part of any story, even if the main plot revolves around two people. Supporting characters provide subplots, information to the reader, and more opportunities for your audience to connect and relate to your story. It’s always good to give your supporting characters love and attention when creating and writing them. Sometimes they end up carrying the story.

A mistake that a lot of authors make is that they give the reader a couple defining characteristics, a name, a relationship to the main character, and then just make that character pop into the reader’s view whenever the main plot needs them to. No backstory. No life of their own. Just support to the plot, and that’s a huge waste of potential. You don’t want your readers to put down your book and either forget the supporting characters existed at all, or believe that they were extra pieces of a puzzle.

Using Slang Badly

Writers should not feel the need to include current slang in order to make their story more relatable or popular amongst their targeted demographic. Slang is constantly changing, evolving, and most importantly, dying. Not to say that you should only write in traditional terms or put “thy” and “thee” everywhere, but using standard English and avoiding the trendy but temporary slang words is key.

If you must use slang, try to use the bare minimum and only in fitting circumstances. If your character is the type to say “OMG her dat boi memes are on fleek” then, by all means, go right ahead, but you probably cringed when you read that. That would have been totally normal 2 years ago, but every bit of that sentence has died over time, and no matter how much you think a slang word will stick, don’t risk it.

Sympathy and Envy Mongering

Two emotions that YA Fiction and Romance always try to invoke in their readers are sympathy and envy. The author either wants the reader to feel bad for one or many of the characters, or they want them to be jealous of the awesome (and usually unrealistic) lives the characters have. Don’t be one of these. It’s tired and boring and not original in the slightest.

Are sympathy and empathy both totally okay emotions?

Yes.

Are they all you need to write a good story?

Nope. Not at all.

The reader needs and wants to feel more than jealous of and sad for the characters in the story. The best stories are the ones that trigger a complex whirlwind of emotion. Sympathy and envy are the easy way out, and you get out of those emotions what you put into them.

Unrealistically Portraying Teenagers & Teenage Life

Teenagers look up to and compare themselves and their lives to the characters and lives of the characters in your story. Keeping in mind that your audience is young and impressionable is essential for authors of the genre.

Love At First Sight

Love-at-first-sight does not happen. Infatuation, maybe, but love is more complicated than that. Writing a plot based on “love at first sight” can leave a bad taste in your readers’ mouths from the start, and that is something you should avoid at all costs. On top of that, love-at-first-sight is a very easy-way-out move and if you’re dedicated to your characters and your story, there’s a good to fair chance that you can come up with a more satisfying build up.

Unrealistic Romantic Situations

If you’ve ever opened a YA Romance, chances are you’ve read a scene in which the protagonist and the love interest end up in a stunningly beautiful place and the love interest sweeps the protagonist off their feet prior to riding into the sunset. This, unfortunately, does not happen very often, especially in teenage relationships. The most romance you’re going to get (usually) is the love interest offering to pay for the protagonist’s bag of skittles with the leftover money from their paycheck they earned at McDonald’s.

Just because teenagers don’t really go to great lengths to rent an entire ice-skating rink in the middle of the night so they and their crush can skate to Ellie Goulding music doesn’t mean there can’t be cute and memorable moments. Great doesn’t always equal grand and that’s important to remember. A lot of the time, teenagers appreciate fantasizing about things that are actually possible.

Happy Endings

Not all stories have to end happily, and you’ve definitely been told this before, but nobody ever takes into account how stories about teenagers have so much potential when it comes to endings. Teenagers read books about teenagers and unfortunately, this means that a lot of them will take what you’re writing about and try to change their own lives to match. Be honest in your depiction about what actually happens when you leave high school.

The majority of the time, high school sweethearts won’t stay together. Long distance won’t work, they’ll find someone else, the spark will die out, their personalities will undergo drastic changes, and their goals and plans for the future will turn out differently than they expected. “And they lived happily ever after” is criticized harshly for a reason, especially in YA and YA Romance. Most stories don’t end happily, but there is more than one story in a person’s life and giving a person their happy ending as they graduate high school is a great injustice, to your character and your readers.

Avoiding The Dark Parts Of Teenage Life

Teenagers, despite what a lot of the media claims, go through some really serious and stressful and damaging things. Teenagers suffer from mental illness and deal with the intense pressure of the education system and hold their heads high in the face of stigma over every little detail about them. They suffer from eating disorders and body dysmorphia and self-harm tendencies, and that doesn’t even bring into account the bullying and family issues and the stress of constantly learning and feeling things for the very first time with little to no guidance or assurance or resources to ask for help. It is hard being a teenager. Do not forget that, and don’t leave the actual teenagers reading your story feeling underrepresented and/or abnormal because they aren’t as stress-free as the characters they look up to.

Exaggerating How Teenagers Interact With Each Other

A lot of teenage interactions are short, awkward, and uneventful. Teenagers aren’t super eloquent and socially apt, but YA Fiction seems to believe they are. It’s quite rare that a teenager will just walk up to someone they like, say “wanna go to dinner on Saturday?” and all will be fine and dandy. It’s quite rare that a teenager will saunter up to someone who talked about them behind their back, say something super clever and damaging to their enemy’s ego, and saunter off like the king/queen of the world. Those interactions look great in our heads, but they usually contain a few stuttered words and “um”s and blushing. Confidence is usually a trait that people develop later in life, so try not to push it if you’re trying to be realistic.

Maturity of Teenagers

Teenagers are underdeveloped human beings with minimal experience in most areas of life. They do not have it all figured out. A lot of YA books revolve around characters that are extremely intelligent, disciplined and ambitious at a level of maturity a 25-year-old be on. This is not accurate. Making characters “awkward” or “childish” does not have anything to do with how mature they seem to readers. There is a distinct difference between an awkward girl with childlike innocence and a girl who makes mistakes, does not have her life figured out, and is not yet comfortable with casual social interaction. The latter things I mentioned are pretty universal when it comes to teenagers.

Unfitting Aspirations

There are more than two paths in life. It seems that in YA you’re either going to graduate, get married, pop out a couple kids and live the rest of your life in the suburbs, or you’re going to leave home, go to college, travel for 20 years and settle in some random country in Europe writing poetry until the end of your days. There is no in between, which sucks. There are a lot of interesting things you can do in life, not to say that either of the two life paths I mentioned are uninteresting. You could take a gap year and travel the world, go to college, move back home for a couple years then maybe get a job that has you traveling and exploring new things for the rest of your life. You could meet the love of your life in college and have some kids but put them in online school so you could travel with them. You could live your whole life in an awesome cabin in the forest casting spells and adopting wild squirrels. There are so many ways life can be and restricting it to opposite extremes takes the imagination out of the future.

Not All Teenagers Think Their Relationships Will Last Forever

This one is pretty self explanatory, so long story short, not every relationship a teenager enters into is with the end goal of staying together forever, or even more than a few months. Most teenage relationships are pretty short and not very meaningful, and portraying every single couple in your stories as “we’ve been going strong for 2 years and plan on getting married right after graduation” is inaccurate and will probably cause your readers some disappointment in the future.

Relationships Aren’t A Teenager’s Only Concern

Most teenagers are more concerned about the F they got on a History test than they are about who they’re going to stare at next period. Everyone has more than just their crush to worry about. Some teenagers have to worry about where they’re going to get their next meal or how they’re going to get a ride home from school or even how they can apologize to a friend they’ve hurt. It’s not all about relationships for teenagers, in fact, relationships are a pretty small part of teenage life. If all your character has to think about is the hottie they sit next to in Biology, perhaps you should work a little more on character development.

Unnatural Appearances

Most teenagers are not model-level attractive. All teenagers have break-outs and leave the house late with greasy hair or with their shirt on inside out. No teenager shows up at school every day looking absolutely flawless, as if they’re about to walk down the runway. Please keep that in mind, because portraying teenagers accurately, especially when it comes to physical aspects such as weight, acne, etc. is super important. In YA and YA Romance, you must keep in mind that the teenagers you are trying to appeal to should not feel like a piece of trash because they aren’t as perfect as your characters. Yes, YA Fiction is Fiction, but just because you know that it’s unrealistic doesn’t mean your readers do. Readers of YA Fiction compare themselves to the characters in your books whether you like it or not. It is not hard to realistically portray physical appearances of teenagers.

Avoiding Dangerous Messages

A common problem found in YA Fiction is the lacing of dangerous messages found in the smaller details. You may miss them the first couple times you read a story, but if you go looking for them, you will find them, and perhaps you will find the source of a lot of mistakes you’ve made. YA has a bad habit of endorsing mindsets that lead to bad decisions. Some of them, however, can be avoided in your own writing.

The Need To Change The “Flawed” One

Nobody in this world is perfect. Expecting the person you supposedly love to be flawless all the time is not realistic. People make mistakes. People are not always happy and bubbly and confident about themselves. People do not always act the same one day as they did the day before. Human beings are flawed and should be portrayed as such, especially in the stage of their life which is the most confusing and scary. Teenagers are underdeveloped human beings, and for some reason, teenager girls in YA Romance expect teenage boys to be charming and loving and never ever make a mistake, which is ridiculous. Creating love interests that appear flawless and can make no mistakes is detrimental to your audience. It raises your readers’ expectations to an unattainable level which causes them disappointment and might cause their future partners unrepairable damage to their self-esteem because they’ll think that in order to find a partner, they cannot be flawed and cannot make mistakes.

Glorification Of Illegal Activity

It’s not “cool” or “edgy” to pump yourself full of deadly and mind-altering substances you know absolutely nothing about. It doesn’t make you “badass” and it isn’t a personality trait unless that trait is stupid. Whatever your position is on drugs or alcohol or whatever, there is no excuse for putting the idea in the heads of young readers that doing things that are illegal and addictive and that might even get you killed is ok. Not only because most of your readers are younger than 21, but because it will always be dangerous to take drugs, commit crimes, and drink. Your choices are your choices. Don’t impose your habits and excuses on kids who don’t know any better.

Slut Shaming

News flash: it’s 2017, people. Nobody cares who you’re kissing or dating or having sex with. People are finally getting used to the idea that maybe, just maybe, it’s not the end of the world if you do whatever you want, as long as you’re not hurting yourself or anyone else. This recurring theme of “I hate this person because they do what they want with their body” is getting old and annoying. Believe what you will regarding religion and morals and what is right or wrong or whatever you want to believe in, but the second you start turning your story into a commentary on the decisions and beliefs of other people, you’re in the wrong. There are other, more creative reasons to make your characters hate each other than their sexual activity.

Forgetting The First Times

One of the most exciting parts of being a teenager is that everything you’re experiencing, you’re experiencing for the first time. Everything is confusing and exciting and 10x more painful or memorable or enjoyable, and that’s neglected all the time in YA. I don’t mean the common trope of the first kiss or the losing of virginity. I mean love and infatuation and loss and heartbreak; it’s all happening to them for the first time in their lives, and these events make up their memories that they will carry with them forever. Teenage years are incredibly heavy times for people. It is, after all, the years in which they learn the most and the fastest and where the majority of their brain development takes place. These moments that you’re writing, the first kiss, the first time having sex, the first time your character loses someone they love, they’re all going to determine how your character will develop in the future. Treat them that way. Teach young readers that it’s normal and perfectly okay to be scared and inexperienced and lost. That’s the bitter-sweet part of youth and it’s beautiful.

Bad Boys And Boring Girls

Bad Boys are, in reality, bad news. The real “bad boys” in this world are slimy, manipulative jerks who trick girls (usually more than one at a time) into thinking they have feelings for them, using them for things like sex or money, and then either end up controlling their entire lives, introducing drugs and problems, or breaking their hearts. It’s sad, but it’s reality. Yes, there’s always a cause for this behavior, and sometimes these bad boys grow out of it, but that’s not always the case. Portraying these bad boys as “changeable” is not only dangerous for the female readers but also the men in their future. If you make girls think that they can change whomever they’re with to be the perfect prince charming, they will never be satisfied with someone who is flawed (spoiler alert: everyone is flawed) and they may destroy the self-esteem of whoever they’re with by making them think they need to change to be lovable.

Boring Girls are, sort of, connected to bad boys in this sense. They show up in every story, which makes sense financially because authors who make more relatable main characters sell more books. It’s just demographics. But at the same time, this stretch for a wider audience can end up influencing girls’ expectations of themselves and their love lives. If you make every protagonist completely boring, compliant, and devoid of strong, defining traits, girls will take that as advice. They will learn that all a girl has to do to make people fall in love with them is sit quietly and be pretty, which is horrible, in case you hadn’t noticed. Teach girls to look up to strong characters with rich personalities. Nowadays, that counts as an original idea.

Generalization

Portraying every aspect of teenage life and teenagers themselves as if you opened a book full of cliches, closed your eyes and pointed at something is not ok. High schools and families and personalities are different wherever you go, and making blind generalizations about aspects of teenage life can not only change how your reader interprets their own lives, but how adult readers assume teenage life is when they’re not around. It is important to not reinforce the assumption that there is always a popular clique and mean jocks and awkward nerds and dead-beat stoners because these stereotypes are a way for people to justify their snap-judgements, and not only does that say a lot about you as an author, but that will breed a whole new generation of judgmental, close-minded people.

Glorification Of Unhealthy Relationship Behaviors

I’m gonna say this once: It is not “hot” to have the love interest constantly putting restrictions on their supposed loved one. It’s not okay to borderline stalk someone and use “I love you” as an excuse, even if the person reciprocates your feelings. It is unhealthy to ignore someone when they say “no, no, not now” or “no, stop, not here” when you’re in the middle of initiating sex or even just kissing. It is disgusting when romance, especially YA Romance, which has mostly young, impressionable readers taking in your messages, promotes these behaviors like they’re something to strive for. Like it or not, your writing is going to alter the way they imagine a “perfect” relationship. If you aren’t willing to take that responsibility seriously, you should not be writing YA, and especially not YA Romance.

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[harusha]

What are your top pokemon games??

Official or fangame? I’ll just list both. I will say Pokemon Reborn is my top-rated overall if we combine both lists (with HGSS and Collesseum/XD following as 2 and 3 respectively.)

On Official, it’s 

1. Heartgold/Soulsilver (My favorite region is Johto, and Ethan is my favorite Pokemon protagonist so…unsurprising. The games are still genuinely good though imo because of the massive amount of content and post-game and QoL stuff like following Pokemon, auto-run, etc.) I also love the nostalgic feeling of the region. Lance is also here, and I like him and his design a lot, not as much as Volkner though. Also Proton is here, and I love the dude so. Pedometer is included here.

2. Pokemon Colosseum/Pokemon XD; I include this together since they’re a duo set in terms of story. XD is the better one gameplay-wise because of the new additions of Shadow moves, more Pokemon choices, QoL changes like saving, etc. but Colosseum is the harder of the two games imo b/c of the sparsity of Pokemon–if you can play it on laptop, mod XD with Pokemon XG for massive QoL changes (Fairy Type, more shadow Pokemon, upped difficulty, etc.)

I like how this set tries new stuff and it honestly showcases how if you the Pokemon IP to a third-party, you end up with something that tries to be different and actually plays pretty well.

3. Pokemon BWBW2; included as a set because of joint story line. Honestly, I feel like BWBW2 are objectively the last great mainline series additions. Even if you didn’t care for the story, they at least tried with it and the rivals. You had the nice rival in Bianca and the “focused/ruder” rival in Cheren, and both encompassed the themes of the game (Truth with Bianca as she realizes her ineptness as a trainer and Ideals with Cheren who strives to overcome his boundaries and the player even if he never can). N is pretty awesome, and I think Ghetsis is a better Lusamine (sorry, idc for how Lusamine’s actions are brushed over and blamed on the space jellyfish). There’s a lot to enjoy in Unova imo.

Also massive post-game stuff like Join Avenue (which encourages one of the main tenets of Pokemon, interacting with others and trading; ex. “Magnemite Coil”), half the region opening up for Post-game (White Treehollow, Kyurem’s abode, etc.). The Legendaries also have home locations for the most part, and their items aren’t just given to you by random people. A lot of stuff to do that isn’t just breeding mindlessly for shinies (I mean I love doing that, but options ya know?) or online battle.

4. Pokemon Conquest; Fire Emblem (or more accurately, Nobunaga’s ambition) meets Pokemon. I like turn-based grid tactic games, and this one’s actually pretty fun. You’re encouraged to roam around and give people different Pokemon to see which ones they’re compatible with. Also another example of what can be done if Pokemon is given to a another developer.

5. Pokemon Explores of Sky (and to a lesser extent since it’s the base, Time/Darkness); you can swap this with Colloseum/XD, BWBW2 or Pokemon Conquest depending on if you prefer Pokemon’s style of play, tactics games, or dungeon crawlers. I like this one since the story’s actually pretty good, the difficulty’s nice, and especially the post-game dungeons and content.

6. Pokemon Platinum and Diamond+Pearl to a lesser extent– the region that actually has a reasonably difficult Elite Four and champion. I love the additions they have like distortion world, the melancholic feel you get at times in the Chateau area and snowfields, and the post-game Battle Frontier. However, the games run so slow without Drayano’s mods. In terms of husbandos, Volkner’s pretty nice as well, and he’s pretty high-tier for me. Cynthia’s here as well, so I guess she counts since she’s a feature every time she shows up.

7. Pokemon FRLG-The definite version of Kanto for me. Sevii Islands, callbacks (callforwards?) to the Johto games with the Rocket Admins, decent difficulty and ability to sequence break somewhat, etc. It gives new experiences for those who’ve played the OG versions, but doesn’t change them drastically. The “you can’t evolve anything outside of the OG 151 before post-game” is stupid though. Lance is here as well, but his half Dragonite/Dragonair team annoys me b/c of how repetitive it is, but product of the time as well and the HGSS first battle had that as well but at least they’re all evolved.

8. Pokemon Red/Blue Rescue Team-I like this one since the story’s still good and incorporates the idea of a human being transported to a Pokemon world, but I just feel like Sky’s gameplay improvements and portraits for everyone trumps this one. I like Gengar a lot and his team. I also think the difficulty on this one (depending on starter and partner) is fairly good at times (The Moltres fight is actually pretty difficult if you don’t have Pikachu or a water type partner).

9. Pokemon Emerald and to a lesser extent Ruby/Sapphire–Battle Frontier, Scott and Smeargle cave (ie. post-game content), beautiful promotional artwork (including ORAS’s), fairly difficult battles at time if you aren’t prepared/going in blind with no excessive grinding (2nd May battle, Flannery, etc.), hidden secrets like Regis and Secret Bases. However, the latter half is so boring with the excessive surfing and lackluster variety. Steven’s here, and he’s a dreamboat even with the sprite graphics.

10. Pokemon Channel and Hey you, Pikachu!-Weird I know. This would be higher if I didn’t think this was a niche pick. It’s just really relaxing, and I want another one, especially if you can get more Pokemon to raise. It’s a lot more fun once you play it. I like exploring with Pikachu and it offers a look into the world of Pokemon as a non-trainer. I really want another one tbh.

11. Pokemon Rangers series (Ranked from favorite to lowest; Shadows of Almia–>OG–>Guardian Signs; all are good but that’s my preference) The gameplay is actually pretty fun, and I wish we got another one. They could use Joycons as a styler. Spencer, Sven, and Lunick are also pretty cute

12. Pokken Tournament- What battles should feel like in mainline if they injected millions of dollars into the mainline, so unrealistic expectation. I think Pokken is a decent fighting game. The moves are nice, and the music is good. This can go lower if you don’t care for fighting games.

13. Pokemon Battle Revolution and Stadium games-They’re mostly battle simulators with some mini-games. The animations are actually pretty lively and fun compared to SWSH’s. I would like to rank this higher, but there is no story mode sadly. It’s great if you want to see what Pokemon would look like in-scale.

14. Pokemon X/Y-I think these are actually pretty nice if only for the fact there isn’t excessive handholding; it’s there but it doesn’t force me to put down the game out of boredom. The outfits are genuinely pretty cute. However, the rivals are ridiculously terrible, difficulty is either too low or unbalanced if you use/turn off exp. share. Let’s put ORAS here as well b/c I think the lack of Battle Frontier and mediocre post-game, getting Lati@s early, etc. drops it down from Emerald. The PSS system is amazing though.

15. Pokemon Trozei and Pokemon Pinball series-Yeah, I’ve played these. Trozei’s actually pretty cool as a match-3 game, and pinball is pinball. You also get slightly more lore into the Pokemon world with Lucy Fleetfoot. I like match-3 and pinball so very much a YMMV. Pop Gates to Infinity and Super Mystery Dungeon here as well. Idk, they just lack the magic of the first two entries.

16. Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Dash, all the other spin-offs I didn’t talk about-they all offer something fun, but I just wish it was either updated for modern times and not released again (like with Snap) or a bit more (in the case of Detective Pikachu and Pokepark series). Pop Puzzle League games here as well. I like them, but they aren’t much besides Tetris games. Same goes for the Pokemon Trading Card games; they’re nice, but not super great imo.

???. Pokemon Box/Ranch/all the other storage games and stuff like Dream Radar-Idk what you’d want me to say since they’re storage space or gimmick games to catch HA Pokemon. You do get Extremespeed Zigzagoon which I love since the little buggers are very adorable.

Bottom Tier. Pokemon SM and USUM. I hate these games. They’re cash grabs (more so than usual) with being $40 a piece and the updated versions being barely changed (and actually feeling like what should have been released first). Incredibly handholding, areas feel half-baked, lacks areas to explore for the most part, Lillie is kinda annoying for me tbh (which hurts because you’re supposed to feel for her and the game’s story hinges on that), and the player is an actual detriment to what they’re trying to achieve story-wise. A big shame b/c Alola is a pretty region and Team Skull is great in concept, but execution is awful. Stated as someone who has bought all 4 versions to keep, and 2 extras for gifting.

Absolute Bottom Tier- Pokemon Masters, incredibly terrible mobage game coming from someone who plays FGO, FEH, etc. lack of meaningful content, grinding but meaningless b/c of said lack of content (ex. FGO gates you with mats but it makes you feel like you’re growing with your servants and offers a story and events to compensate; basically, a sense of achievement). CO-OP is pretty bad when you can just hop over to GBF or something if you want guilds and group content. I’m still gonna wait for Ethan and Volkner to appear though.

Unrated-OG RBGY and OG GSC (the remakes are superior outside of nostalgia factor imo so I think it’d be unfair for them to take a spot), LGPE (didn’t buy them b/c pricing but the colors are vibrant and I love that), SWSH (didn’t buy them because I have opinions on the cuts and stuff and price point doesn’t look appealing for what’s offered), Pokemon Mini (these were included with Pokemon Channel), Magikarp Jump+Duel (Duel was a cash grab and Magikarp Jump is cute but no real opinion on it), Pokemon Go (weird spot where I like it, but I don’t live in an area with safe walking areas so very much area-dependent), Arcade games (I don’t live in Japan for that), Perdue Farm games (they’re flash games made to promote so…), Pokemon Rumble (enjoyable but not memorable for me imo) etc.

Fangames-

1. Pokemon Reborn-150+ hours of content, visible themes that permeate the story and characters, beautiful spritework for some of the areas, intuitive usage of TMs/HMs and some logic (ex. Field Effects that emulate anime battling in turn-based rpg such as Corrosive Field; using Rock Smash to break the glass in some areas to solve puzzles, etc.), actual difficulty that hinges on how much you understand Pokemon (ex. IVs, stats, EVs, etc.) that’s fair but still difficult, puzzles and rewards for exploring and coming back to areas, etc. Fantastic game that I wish Gamefreak had attempted to emulate (perhaps not the darker themes but the ambition basically). Has some kinks with the revolving door of characters and such but still fantastic. Also offers custom shiny sprites, custom egg sprites, and online play like Wonder Trade and battling.

2. Pokemon Rocket Edition-Not done but I think this is a fantastic hack so far story-wise and how it implements its mechanics. You’re a Rocket Grunt, but you aren’t OP. It deals with the politics behind Kanto and Team Rocket. Still being worked on.

3. Pokemon Viridian Version-Another “play as a Rocket” game. Funny yet still can be serious; it takes the tone of the anime and understands when to be serious and when to not be. It feels like it would fit into the canon tone-wise, and deconstructs the “it’s cool to be a Rocket!” thing.

4. Pokemon Gaia-Excellent and a huge callback to classic Pokemon in story. It’s an OG region and offers a lot to do.

5. Drayano hacks- QoL updates but his work actually adds a lot to the games+new events.

Anyways, that’s my list. There’s a lot of Pokemon content, but this is how I feel for the most part.

[kzkzdnos-blog]

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Also, similarly as with any prohibitive dietary arrangement, following a ketogenic diet can introduce difficulties with regards to social events, festivities, office parties, dinners out, and so forth. Keto Zero It likewise may be important to confine or maintain a strategic distance from socially significant nourishments on the eating routine so as to remain in ketosis. For still others it will be hard to support on the grounds that carbs aren't just flavorful, they're ubiquitous. Staying away from them everyday methods critical feast prep and arranging, and getting ready for get-togethers that incorporate nourishment or eating.

Keto Zero Before we plunge further into weight reduction, a note: Weight misfortune isn't for everyone, nor is following a particular, prohibitive eating plan. In the event that you will probably get more fit, that is fine, however your wellbeing matters in excess of a number on a scale (and on the off chance that you have a past filled with disarranged eating, you ought to talk about any designs to change your eating routine with a specialist first). What's more, fruitful long haul weight reduction is the result of numerous elements: Your physical movement, how much rest you get, stress the executives, and different components like clinical issues and hormones all assume a significant job. What you eat is only one piece of the weight reduction puzzle.

On the off chance that you have been searching for a weight reduction plan, nonetheless, you've presumably known about one of the ketogenic diet's greatest specialties: the fast outcomes it as Keto Zero far as anyone knows produces. A few people report losing as much as 10 pounds in the initial fourteen days. Be that as it may, this weight reduction is probably going to be for the most part water weight, not fat dissolving ceaselessly, which means you remain to recover it once you recharge liquids. The ketogenic diet can go about as a diuretic, causing water misfortune from glycogen stockpiling in the liver, muscles, and fat cells. Remember that for a great many people, about ½ pound to 2 pounds for each week is viewed as protected.

Keto Zero By and large, 2 additional pounds contrasted with the individuals who followed lowfat ones. In any case, a few specialists state that weight reduction from a keto diet presumably isn't from a points of interest about the eating routine itself. On the off chance that the ketogenic diet helps weight reduction, says Brian St. Pierre, R.D., chief of execution nourishment at Precision Nutrition, this is on the grounds that it may empower a few people to keep up a caloric shortage.

"I let people realize that the ketogenic diet approach can completely work, however it's not through some enchantment of carb limitation. Keto works for certain people since they appreciate fat-rich nourishments, discover them fulfilling, and feel their best eating along these lines. Keto Zero This permits them to control their general admission and fuel their action," says St. Pierre. Keep in mind: Just in light of the fact that something accommodates your macros doesn't mean it's too refreshing and giving a parity of supplements. High utilization of specific nourishments (like franks, bacon, and other handled meats) and under utilization of more beneficial food sources (nuts, seeds, vegetables, organic product, entire grains) are connected with certain wellbeing conditions and passing from coronary illness, stroke, and type 2 diabetes, and that is imperative to remember regardless of whether we don't really have a causal connection or suggested limit.

Keto Zero The American Heart Association's suggestions for controlling cholesterol incorporate getting more fiber and constraining your admission of soaked fat, the two of which would be incredibly troublesome on a ketogenic diet. While the facts demonstrate that examination around soaked fat is as yet developing, preparing for good wellsprings of fiber and unsaturated fats, which diminish the danger of cardiovascular malady, and taking into consideration a progressively adjusted admission of supplements, is perfect. Regardless, you should check with your PCP before you start a ketogenic (or any new) diet, particularly on the off chance that you have any wellbeing conditions like hypertension or elevated cholesterol.

What's more, in spite of the fact that for the time being, ketogenic consumes less calories appear to be ok for sound individuals, we likewise need long haul information on the eating routine, Keto Zero so it's difficult to affirm long haul security with sureness. Intricacies seen with kids keeping up a ketogenic diet for epilepsy, for instance, included kidney stones, obstruction, gastrointestinal issues, pancreatitis, and nutrient D and calcium lacks.

Keto Zero the off chance that starches—either handled bundled desserts or nutritious entire nourishments—are your jam, the ketogenic diet will, best case scenario, take some becoming acclimated to. What's more, even under the least favorable conditions, it could be an absolute nonstarter. The eating routine will essentially direct you away from nourishments that have included sugar, are calorically thick, and don't offer much in the method for sustenance, similar to treats, cakes, white bread, sugary grains, fries, chips, cracke

Eating all the fat you need seems like a heavenly method to get in shape—yet is it worth giving up carbs?Odds are you, you've heard some quite enormous cases about the ketogenic diet."Keto consumes fat quick! It turbo-charges your vitality! It battles malady! You can eat all the bacon you need!" Big names like to rave about the low-sugar diet. Keto Zero On Instagram, Vinny Guadagnino, who passes by Keto Guido, shares keto plans and tips that helped him shed 50 pounds. Be that as it may, is this promotion unrealistic? With no guarantees so regularly the case with eats less carbs, underneath all the underlying fervor, there's a gut check. Here's all that you should know whether you're a fledgling to the keto diet and need to decide whether it merits yielding carbs.

Keto Zero Ketogenesis has existed as long as people have. On the off chance that you eat an extremely low measure of sugars, you keep your cerebrum from glucose, its primary fuel source. Your body despite everything needs fuel to work, so it takes advantage of your hold of ketones, which are exacerbates the liver makes from fat when blood insulin is low. This procedure is known as ketosis: It resembles when a half breed vehicle comes up short on gas and returns to unadulterated power. Keto Zero "Your liver produces ketones constantly, however the rate relies upon starch and protein consumption," says Jeff Volek, Ph.D., R.D., a teacher of human sciences at Ohio State University. At the point when most of your eating regimen is comprised of carbs and protein, ketogenesis eases back. Supplanting carbs and protein with fat will place your body into ketosis, in this manner increase ketone creation. Basically, you're consuming fat rather than carbs for vitality. This procedure takes around three days to initiate.

Keto Zero Wouldn't you be able to take ketone supplements? No. While it is conceivable to hoist ketones by taking them, "without the low-carb improvement, there is no net increment in ketone creation, no lessening in insulin, and no net increment in fat oxidation," says Volek. Try not to confide in coaches or "body programmers" who state you can prompt ketosis rapidly without changing your eating regimen. Keto Zero A ketogenic diet necessitates that fat contain 60 to 80 percent of your all out calories. Protein makes up around 20 percent, while 10 percent originates from carbs. As a rule, it's ideal to keep carb admission between 20-30 grams for every day so as to look after ketosis. That is what could be compared to about a large portion of a medium bagel.

Keto Zero In the event that this seems like Atkins, it's nearby, however "ketogenic eats less carbs will in general be increasingly extreme in carb limitation and have a progressively moderate protein limitation," says Spencer Nadolsky, D.O., creator of The Fat Loss Prescription. In spite of the fact that you can eat bacon on a ketogenic diet, the remainder of the range is constrained. Dull vegetables like potatoes, corn, and squash are excessively high in carbs. Same with most natural products. Milk, beans, rice, pasta, bread: probably not.

In any case, bacon is still vigorously prepared and has been connected to an expanded danger of malignancy and coronary illness, so you might not have any desire to eat it at each feast. Keto Zero To remain as sound as could be expected under the circumstances, keto calorie counters ought to eat a lot of low-carb vegetables like red chime pepper, kale and cauliflower. Most men expend almost 50% of their calories from carbs, as indicated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which means slicing your admission to under 10 percent will be a test.

Keto Zero Despite the fact that reviews have demonstrated that the keto diet can decrease seizures for kids with epilepsy, there is no proof showing that keto assists with other cerebrum issue or improves mental cognizance, as per Harvard Health Publishing. A few investigations show that keto may bring down glucose for individuals with type 2 diabetes, however there isn't sufficient long haul research to decide if it's protected and compelling for diabetics. With regards to weight reduction, "there is no doubt that ketosis accomplishes work for the time being," Dr. Konstantinos Spaniolas, Associate Director of the Stony Brook Metabolic and Bariatric Weight Loss Center in New York, .

Sadly, there's no drawn out information on ketogenic slims down versus different weight control plans Keto Zero In a 2015 Italian examination, those on a ketosis diet shed 26 pounds in a quarter of a year. About portion of the members remained on the eating routine for a year however lost minimal extra weight in the following nine months. Individuals in a 2014 Spanish investigation who followed an extremely low-calorie ketogenic diet lost a normal of 44 pounds in a year—however 33% of them dropped out, potentially in light of the fact that it was too difficult to even think about maintaining.

Keto Zero in any case, there is proof that low-carb diets may build digestion, as indicated by a paper distributed November 14 in BMJ. Analysts found that overweight grown-ups who brought down starches and included progressively fat into their weight control plans consumed around 250 calories more every day than individuals on high-carb, low-fat eating regimens. The investigation is amazing in light of the fact that it's the biggest, generally costly, and controlled investigation of its sort.

For this investigation, 164 overweight grown-ups followed slims down made up of either 60, 40 or 20 percent starches. Keto Zero What makes this examination remarkable is that all members were provided with breakfast, lunch, supper and bites, which means nourishment quality was predictable among individuals in each gathering.

Keto Zero Study co-creator Cara Ebbeling, PhD., of the Boston Children's Hospital accepts the examination demonstrates that getting more fit isn't simply an issue of checking calories. Our perceptions challenge the conviction that all calories are the equivalent to the body," said Ebbeling in an announcement. "Our examination didn't gauge craving and satiety, yet different investigations propose that low-carb consumes less calories likewise decline hunger, which could help with weight reduction in the long haul."

Individuals who start the eating regimen regularly create "Keto Flu," as their bodies get familiar with eating less carbs. Keto Zero During this time you may encounter cerebral pains, sickness, fogginess, muscle spasms and exhaustion. Indications last about seven days, however remaining hydrated and getting sufficient rest will help with issues and fatigue.

Keto Zero Flu, you may see a couple of other disagreeable reactions. CH3)2CO — indeed, the fixing in nail clean remover — is one of the mixes found in ketones, so your breath might be stinkier than ordinary. Crapping might be troublesome since cutting carbs will bring down fiber consumption, however a fiber supplement will help keep you normal. Without a doubt, eating bacon and cheddar may seem like a fantasy yet accomplishing ketosis isn't simple, says Registered Dietitian Melanie Boehmer of Lenox Hill Hospital. Once in a while people attempt and waver into it and they won't bring down their sugars enough," Keto Zero she recently told Men'sHealth.com. She suggests eating close to 20-30 grams of sugars for each day to keep up the ketogenic state.

Keto Zero Regularly individuals figure they can eat boundless measures of meat on the eating regimen, yet that isn't accurate. Devouring an excess of protein will likewise diminish ketone levels. heat days, regardless of whether they are uncommon, and drinking liquor can remove you from ketosis, as well. You can decide if you're very ketosis by buying an over-the-counter test. Be that as it may, they're not constantly exact, cautions Ginger Hultin, MS, RDN, CSO, representative for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

They sell testing strips for pee, however those can get bogus peruses for various reasons, similar to hydration levels," Keto Zero she recently disclosed to Men's Health.What's more, those intense reactions, similar to terrible breath, are a decent pointer that you're in fat-consuming mode. In any case, they'll just be useful in the first place since signs vanish once your body is acclimated with the new eating regimen.While the buzz is by all accounts warming up around the ketogenic diet, the eating reasoning isn't new. Actually, it's been utilized as a treatment for epilepsy since the 1920s and returned into the spotlight during the '90s when Dateline ran a portion featuring it as a treatment choice. Keto Zero However, how could it go from epilepsy treatment to weight reduction routine? All things considered, first off, increasingly more celebs — including Vanessa Hudgens and Halle Berry — have as of late applauded its weight reduction results openly.

Keto Zero So what is the ketogenic diet? It's a high-fat, low-carb diet that sends your body into a condition of ketosis, during which it utilizes put away fat as vitality. At the point when you eat along these lines — commonly we're talking under 50 grams of sugars a day — "you'll devour a huge measure of fat," says Shahzadi Devje, RD, CDE, a dietitian in Toronto, Canada. Truth be told, by following the keto diet, around 60 to 80 percent of your day by day calories will originate from fat. At the point when you confine carbs along these lines and eat increasingly fat, your body takes around 24 to 48 hours to start delivering ketones, which are made when your body uses fat for vitality, says Pegah Jalali, MS, RD, Keto Zero a clinical facilitator at the New York University Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, where she advises patients on the ketogenic diet. Ordinarily, your body would utilize sugars as an essential wellspring of vitality.

Keto Zero A fundamental advantage of the eating routine, and why a large number of its devotees acclaim the eating plan, is weight reduction. Numerous examinations show promising outcomes: In an investigation in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, corpulent men dropped around 14 pounds in the wake of following the eating routine for a month. Also, in a more drawn out term study distributed in Clinical Cardiology, hefty grown-ups holding fast to a ketogenic diet for around a half year saw critical weight reduction — by and large, 32 pounds — just as decreases in complete cholesterol and increments in valuable HDL cholesterol. An audit concentrate in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition additionally found that the weight reduction seen inside the initial three to a half year of following the keto diet was more noteworthy than the misfortune from following a standard adjusted eating style.

Weight reduction frequently happens on the Keto Zero diet in light of the fact that your body is using fat stores for vitality — and you may likewise see a diminished hunger that regularly results from the eating routine. "We don't know precisely why ketones stifle hunger," says Jalali. "In any case, my hypothesis is that ketosis is the state we are in during starvation and drawn out fasting, so it may be a transformative reaction to enable people to adapt." Plus, your body digests fat significantly more gradually than carbs. Keto Zero "Fat has a more drawn out intestinal travel time contrasted and carbs," she says. "So it will drag out that sentiment of completion, particularly in the middle of dinners." While some state following the eating routine case it is constraining at nourishment related social events, Lara Clevenger, MSH, RDN, a dietitian in Edgewater, Florida, says you can without much of a stretch arrangement ahead. "I right now follow a ketogenic diet, and eating out is significantly simpler than individuals might suspect," she says.

" Keto Zero You can request a burger short the bun and fries, in addition to a side of veggies. Or on the other hand request a culinary expert serving of mixed greens and request olive oil as your dressing, short the bread garnishes. The choices are ample!" Clevenger says she initially began the keto diet for its mitigating benefits, because of a family ancestry of stoutness, hypertension, bosom malignant growth, diabetes and dementia. "I will remain on a ketogenic diet for a long time to come," she says. "I presently have a few times more vitality, I no longer experience difficulty nodding off and staying unconscious, I am better in line with my yearning and satiety, Keto Zero and I am not, at this point dependent on sugar. The eating routine has had a greater amount of an effect than I could have envisioned!" Notwithstanding weight reduction, considers show that the ketogenic diet may likewise be useful in treating numerous different conditions, for example, type 2 diabetes, polycystic ovary disorder (PCOS), skin inflammation and that's only the tip of the iceberg.

Keto Zero "Similarly as with any eating regimen, there are consistently upsides and downsides," says Devje. On the off chance that you follow the ketogenic diet, you may see symptoms, for example, awful breath, cerebral pains, sickness and exhaustion. The negative manifestations some experience when first beginning the eating regimen is regularly alluded to as the "keto influenza." This sentiment of tiredness is because of a drop in glucose that can cause laziness, which ordinarily goes in 24 to 48 hours, notes Jalali. You may likewise feel enlarged or obstructed — and you may want to pee all the more oftentimes, since ketosis goes about as a diuretic, says Jalali. Since the ketogenic diet is constrained as far as nutrition classes, you'll be in danger for supplement lacks." Keto Zero The eating routine requires a powerful enhancement routine, since you can build up specific inadequacies on a ketogenic diet that can hinder your capacity to remain in ketosis," says Jalali. "You can likewise create micronutrient insufficiencies that can cause balding, and many individuals become obstructed on a ketogenic diet." Jalali suggests talking about the eating routine with both a doctor and a ketogenic dietitian to work to forestall these reactions.

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Learn how to Construct and Scale a Excessive-Efficiency Advertising and marketing Group, In line with Leaders Who've Accomplished It

New Post has been published on http://tiptopreview.com/how-to-build-and-scale-a-high-performance-marketing-team-according-to-leaders-whove-done-it/

Learn how to Construct and Scale a Excessive-Efficiency Advertising and marketing Group, In line with Leaders Who've Accomplished It

In 2020, I began utilizing Headspace.

And, because it seems, so did everybody else.

The meditation app, which was first launched again in 2012, initially generated roughly $30 million in income and, as of 2017, had 40,000 subscribers.

At present, the app has over 2 million customers, and is valued at $320 million dollars. How’s that for progress?

However, when any firm scales that rapidly, it begs the query: Will the enterprise survive, and even thrive underneath its newfound success? Or will it crumble?

Maybe your organization is experiencing related progress, and your marketing group is feeling the rising pains. Or, perhaps what you are promoting is model new, and also you’re targeted on successfully constructing a robust marketing group for the primary time.

Whichever the case, the challenges that come together with constructing or scaling a marketing group could be detrimental to a company if dealt with poorly. Which is why I sat down with marketing leaders at Google, Microsoft, Wistia, Canva, and Typeform to study their ideas for efficiently constructing or scaling a group — so that you just’re prepared when it is your time to develop.

Let’s dive in.

Suggestions for Constructing an Efficient Advertising and marketing Group

1. Rent with variety, fairness, and inclusion in thoughts.

There are numerous advantages to variety within the office – as an illustration, do you know organizations with a various management group have 19% greater income on common than firms with much less various leaders?

Or, how about the truth that diverse teams can solve problems quicker than cognitively related individuals?

Suffice to say, variety issues.

When constructing an efficient marketing group, it is important to think about variety, fairness, and inclusion from the very starting.

As Google’s World Head of SMB Partnerships Advertising and marketing, Elana Chan, instructed me, “Hiring is the most important thing you’ll do as a leader — and that also means you need to think about DEI. It’s easy when we’re running fast to just ask people in our own networks to apply for open positions, but it’s worth it to diversify. Every study and even my own experience has proven that diversification and different points of view are important.”

Chan provides, “It takes longer to hire people who are outside of your natural network, but it’s worth it. You’ll get the right people for the job and also set the right tone across your organization. It’s important to walk the talk when it comes to DEI, not just when it’s convenient.”

While you’re first constructing out your group, you may wish to make sure you incorporate DEI into your recruitment plans. To do that, think about writing inclusive job descriptions, promote roles by means of various channels, and standardize your interview course of.

You may also strive utilizing recruitment expertise like Greenhouse Inclusion to scale back the dangers of unconscious bias when interviewing.

2. Rent people who find themselves hungry sufficient to strive something.

In the event you’re simply beginning out, you do not have limitless price range to rent a slew of entrepreneurs who concentrate on varied marketing actions. As an alternative, you probably solely have the price range for a handful of entrepreneurs — or even perhaps only one.

So … how do you make that one rent rely?

Above all else, Wistia co-founder and CEO Chris Savage believes it is necessary to think about how pushed your first marketing rent is.

He instructed me, “You want to find someone who is extremely hungry, and can make their own things — whether that is video, written content, or audio. Whichever assets your team needs, if you can find someone who can be both the creator and manager of those assets, then you unlock the ability to try things much more easily.”

“At Wistia,” he provides, “I hired a lot of misfits who were so hungry that they were willing to try anything. Maybe on paper it didn’t make sense, but in reality, it was incredible.”

For example, maybe your marketing group has recognized YouTube as a viable alternative to achieve new audiences and convert these customers into leads. If that is the case, think about hiring somebody with expertise creating video — together with a robust need to study rapidly, and take a look at new issues. 

three. Rent a marketing buyer expertise (CX) chief.

When requested what probably the most essential early rent on a marketing group is, John Cosley, Senior Director of World Model Advertising and marketing at Microsoft Advertising, instructed me: “Two years ago, I would have said a marketing data scientist — someone who can analyze datasets and help their organizations better understand their customers and identify future opportunities, as well as advise on marketing tactics and analysis methodologies.”

“Fast forward to today,” He provides, “And I would say that the marketing customer experience (CX) leader is the most crucial early hire in scaling a marketing team. Consumer journeys have increasingly become digital and multi-modal and expectations have increased around privacy and trust, personalization, and quality.”

In the event you’re eager about making a buyer expertise technique for what you are promoting, check out Learn how to Outline a Buyer Expertise (CX) Technique.

Finally, a buyer expertise is about placing the client first. As Cosley instructed me, “Shoppers usually tend to worth a model that values them, so it has develop into crucial for manufacturers at present to prioritize the client expertise right through the buying funnel.”

four. Rent early. 

Hiring as you are scaling could be a bit like attempting to construct a airplane when you’re flying it.

It may be troublesome and messy to get new hires up-to-speed on the identical time you want them to carry out optimally so your customers do not feel the friction. To reduce these challenges, think about hiring months forward of if you’ll want sure roles crammed. 

As Francois Bondiguel, Canva’s World Head of B2B Advertising and marketing & Progress, instructed me, “A big challenge that many face as they scale is getting the organizational structure and strategy right. This includes hiring the right people, and ensuring they have leaders in place to guide them through this transformative phase and help them remove roadblocks so they can move fast.”

“On that note,” Bondiguel provides, “it’s important for key hires to be brought in early to ensure they are properly onboarded prior to projects ramping up. This helps avoid placing unrealistic pressure on new team members as well as the broader group.”

To do that successfully, check out your group’s long-term imaginative and prescient, and brainstorm which function(s) will must be crammed to get your group to the following stage.

5. Use one knowledge set to information your total division.

While you’re first beginning out, I am prepared to wager your lean startup group understands the significance of creating data-based choices … however they probably additionally work in silos.

Perhaps you’ve two content material strategists who concentrate on lead era numbers. Then, maybe you’ve one other social media marketer who focuses on cost-per-acquisition.

The problem? “While you’re working in silos, there are additionally knowledge silos,” Chan tells me. “Which means you can never pull the same number across teams. That’s a mistake. If you start off providing your team with a unified data set, then it’s easier to grow together. It’s much harder to merge data sets later, and then it becomes politics to determine the right numbers to use.”

To repair this, guarantee you’ve a unified system for accumulating and analyzing knowledge even when your group is small. Think about using a CRM to retailer your knowledge in a single place, or making a division dashboard in Google Analytics.

Regardless of the case, it is vital you present your group with a centralized location so your knowledge processes can develop with you as you scale.

6. Deal with buyer retention at first, reasonably than simply buyer acquisition. 

While you begin to see your record of shoppers rising, it may be tempting to need extra, extra, extra. 

However as a startup, you must watch out. In the event you focus completely on buying new prospects, you overlook certainly one of your strongest weapons — your present prospects. 

As Typeform’s VP of Progress, Jim Kim, instructed me, “Many SaaS-based startups … focus exclusively on customer acquisition and tend to neglect customer retention until they see issues with the customer base size growing.”

Kim provides, “By focusing early on efforts to engage and retain the base of customers already acquired, the startup develops a more holistic understanding of the customers they serve, and can gain insights into the things customers really care about that can then be added to the acquisition activities.”

To forestall buyer churn, you may wish to construct out an unimaginable buyer help technique that allows your present prospects to get their wants met. Moreover, think about the way you may present worth past the acquisition, or create a customized buyer expertise so your prospects know you care about them.  

As Kim factors out, “It’s an obvious point, but in my experience, it’s hard to remember that retention can actually be a faster way to grow the customer base than new acquisition and usually has a higher marketing ROI, since it’s (generally) cheaper to keep a customer than find a new one.”

Suggestions for Scaling Your Advertising and marketing Group

1. Do not stifle the power of a startup.

As you start to scale, the office inevitably adjustments. Earlier than, conversations occurred casually throughout workplace desks, or when grabbing a cup of espresso — now, there are formal conferences with agendas.

And, when you might beforehand take a look at out a brand new thought with out essentially requiring buy-in from management, now you are anticipated to comply with stricter processes, which limits the experiments you may strive.

And but, one factor should not change as you scale.

As Chan places it, “It’s important not to stifle the energy of a startup. That’s the exciting part of being where you are, and I think the acknowledgement that you’re building the car as you’re driving it is okay — and fun.”

Chan provides, “At Google we have a saying: ‘Operating at the edge of chaos’. If you imagine a frontier, one side is not enough chaos, and the other side is too much chaos. If there’s too much chaos, no one knows what’s happening, and nothing gets done. But if there’s not enough chaos, then there’s no innovation and you’re not moving forward.”

“It’s your job as a leader to operate as closely to this frontier as possible, and I think in a startup that’s even more true.”

While you start to scale, you are going to have to implement extra formal processes. However these processes should not limit your staff from taking dangers, testing out new concepts, and pushing the boundaries of your marketing efforts.

Think about, as you scale, how one can defend that “startup energy” in any respect prices.

2. Stick to what’s working.

As you start to scale, you are in all probability on the lookout for new progress alternatives. And, at this level, it would really feel just like the sky is the restrict — what you are promoting is quickly rising, so why not take some dangers?

However, whereas sure dangers are inevitable, it is not a good suggestion to increase too far past what’s already working.

As Savage instructed me, “In the event you’re a startup that is making progress when it comes to bringing in prospects and getting them to make use of your services or products, then it is easy to suppose, ‘Okay, I’ve one channel that is working … now let’s add a channel on prime of that, and one other channel on prime, and that is how I am going to scale.’ Like, PR is working, why not add paid promoting on prime?”

The error, Savage says, is that there are sometimes one or two channels you find yourself underestimating when it comes to progress potential. In case your content material is performing exceedingly effectively and driving leads for the enterprise, it is not essentially a good suggestion to pivot away from content material. As an alternative, you wish to ask your self — How rather more can we increase with our content material?

“There’s good advice in personal finance,” Savage says, “which states that most wealth is built through a concentration of risk, and it’s maintained through a distribution of risk — so, basically, if you want to become wealthy, you need to take just a few big risks.”

“It’s the same thing when scaling customer acquisition … There are a few big things you can do. It’s very important to go big on the things that are already working.”

Somewhat than investing in social media, digital marketing, video, PR, and running a blog suddenly, think about which channels drive probably the most leads for what you are promoting. These are the channels that acquired you this far, and people are probably the identical channels that may get you even additional if you happen to focus your efforts.

three. Deal with your tradition as a enterprise precedence.

It is easy sufficient to foster and keep a robust tradition if you’re a small group. However, as you scale and increase your group, it could get tougher to guard the tradition that attracted staff to your workplace within the first place.

And whereas tradition may simply sound like a buzzword used to switch beer backyard and yearly ski journeys, it is not.

In actuality, tradition is important to what you are promoting’ success — in actual fact, firms with robust cultures are 1.5X more likely to report average revenue growth of greater than 15% over three years.

As Cosley instructed me: “In any growing organization, the key to success is embracing and honoring the culture to which you aspire. It’s likely what made your company a great place to work and attracted the high-quality talent that is driving your growth.”

Cosley provides, “It isn’t arduous for core values and cultural priorities to erode and even get misplaced throughout growth if that work will not be made a precedence. As you scale, you may wish to suppose and act deliberately about how your tradition grows with you, the way you outline and memorialize it, the way it impacts your hiring and onboarding, the way you prepare your management, and the way you consider efficiency.”

Consider — whether or not or not you’ve got actively fostered it, your organization already has a tradition … it simply won’t be a robust one. And powerful cultures can each entice and retain staff for the long-run, so it is an necessary enterprise initiative to take the time to create one which aligns together with your values and objective.

Moreover, Cosley notes, “Culture is not one-dimensional. You need to consider it across areas such as retention and hiring, diversity and inclusion, and employee engagement. And culture is contagious. Not only does it deliver more positive outcomes and business results, it helps with critical talent retention, and can lower the cost and time to acquire new talent.”

“Treating your culture as a business priority is essential. Without doing so, it could be detrimental to your organization’s potential.”

To make sure your tradition grows together with your group as you scale, check out HubSpot’s Final Information to Firm Tradition.

four. Institutionalize key values in your group.

To construct a robust group tradition, Chan recommends institutionalizing key values.

For example, maybe you worth autonomy, empathy, adaptability, or mental progress. As a pacesetter, it is vital you utilize these values as foundational constructing blocks on which your group can develop.

Chan instructed me, “For me, learning and intellectual curiosity are really important, so I say to my team, ‘You’re responsible for making the person next to you smarter’. And that creates the onus on bringing your own best game because everyone around you is so incredibly talented — so how are you being additive, collaborative, and innovative from within that culture? You owe it to each other to be your best.”

5. Reward what’s proper … and punish what’s mistaken.

As soon as you’ve got recognized the values that matter to your group, it is vital you encourage these values in every of your staff.

When offering efficiency critiques, as an illustration, take the time to establish the place staff have demonstrated key group values, and the place they may nonetheless be missing.

As Savage instructed me, “The way you scale it is, you praise the right stuff and punish the wrong stuff. It’s that simple — most culture is modeled. You need the most senior people to act the way you believe you should be acting, and if you do that, it permeates the building.”

For example, to illustrate you worth risk-taking in your group. If that is the case, you may wish to reward your group after they take dangers, and even reward the failure that may outcome from these dangers.

Alternatively, if you happen to’re in a mode the place you are risk-averse and on the lookout for optimization of processes, you’d wish to reward actions that exhibit threat administration.

6. Rent for the longer term — not simply at present.

Lastly, if you’re scaling, you wish to think about who you may rent at present that may proceed to fulfill the wants of what you are promoting whilst these wants change over time.

For example, after I was first employed at a startup, I used to be employed to create weblog content material. Quick-forward six months, and I used to be moreover tasked with making a podcast, and rising the subscriptions to an electronic mail publication. Because the enterprise scaled, my function modified rapidly. So it is vital you rent with the longer term in-mind. 

When requested concerning the largest problem leaders face when scaling, Kim instructed me, “[It’s] the problem to steadiness long-term and short-term hiring. For a bigger, extra established enterprise, scaling a group will not be as difficult. The roles are already clearly outlined, and there’s probably already somebody doing that job. It is easy to rent for a task like this.

“But,” Kim provides, “when the team is trying to scale, the roles may be less clear and transitory. What you think you need today could be wildly different tomorrow. Balancing the needs of today, while keeping an eye out on how things might change in the future is something that’s extremely hard to do.”

Hiring and recruiting is not a simple activity, however to make sure you’re hiring for the longer term, you may wish to take the time to find out somebody’s work ethic, flexibility, and skill to shift roles because the wants change. And, as talked about above, you may wish to discover somebody who’s hungry to be there.

7. Create processes for efficient communication. 

As your group scales, it turns into much more necessary to make sure you have processes in-place to make sure truthful, efficient cross-team communication. 

For example, maybe you’ve got observed your conferences have develop into alternatives in your most extroverted staff to share their successes, whereas nearly all of your group stays silent.

To fight this, think about creating a gathering agenda or slide deck, so individuals know what they should share, and when. 

As Bondiguel places it, “Another challenge is communication. You need to put good processes in place (access to documents, meeting cadence, etc.) to ensure the entire team has all the information and context they need to perform and do their best work. This has never been more important as teams adapt to hybrid work environments.”

And there you’ve it. Whether or not you are formally within the scaling section or nonetheless within the startup section, the following pointers ought to allow you to make sure you’re constructing a robust basis for the longer term. 

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[scary-junk]

Tuesday 23rd April 2019 Interview with Catherine Lindley-Neilson 

How to be a Woman. 

After conducting a casual interview with Catherine, I have collated some of the responses to provide an insight as to what it’s like being a woman in the 21st Century. 

Catherine is a bass player in the up and coming garage-rock band Gaffa Tape Sandy, playing a large variety of gigs, including Glastonbury 2017, Waldstock 2018 (Germany), and Iceland Airwaves (2018), just to name a few. Whilst also having founded Pink Neck Collective, an artistic company involved in printmaking, clothing and events promotion. 

Day-to-Day Struggles

When asked about the day to day struggles of being a woman, Catherine explained that it’s hard voicing an opinion without being patronised by male peers. Whether this be a change in tone of voice, or a sense of disbelief resulting in fact-checking, it feels as though if a man said the same thing it would be valued and made more accountable. It’s very frustrating. As well as, the more obvious things that women have to endure on a daily basis, such as not feeling safe walking home alone. 

Sexism in the Workplace

A lot of inappropriate encounters occur in the workplace. The music industry can ridicule female artists, by sexualising them and taking us at face value. Catherine explained a few years ago that she had been sexualised by a much older male sound engineer, as she took off her jacket due to the HEAT, (a perfectly normal thing to do), he exclaimed, “yeah strip, that’ll keep them entertained.” This type of predatory behaviour is disgusting and completely inappropriate, as well as the fact the music industry is supposed to be a professional one. This is completely disrespectful to powerful, up-and-coming strong women, such as Catherine. 

Naming another experience, Neilson explained that when the band was less known, promoters and sound engineers would purposefully go up to the male band members and the manager, to shake their hands and introduce themselves. “They wouldn’t even shake my hand.” This has gradually changed over time, but Catherine explains she has had to force herself to go over and put her hand out for them to shake. However, she’s never had this problem with women, but then female sound engineers are much less common in the music industry, explaining she only had a couple of encounters with them. 

Objectification

Developing from sexism in the workplace, we discussed the objectification of women in the music scene. Explaining a previous experience, Catherine spoke of people discussing her as a ‘marketing tool.’ At an earlier gig the band played, two men were discussing her presence, “good move putting a girl in the band for a marketing ploy.” This deeply angered me, as it didn’t even strike them that Neilson is a BRILLIANT bass player and creative individual. They saw no depth, she is not just a body on stage for you to gawk at. 

Main Inspiration

Hayley Williams, Catherine in her teens read Kerrang and at this time, Williams was the only woman in the magazine, who was incredibly powerful and in a band. She made sure not to advertise it as a ‘thing,’ although she felt like she used to have to work twice as hard as the men playing at festivals to prove herself to the industry. 

Main Role Model 

Seymour Quigley, founder of Washing Machine BSE, a leading music promotions label in Suffolk. Quigley is equally supportive of everyone, raising an entire music scene by himself that is bursting with equal opportunities. He also doesn’t take any shit from anyone, in an aid to keep everyone safe, Quigley operates a zero-tolerance policy at his gig.  

Film Industry

“I want to see more well-rounded female characters.” This is something I found extremely significant from Neilson’s POV, publicised female characters need more depth! Where’s the flaws and the personality? The majority of TV series and films leave the female audience with a long list of unrealistic expectations that need to be met in order to succeed in the outside world. By making a woman REAL - that is empowering. 

One of the films Catherine referenced to for being terrible at this is ‘LUCY,’ directed by Luc Besson. There are only two female characters in the whole film. As well as the fact that Lucy is supposed to be one of the most powerful of beings, but still needs the helping hand of an insignificant man. As well as the fact that all the most successful scientists in the film are men. The only other female character apart from Lucy is her housemate, who’s in the scene for 10 minutes, in her underwear, talking about her boyfriend. 

Developments in the Music Scene

Catherine’s band Gaffa Tape Sandy, played a stage at Iceland Airwaves in 2018, this venue is an extremely important one in terms of the step forward in music. Most venues have made the 50/50 pledge, that promises by the year 2022 all line ups will be 50/50 gender wise. However, Iceland Airwaves have already been doing this! They haven’t used the 50/50 pledge to make gender a “thing,” their event is just like that, which is extremely exciting to push further female creatives into the scene. As Catherine put it, the 50/50 pledge is an example of having to pull the elastic band so hard one way that it pings back to the middle. 

Also explaining that if she wanted to go home earlier than the guys she could feel safe doing so in that environment, it is very very rare to have this choice as a woman. So, they must be doing something right! 

This has helped me see how I could potentially direct art to industry based places to tackle harassment in the workplace. This could also push my work towards a new demographic of people.

Respect Us.

Catherine Lindley-Neilson’s song recommendation:

Hozier / ‘Nina cried power’

[jjevents]

Event Budgeting 101

Event Budgeting 101

When I began my career in event planning, the idea of managing budgets seemed a little overwhelming. It was never covered in any of the event management classes I took and, despite being a vital aspect of every event, it seems to be a bit of an industry secret.

So, this week let’s talk about some of the nuances of building an event budget. It’s time to share what no one else seems to talk about!

The Framework

Generally, event budgets tend to be fairly fluid. When building a proposal we’re working with big picture ideas that often evolve as we progress. Not everything we pitch will come to fruition and inevitably new ideas are always introduced along the way.

Every event is going to require a range of elements that can easily seem overwhelming but if you break it down to general categories, you’ll be sure to cover all your needs while keeping each of your requirements reasonably organized. I like to start with a list like this:

Venue

Food

Beverage

Entertainment

Décor

Equipment Rentals

Audio Visual

Sound

Lighting

On-site Staffing

Risk Management

Photography

Registration

Design /Printing

Accommodations

Promotional Items

Transportation

Event Planner fee

Keep in mind, many of these may require sub-categories as well. For instance, your venue might have many associated costs including rental fees, coat check fees or the rental of items that are not considered “in house”. Another good example is your Entertainment category. Costs in this area are generally not limited to the entertainment itself but also travel and hotel costs, per diems and any rider requirements (which is a whole other blog post on its own Corporate Entrainment: The Hidden Costs.)

Do your homework

Although this gets significantly easier with experience, even the most seasoned event management companies work on events that have elements they haven’t encountered before. Whether it’s a new venue, caterer, talent etc., you really need to know what to expect from hidden costs to minimum spends and gratuities. Every venue is different and asking the right questions is imperative. I love the simplicity of a call but I suggest also getting a follow up email than can be referenced should there be any discrepancies or confusion. Keeping detailed notes will also prove to be incredibly helpful when working on future projects.

Conservative Estimating

I cannot stress this enough. When planning budgets for clients ALWAYS build in a buffer. Every event professional can attest that this is a business built on change and you’re far better off being prepared with extra funds tucked away rather than having to present an overrun to a client, regardless of the reasoning. It’s always best to err on the side of caution and include a contingency line item into your budget to ensure you’re prepared for any unexpected expenses.

Variable Amounts

When working with certain line items there are often grey area’s that can only be estimated until you receive the final bill. The beverage line item, for example, will certainly be one of them. Open bars are always appreciated by your guests but are very difficult to estimate. Even with drink tickets, you will have some drinks that cost more than others or extra tickets that somehow make it into circulation. Always include a note letting your client know that this is a variable amount and will be determined on final consumption.

Disclaimer

In reality, there are always unknowns that even the most seasoned event professional can’t predict. If you find your budget starting to run over or your client asks for something that wasn’t in the original scope, be prepared to communicate the changes clearly and always have the increase approved in writing. It’s understandable that flexibility is sometimes required but no one – especially clients – appreciates surprises when it comes to the bottom line.

Simple Math

I get asked repeatedly if a client can even afford to host a particular event and, truthfully, the quickest way to determine if the numbers work is to divide the proposed budget by the number of guests.

For example, a brand launch for 1,200 people with a budget of $5,000 works out to only $4.16 per person. A birthday dinner for 50 people with a budget of $2,500 allows for $50.00 per person. If you consider the cost of an average meal and drinks alone, these budgets are already unrealistic in most scenarios. Your ability to explain this type of budget estimation early on in the process can really go a long way in saving both you, and your client a lot grief in the long run.

Wondering if an event planner is a good fit for your next event? Email info@jenniferjamesevents.com. We’re always happy to help!

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

Shadowhunters Season 2 Episode 12 -- You Are Not Your Own -- Review/Discussion

This week, we got Shadowhunters Season 2 Episode 12, You Are Not Your Own. I think I liked this episode. I’m not really all that sure. This episode felt about on par with the previous episode. It’s a decently structured episode of Shadowhunters but overall, it didn’t leave me with much of an impression. I enjoyed myself while watching the episode but yet it left me with no desire to watch it again. I did watch it again, simply because that’s what I do when I review things. I always watch what I’m reviewing two or three times to make sure I caught and understood everything I want to talk about.

This is going to be an honest review of my thoughts and feelings regarding this episode. If you’re the kind of Shadowhunters fan where you only want to hear positive things about the show, this is not the place for you. If you decide to stick around and get offended by what is said, then that’s on you. I warned you. Just know that if you send me any rude comments or messages, I will 100% ignore you. I find that’s the best way to deal with bullies. I work 14 hour days. Do you really think I want to waste my incredibly valuable free time dealing with derogatory comments? Hell no. This review will consist of my honest opinions. Opinions are never right or wrong. I’m not telling you how to think and feel. I’m telling you what I think and feel. So please, let’s discuss with dignity and respect. If I’m critical about the show, it’s only because I want it to get better. There is, in fact, a difference between hating a show and being critical of it. I do not hate Shadowhunters; I am being critical and analyzing the flaws as I would with any other show. There are positives but there are also negatives. It’s great if you want to promote positivity with this show (and I encourage you to do so) but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t acknowledge the things that are legitimately wrong with it. Also, keep in mind that despite the fact that I do love the books, me being critical of this show has nothing to do with my love of the books. I don’t really care if the show deviates from the source material as long as it’s good and it makes sense. My problems with this show are problems that I would have with any show or book for that matter. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to take issue with a show that has plot holes, shoddy world-building, and inconsistent characters. There will be spoilers for the show and spoilers for the books and movie.

I’m really sorry about this being so late but man, did I have a hard time writing this one. I’m really not sure where the brunt of my problems lie with this episode. I feel like this is an episode I probably should’ve liked a lot but at the end of the day, I just didn’t care. Which is weird because it had a lot of plot points that ordinarily, I would be all for. Ultimately, I think the biggest issues with this episode was the execution of these ideas. Pretty much, all of the plot points fell a little flat. You have that mixed in with cheesy and nonsensical dialogue, then I guess it’s no real surprise that this episode didn’t really captivate me. It was fun watching the plot unfold but nothing really resonated with me and made me hope the episode would just go on and on. When the episode ended, I was good. I was ready to turn off the tv and I’m not really counting down the days until the next episode airs. 

Magnus/Valentine Switch-A-Roo 

Now, this is a plot point that I actually kind of like in its idea form. And it was fairly well executed in the show. I thought Alan and Harry did a very good job with switching characters. I had absolutely no trouble believing that Magnus was no longer Magnus and Valentine was no longer Valentine. Although, I do find it odd that after Magnus-In-Valentine’s body tells Alec that he’s really Magnus and Alec isn’t alarmed by Valentine-in-Magnus’ body’s actions. He doesn’t really think, “Hey, Valentine just told me that he’s really Magnus and when I went to see Magnus, he was behaving oddly. Maybe I should look into this more.” Oh well, this show thrives on idiot plots. It would be inconvenient for the plot for Alec to show common sense in this moment despite that he’s been shown numerous times to have the most common snese of everyone on Team Good. I do hope they put out a “behind the scenes” feature with Harry and Alan talking about what it was like to switch characters. Both of them did a pretty amazing job. I really enjoyed those scenes. I had very small issues with this plot as a whole (my problems lie more with the use of Azazel than anything else) and I’m very excited to see where the trauma that Magnus suffered at the hands of the Clave takes his character. That being said, this was a really interesting development for Magnus’ character but I am worried that this plot point is going to be dropped or lose its relevancy as so many subplots in this show often are. I also kind of wish the switch lasted maybe another episode. Everything just felt incredibly rushed in this plot. But that’s how this show is. Everything is always done at warp speed and I feel like this show in its plot form could be a much better show if it just slowed down. Let the characters tell the story instead of forcing the characters to do things.

Alec Being a Badass – Thank You for this Scene

Yay for Alec for sending Azazel back to hell; that was great. I am so happy that Alec was the one to take down Azazel. He never gets to do anything cool or shadowhuntery-badass in this show. It’s always The Clary Show which is really irritating because it makes no sense why she’s a better shadowhunter then everyone else who have been training THEIR ENTIRE LIVES! She’s been a shadowhunter for at most, a month and she can swing swords and fighting staffs around like the best of them. And even bests some of the other shadowhunters, at times. Why? I don’t know. It’s so dumb. But I digress. I know I’ve made no secret about my distaste for Clary on this show but I can’t help it. She’s such a badly written character with no forethought to her development that I can’t not comment on it. Sorry to those of you who adore Clary on the show but it’s my opinion and I won’t apologize for it. If you really want to understand my dislike for the show’s version of Clary, go and hit up my ask box and I’ll go in depth about it. And don’t worry, my reasons for disliking her don’t have a whole lot to do with her constantly crying. It’s nothing shallow and dumb like that. But anyways, Alec banishing Azazel was a really badass moment for Alec. Unfortunately, the actual banishing of Azazel was not. Make no mistake, I’m glad that Alec was the one to take care of Azazel but MY GOD, was that scene dumb. The special effect of Alec flying back in the air and shooting Azazel was really bad. I don’t know where the bow and arrow came from other than the magical world of bad holographic CGI nor do I understand the need for a poorly executed Matrix move in that scene. I also don’t understand why if Azazel has this weakness, why he didn’t do anything to protect it? He’s been playing the game pretty hard trying to get the Mortal Cup so the shadowhunters can’t use it to send him back to hell but he has this other way to be sent to hell that he doesn’t even consider protecting? Like I said in my previous review, this guy is so dumb and the writing of him is so dumb. I guess you can chalk it up to him being cocky. He thinks he’s so awesome that he doesn’t even consider that a shadowhunter might be able to hit his core. But still. He’s been trapped in hell for a really long time. You think he would have erred on the side of caution after just escaping from hell. Not to mention, who released this guy from hell anyway? What exactly was their purpose in releasing him? Maybe it was Sebastian/Jonathon. Really, this entire Azazel plot was really dumb, didn’t accomplish a whole lot, ended very anti-climactically, and I’m glad he’s gone. The only purpose Azazel served was to body-swap Magnus and Valentine and once he did that, he was pretty much useless to the plot and unrealistically easily taken care of. I’m not entirely certain how relevant this body swap thing is going to be to the rest of the plot for this season. Knowing this show, they’ll probably drop it. I’ve seen a lot of people talk about that Alec killing Azazel was so wonderful because he was protecting his one true love. Which okay, fine. He did that but by you saying that, you’re also implying that Alec wouldn’t banish a Prince of Hell for just anyone. Alec cares about everyone. He may not like everyone but he does care about them if they’re a genuinely good person. If he was face-to-face with a Prince of Hell, he’d do what he could to kill the creature to protect just about anyone that falls into that category. And really, Alec banishing Azazel happened so quickly that it came off more like self-defense than an actual act of protecting his boyfriend. Alec was there, then Azazel was there, Azazel pushed Alec through the air and then Alec shot him. The show has been toting around that Alec is going to have this really great heroic moment and all I can say is that I feel a little unsatisfied with it? It was anticlimactic and it didn’t really feel real. I’m kind of expecting Azazel to just pop back up and be all, “Just kidding, bitches. As if you could get rid of me.” Not likely but whatever. With this show, if you’re not part of the main cast, then you’re going to go down pretty easily. That’s just the way it is. I find it very difficult to believe that it’s this easy to take care of a Prince of Hell, though. Or that Magnus would be able to duplicate the kind of magic a Prince of Hell used to swap their bodies to begin with. Think about it, in the previous episode, Magnus was incapable of trapping Azazel in a pentagram but here, he’s able to use a spell that would counteract a curse that very same Prince of Hell put on him?

I don’t know. Maybe my distaste for the whole Azazel plot stems from the fact that the Azazel plot from City of Lost Souls is absolutely hilarious. Team Good summons Azazel to get some information and Azazel is just chilling in this pentagram in Magnus’ living room for a couple of days (and they never lose control of him because Magnus Bane is a badass; something this show chooses to forget whenever it’s not convenient for the plot). They eventually banish Azazel back to hell because he’s just annoying the shit out of them. It’s a fun little sequence of scenes that really takes the edge off in a pretty serious book.

With that said though, I’m pretty sure I dislike the show’s Azazel plot because it serves as nothing more than a plot device for a character plot point that’s going to either be dropped or lose its relevancy halfway through. That, and there’s huge gaps of logic in this plot to begin with. Azazel is a Prince of Hell. He should’ve stuck around for at least a few more episodes. 

Will Tudor as Sebastian/Jonathon – He is too good for this show 

You know, I never really noticed how badly I needed a Sebastian/Jonathon adaptation until I got one. I always cared about Sebastian/Jonathon as a villain in the books but I never really imagined what a movie or tv show adaptation of him would be like. And I am so glad that our first adaptation of him was Will Tudor because OMG, he blew this role out of the park in this episode. Honestly, Will Tudor might be a little too talented for this show. I’m kind of afraid the other actors aren’t going to be able to keep up. Whatever scene he’s in, he just takes complete control. I’m completely engrossed in whatever scene he’s in. It’s amazing. The only other actor on this show that I get like that with is Alan Van Sprang. And OMG, if we get a scene with those two acting opposite of each other, that is going to be a bad ass scene and I’m probably going to spend half of a review raving about it. Please, Shadowhunters, do it. That is something I have to see before this show ends. In the books, we never got a scene with Sebastian/Jonathon and Valentine together but I really hope the show does one. I feel a little bad Will Tudor’s stuck with this show, though. He’s going to have to utilize his significant acting talents on a show that has a history of sub-par plotting. Just that scene where he was trying to convince Clary to really feel about what it would mean to acknowledge that Jace is not her brother was so powerful to watch. It wasn’t really all that well-written but I started tearing up a little and it wasn’t because I was feeling for Clary. It was because I was feeling for Sebastian/Jonathon. He was projecting his feelings of loneliness onto Clary’s situation and the resentment and animosity that we saw in his face and in his tone of voice…damn, it was good. He’s trying to get Clary to acknowledge her own feelings of loneliness. Her mother is dead. Her brother isn’t really her brother. Her father doesn’t care about her. She has no family. She’s truly alone. Just the way he was presenting these issues made you realize that he was able to get through to Clary because he feels these exact same things and when the reveal comes out about who this guy really is….it is going to be so damn good. I might even be able to forgive this show for all of their mishaps, Season 1 included. 

Rant Time – This Show’s Use of Magic 

Okay, so now that I’ve finished fangirling over the awesomeness that is Will Tudor, it’s time for a little rant. I loved that scene between Sebastian/Jonathon and Clary. It was the highlight of the episode for me. I must’ve re-watched that scene four or five times. However, it’s revealed in this scene that the reason Clary couldn’t use her sunlight rune against Azazel was because she had a mind block due to her not really feeling everything she should. Ironic considering this is what she yelled at Jace for in Mea Maxima Culpa. What I had originally liked about Clary not being able to use her rune against Azazel was that it was finally showing that there are limitations to her runes. I was so happy to see the show finally develop the idea that there are limitations to magic in this world and You Are Not Your Own just trampled all over that idea. I didn’t like that the only reason Clary’s rune didn’t work against Azazel was because of her emotional state. That if Jace hadn’t told her about the sibling thing, she would’ve been able to destroy Azazel. How about the fact that AZAZEL IS A PRINCE OF HELL. Maybe for Clary’s runes to work against certain demons she needs to, heaven forbid, practice and get stronger and thus her runes become stronger. Maybe she couldn’t destroy Azazel because she wasn’t strong enough and by default, neither were her runes. This is something that irks me about this show’s use of magic. Magic in this show has no limitations. It has no rules. You can do just about anything with magic and it’s irritating. If your world’s magic system has no rules, no limitations, what makes it compelling? Where is the danger? The risk? In most magic systems, there’s always a consequence for using magic. You can’t create something out of nothing. It has to come from somewhere and you can apply this logic to Clary’s runes. She can draw these runes that no one else knows because she has this extra angel blood in her, however, the runes have to get their strength from somewhere. They can’t just pull it out of thin air. The strength of the runes would depend completely on Clary’s own strength at the time they were drawn. So it would stand to reason that a rune would fail against a Prince of Hell because she wasn’t strong enough to face a Prince of Hell. I hate how this show uses magic as a plot device and nothing more where magic should really be seen as its own character in this show with its own personality.

The Herondale Reveal

We finally find out who Jace really is. I find it weird that after Valentine confessed to Jace not really being his son that Jace never actually questioned who his real parents were; he had to come from somewhere, but whatever. It was interesting how they did this reveal but again, it was kind of anticlimactic. When it happened, I was just like, “Oh, really? We’re revealing this now? Okay.” I was kind of apathetic. It didn’t really have that much of a wow factor. It was interesting in the sense of the role reversal. In the books, the Inqusitor, thinking that Jace is Valentine’s son, uses Jace as a hostage against Valentine with Jace remarking that Valentine doesn’t care about him. It was opposite in the show. Valentine uses Jace as a hostage against the Inquisitor with Jace remarking that the Inquisitor doesn’t care about him. Then Valentine reveals that the Inquisitor will care when she finds out that Jace is actually her grandson. It was an alright reveal but it didn’t really pack a whole lot of emotional punch. Jace being revealed to being a Herondale is kind of a big deal and in this scene it just felt a little, “oh, whatever.” It might’ve helped out a little bit if we had been introduced to the Herondale name a little more before this episode. As it stands, the Herondales just come off as this random family that Jace is now a part of despite the show stating that the Herondales are this great royal bloodline. And the show stating the Herondales to be royalty is a whole other weird thing. I really don’t understand this shadowhunter royalty hierarchy. I was so hoping the show was going to drop this angle on the shadowhunter bloodlines because they haven’t mentioned it since Season 1 but now it’s back. Ugh. My problem is not that they’re introducing something new that isn’t in the books. That’s not the issue. My issue is that they haven’t done anything to establish these royal bloodlines. Which of the shadowhunters bloodlines are royal and why are they royal? I don’t think this is like Vampire Academy where the different families take turns as the ruling government. It certainly hasn’t been set up like that. The Inquisitor didn’t become the Inquisitor because she’s a Herondale. She became the Inquisitor because she moved through the ranks of the Clave government (supposedly). It’s hard to tell what’s actually canon in this show. What about the Herondales makes them more special and more royal than the other shadowhunter bloodlines? Why do I need to care about the Herondales? I mean, I know why I should care about the Herondales. I’ve read The Infernal Devices. I’m a little in love with Will Herondale, myself. If you recite poems and books back to me, I’m going to fall in love with you. That’s just how it is. But if you’re watching this show without prior knowledge of the books, I’m sure those fans are a little confused on why they should care about the Herondales and why it’s a big deal that Jace is related to them. As always, this show has an interesting idea but the execution just falls flat. How you reveal something is just as important as the actual reveal.

Sizzy Is Starting to Happen – I’ll Try to Contain Myself

OMG! The show is starting to work on Sizzy and I’m so happy. They are one of my favorite OTPs of all time. They are going to be so great on this show. Or at least I hope they will be. I’ve been burned by this show before so I’ll try and temper my excitement. But yeah, there were some really nice Sizzy character moments in this episode. I really liked that straight off in the beginning, Izzy is with Simon and she can’t help but come clean to him about her vampire venom addiction. She just felt so at ease with him in that moment and it was really great that Simon didn’t judge her at all for it. He was very understanding because he has a mother that also suffers with addiction and Simon seems to genuinely want to help with getting Izzy the help to fight this. I often wondered why they had so many lines this season alluding to Simon’s mother being an alcoholic and now I think it was for this purpose. To set up Simon being able to truly help Izzy in a way that Alec can’t. As great as it is that Alec wants to be there for his sister and to help her out through this, he also can’t really understand what she’s going through. Whereas Simon really can’t either; he’s not an addict, but he does have experience helping someone through their addiction and I think that’s going to play a big role in the development of Sizzy. I’m super excited to see it.

I also feel compelled to defend Izzy a little in this episode. I have seen a lot of reviews that talk about how they don’t like what this drug addiction is doing to Izzy’s character. They want the bad-ass Izzy from Season 1 back. And I will admit, that Izzy was cool and she was bad-ass. But she was also one-dimensional and I never really felt connected to her as a character. And a little bit of a Mary Sue, herself. What I like about this drug addiction plot point is that we’re exploring a bit more of her character. For better or for worse. Characters need to experience hardships in order to grow. That’s what makes us care about them. You don’t like this drug addiction plot because of what it’s doing to Izzy, fine. Guess what? You’re not actually supposed to enjoy her becoming a drug addict. That’s not the point. What I like that this arc is doing is it’s starting to peel back the layers of Izzy. We’re finding that despite how bad-ass we perceive her to be, she doesn’t feel like she is. Everyone around her believes that she’s the strongest and one of the best but she doesn’t believe that, herself. The vampire venom, initially makes her feel like she truly is strong. And when she finally overcomes this addiction, that’s where we’re going to see her true strength as both a shadowhunter and a person. Something that people often forget about addiction is that there is no cure for addiction. Once you’re addicted to something, a part of you is always going to crave it. You have to wake up every single day knowing you’re going to have to fight that battle. To find the will to say no. Every single day until you die. And that’s what’s in store for Izzy’s character. She’s not going to be cured of her craving for vampire venom. She’s going to find the strength to wake up every morning and say no. And that’s the character I’m excited to see and I look forward to seeing her journey to recovery. I like that we’re getting more dimensions to Izzy and that’s why I don’t think this plot point is trash. The execution of it has been a little weird at times and I refuse to call this addiction a yin fen addiction because what she’s addicted to is not yin fen – it’s vampire venom – but I do enjoy what we’re getting at the heart of this plot. Development on who Izzy is as a person, deep down. A lot of people were very quick to trash Izzy in this episode on how easily she succumbed to her addiction when face to face with the vampires and it very nearly resulted in Simon’s death. Me personally, I felt that it was very important that this scene existed. Earlier on in the episode, Simon wanted to recommend certain addiction meetings that Izzy might want to attend to help her deal with her addiction. Izzy completely shoots him down because that’s what anyone who has an addiction initially does. They don’t want to admit that they might need help and it’s very consistent with the Izzy we’ve been seeing. She’s dealing with her issues of not being strong enough so the last thing she wants to admit is that she isn’t actually strong enough to deal with this and she needs help. But in this scene, she realizes that Simon very nearly died because she was so desperate for a hit. Her addiction was hindering her ability to do her job and someone she cared about almost died as a result. She realized in that moment, that she does need help and asks Simon to refer her to one of those meetings. The first step to recovery is admitting that you do have a problem. As I’ve said, I’m very excited to see where this angle of the plot is going to go and I really hope Shadowhunters isn’t going to drop it and just have her miraculously cured. If that happens, I’m going to seriously have to question my decision to stick with this show until its cancellation. 

But I didn’t like everything about Sizzy this episode. The character moments of Izzy and Simon and Sizzy as a whole, was great. But I did not like that Izzy used Raphael’s sister as a way to get Raphael to stop bullying Simon. I also didn’t like that as uneasy as Simon was with the plan, he still opted to do it. Izzy is extremely family oriented. I don’t think it’s consistent with her character. Izzy is extremely protective of her own family so I don’t believe she would condone threatening someone’s family for something as small as a bullying issue. A plot like that may work with shows like The Vampire Diaries or The Originals because those characters are morally ambiguous to a certain extent but that’s not who the Shadowhunters characters are. Simon also shouldn’t have let Izzy talk him into it particularly since he’s been down that road with Raphael before. Raphael once threatened his mother. The character moments between Sizzy were great. I laughed so hard in that moment when Raphael’s sister told them that they looked good together…they really, really do. The actual plot in this episode revolving around Sizzy I just feel is very inconsistent with their characters. 

Here We Go With The Music Again

Come on, you guys must’ve known I was going to bring this up. I, of course, am referring to that fight-training sequence between Clary and Jace. Once again, we have an otherwise okay scene. They used a fight scene to exposit information which I approve of but they also used techno music in the background which I don’t necessarily approve of. And this scene was particularly bad. I think out of all of the fight-training sequences with techno music, this scene was the worst. Not in terms of fight choreography. The fight choreography between Jace and Clary was decent. The dialogue was okay. But this music messed with the tone so bad. It messed with the pacing. And it was entirely too loud. Who is in charge of mixing this show’s audio and what are they thinking? I don’t have a problem with this show using techno music in their fight scenes. If it’s done right, it could actually amp you up. The problem is the show isn’t doing it right. This scene was the worst of all of them, though. I had to really strain to hear what the actors were saying. The point of these scenes is to exposit information in a creative manner so they don’t exposit information while walking down a hallway but their use of techno music in these scenes defeats the purpose if we can’t hear the information the show is trying to exposit. The real tragedy is that Jace had a sass line that I couldn’t completely hear and it really took away the effect of the line. You know how I love it when TV Show Jace gets sassy. Well, the music was so loud that I could barely understand what he was being sassy about and it was a real shame.

I also noticed that a lot of people are raving about this scene because apparently, “the Clace chemistry was through the roof.” I don’t know. I wasn’t feeling it. There was something between them but I wasn’t really feeling anything romantic. It felt more like two friends working out. Maybe there’s something wrong with me but I just can’t bring myself to care about TV Show Clace. They make absolutely no sense to me as a couple. TV Show Sizzy makes sense. TV Show Malec makes sense. TV Show Climon makes sense. Even TV Show Rizzy makes sense. But TV Show Clace? I got nothing. I’m in my late 20s. I need a little more foundation than two attractive people being breathless around each other in order to call it chemistry. For me, they were breathless because they were swinging metal swords around. But whatever. TV Show Clace is just something I have to tolerate. It may never make sense to me. There are just some couples you can’t ship no matter how hard a show tries to make you ship them. And trust me, Shadowhunters with their promos are trying SO hard to make the fandom ship them. Here’s an idea, how about you spend some actual time developing why these characters care about each other instead of saying, “Ship them because the plot dictates you need to ship them.” As always, my offer still stands for anyone to explain to me why they ship them. And that’s not any sort of derogatory dig into your choice of ships. I really want to know why you ship them.

Just like with Mea Maxima Culpa, this was a perfectly decent episode. There were some nice character moments; some nice ideas for plots that just continues to fall flat. Pretty much the standard for a Shadowhunters episode. I’d probably give this episode a B-. I kind of sort of liked it. I am intrigued to find out what’s going to happen in future episodes. I just hope Shadowhunters can break their streak of being underwhelming with how they execute their plots. For the most part, their plot points are interesting ideas; the show just doesn’t commit to them.

That’s about all I have. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this episode. Did you love it? Did you hate it? Do you agree? Do you disagree? Just remember to be respectful of everyone’s opinions even if you don’t agree with them. never make

[osaywat]

The Money Conundrum

The world of cost, price, and sales in video games.

Cost and price are two different ways to approach the understanding of value, which is fundamental for every product or service. Cost is the monetary expense that a business goes through to make what they offer, whereas price is the amount the customer pays for it; the difference here being price needs to go over what has been spent in order to provide room for revenue. For example: if it takes you $5 to produce something, price should be around $8 or higher in order for you to become financially resourceful, your price should be above that to foresee profit – continuously finding ways to grow that income over time.

Game developers must factor costs when setting up price, even though if the gamer is the one that ultimately chooses  pay for it or not. Choice determined by the customer’s perceived value, which means it makes sense to them as long as they think it’s worth it, and unlike businesses – cost is invisible for them, they measure things up accordingly to their own cost of living.  

Sadly, most gamers don’t have experiential knowledge once it comes to game development costs, if anything, they might be more familiar with retail costs instead: rent, utilities, distribution. Translating these to a digital purchase, very few would have some hands on experience on the costs of licensing, software, equipment among many other monetary nuisances. Unfortunately, this decreases the organic potential to understand value as its stands for indie game development, making indies become more immersed in trying to match up gamers cost of living than salvaging their own fixed costs, eventually forcing them to a painful sudden bankruptcy when costs not being covered then become debt.

Then you run into articles like PC Gamer’s - How much should games cost?, fair effort pooling together data to pose a question, but incredibly misguided in switching interchangeable the word cost with price. The entire article is based on price analysis without interjecting any cost variable or purchase value, presenting price only as a purchase trend. This perpetuates the notion that it doesn’t matter what you spend doing something, you need to tune in to the plethora of price range otherwise you won’t get anywhere. Thinking like this is what creates unrealistic and unhealthy practices for indie developers to measure up, not to mention to survive as a small business.

We often find pieces like this all over, with too much info and very little knowledge perpetuating misguided perceptions that are already affecting the gaming industry. From post-mortems that read as Skype chats to journalists hoarding data on subjects they have no expertise, these ideas become published and uninformed developers see their fears validated, continuing on foul business choices. It is vital to learn basics of economics such as production, inflation, market growth; just as it is paramount to know what cost, capital, revenue and all those pesky words mean before you decide to dissect them.

If we are to define how much games should cost, then we would be talking about proposing business models that would incentive and assist cut costs to developers. Unfortunately, while the perceived value in price would determine if someone would buy it or not, it does very little for how much it takes to make video game development happen.

Truth is, there has been barely an increase in the selling price to the public, yet next to no significant variation when it comes to actual industry salary (in case you didn’t know, well now you do); however, costs of licenses, software, technology, and all around development budget needs, continues to increase accordingly to life costs - economic values factor in, and of course, set up the bar. As I mentioned previously, if the way you understand your price does not subside your cost, then you run into debt while you need to provide revenue instead.

People complain about games being overpriced, incomplete, and whatever else - yet, this industry continues on with old fashioned models for production, a below average means of funding, and incoherent business practices which obviously results in: no developer understanding compromise or responsibility on delivery - it will be done whenever it will, five year development on one year budgets, abandoned projects, illogical overtime work hours - working 3 days for maybe 1/3 of that in payment, under paid skills - even PR in gaming is paid much less than in any other industry I know of, and overflow of unhappy players. Among many other things that I’m sure I forget to include.

There are a plethora of things to point out when it comes to cost and content woes in the industry that people don’t seem to want to talk about, at all. It’s just better to apologize irresponsible publishing deadlines, blame gamers when they grow upset at studios doing shady DLC to justify costs undercuts, and apparently debate whether price is right or not – regardless of finding meaning to what value should be. It is important to educate developers in business practices so it scales down to gamers, the better tools we provide to developers, the better gaming experiences there will be. Most developers do not know how to understand their own value, let alone their costs – so it is paramount to open conversations that promote a need for learning, rather than divide and perpetuate detrimental ideas that destroys indie studios.

Another key point from PC Gamer’s - How much should games cost?: “Big price cuts during sales don’t devalue games” when price cuts off into your cost, it doesn’t matter if you manage to sell twice as much as you did with the original price, you are still getting less than what you need. Reason why most developers feel nothing but disappointment in thinking all they have to do is just mass promote through bundles to get by - you are still barely covering what you have already spent, let alone any future money for any new game.

So thinking getting picked up for sales is a saving grace, if your price was set up to $5, but you do every single seasonal promotion  - virtually speaking, your game spends more time being $2 than $5, you already undercut your cost whether you admit it to yourself or not - mistake most indie developers make in their first year of publishing. Do not undervalue your own game sooner than it has to; meaning, sales should not be your one and only sales strategy.

To put it bluntly - If you spent 150k in crowdfunding / development, it actually means your sales plan need to cover about 150k before any penny is actually considered revenue; all of this considering this is done in similar time frames - 150k in a year, is not the same as 150k in 5 years, it actually means less over time. Then people wonder why studios go out of business, or why others do crazy things like selling games for $60 yet having a shell of an experience with excess of DLC links to access content. Everyone gets blinded with numbers, yet nobody seems to care about time, most funding would withstand time through barely a year because inflation happens, other economic factors will increase costs for everything - even your rent.

Sales are fantastic, but not for the reasons developers seem to think they are. Organically, most studios do publishing platforms: they cover up PC and Mac, and eventually move to console, or the other way around; the idea is to continue to expand market, having already invested in development and publishing, at this point these options can translate to growth to earn more data that can potentially results into sales. Games drop in price over time because value becomes perceived different according to economic values; depending on time and demand, it can be just few months to maybe a year – reason why discounts are not to be taken as the canon advertisement or marketing tool. Discounts are excellent to introduce new content, retain existing customers; but still a short term strategy to drive traffic, monetize inventory – not to put a band aid on costs that have not been met via regular marketing.

All needs to go at the same pace, you can’t fall behind production costs, you can’t expect to keep a status quo in price yet lie to people to cover up your overblown costs. Desperation is hard to sell, and while gamers expect more for less - money won’t make a difference to that, discipline and accountability for business choices will.

Wall of text by an frustrated and exhausted Say

[gabriellakirtonblog]

How to Turn a Complimentary Personal Training Session into a Long-Term Client

If you work in a commercial gym, there’s a good chance your company offers complimentary personal training sessions to new members. (Or trial members, or disgruntled members, or random members who win a raffle …)

And if you’re one of the gym’s less experienced trainers, you end up conducting a lot of those free sessions.

Which is great for you. Whether you’re new to the fitness industry or an experienced trainer, complimentary personal training sessions are an incredibly effective tool to promote your services and fill your client roster.

But it’s not easy. You’re taking someone you’ve just met through a sample workout, with the goal of getting them to sign up for paid sessions more or less on the spot.

To pull it off, you need to take advantage of every opportunity to make a great impression before, during, and after the complimentary session. Here’s how to put yourself in the best possible position to land a new client.

What to do before the complimentary session

It’s natural to assume the most important part of the complimentary session is the workout. It’s what they signed up for, after all. But if you aren’t properly prepared, you may lose the sale before you even get the chance to show the prospect what you have to offer.

Give some thought to the following before you meet with your prospect.

Make a good first impression

If you need to contact your prospect to book the session, call during business hours. Write your introduction out in advance so you don’t stumble:

“Hi [prospect’s name]. This is [your name] at [gym name]. I understand you’re interested in a complimentary personal training session, and I’m calling to set that up.”

Make sure you sit up straight when you call, as you would if this were a face-to-face job interview. (Or, even better, stand up while you talk.)

Confirm the appointment

There’s a nonzero chance the prospect will forget all about the session, even if they booked it within the past few days. Confirming the session the day before will reduce the risk of a late cancellation or no-show.

Send a simple email or text like this:

“Hi [prospect’s name]. This is [your name] at [gym name]. This is a friendly reminder that we’re meeting tomorrow at [time]. Don’t forget to bring a towel and water bottle. See you then!”

READ ALSO: First Day as a Personal Trainer? Here’s What You Need to Know

Plan your session

You probably won’t know much about the prospect’s health, fitness, or training experience before you meet and start working together. Nor will you know a lot about what they’re looking to achieve.

So anything you plan is subject to change if they can’t do a movement, or if they’re more or less advanced than you anticipated. That’s on top of the everyday challenge of working around equipment availability in a crowded gym.

Keep in mind that your complimentary session doesn’t have to be a full workout. I like to give a prospect just enough to pique their interest. For example, I might take them through one or two rounds of a strength circuit—enough to work up a sweat and feel their muscles working. Then I end the session.

It’s better to give them a taste and leave them wanting more, rather than push them too far and make them wish for less.

The flow of the workout also matters. You want smooth transitions from one exercise to the next, especially for a client who’s older, heavier, or has injuries or movement limitations.

A simple way to organize your exercises is with an ascending or descending sequence. For example, you could go from a floor-based exercise to tall kneeling and then to standing. Or do the opposite—standing to tall kneeling to floor-based.

Finally, think about the training environment. If you know the prospect is an overweight female who’s never worked out before, you could plan to work out in a quieter area of your gym, where the client is less likely to feel self-conscious.

Conversely, if the prospect is a young male who wants to get bigger and stronger, you want to plant yourselves in the middle of the free-weight section, where he can get inspired by people doing what he’s most interested in.

Give yourself more time than you think you need

Learn from my mistake: Don’t sandwich a complimentary session between paying clients.

You need to give yourself at least 15 extra minutes at the end of the free session to answer the prospect’s questions and have a relaxed conversation about what training options work best for them.

READ ALSO: How Do I Get More Personal Training Clients?

What to do during the complimentary session

Let’s begin with the obvious: Don’t make a prospect do things they hate. Ask before the workout begins if any exercises cause pain or make them feel uncomfortable.

Don’t worry about why they hate running, or what underlying issues make their knees hurt when they do lunges. Just don’t have them run or do lunges.

The same applies to their goals. They may have completely unrealistic ideas about how fast they can lose weight or gain muscle, or how much work they’ll need to put in. Bite your lip and focus on getting them started in the right direction.

Once they commit to training with you and you establish some trust, you can gently work to reshape their goals and expectations.

Sell the benefits

Connect your program to the prospect’s goals throughout the session.

If the prospect wants to lose weight, for example, it’s not enough to say how your program will help them achieve it. Plant a vision in their mind of what life will be like with a lighter, leaner, stronger body: more energy, better sleep, healthier joints …

Make them feel welcome

The gym can be an intimidating place to a newbie. Just showing up for this complimentary session may have taken more courage than you can imagine. If you can make the gym a friendly, inviting place for someone who’s new to training, it’ll be a lot easier to make them comfortable with you as their trainer.

A couple of quick introductions can go a long way. When the opportunity presents itself, introduce them to a fellow trainer or a client who happens to be on the gym floor. Give them a sense of the gym’s culture and community and how easy it is to fit in.

READ ALSO: The Best Exercises and Workouts for Complete Beginners

Rise to the occasion

Now is the time to put your best self on display. Whatever you normally do for your clients, do that plus a little more. Make more eye contact, listen with more empathy, explain exercises with more clarity, move with more purpose and energy.

Resist the urge to think ahead and start formulating your sales pitch. The prospect’s experience with you right here, right now is what matters most.

Be the coach they never had

Keep your coaching cues clear and succinct, and don’t cue every rep, as this only reduces their impact.

When appropriate, use tactile cues to help the prospect set up for an exercise. Just ask for permission before you touch them (“Is it okay if I put my hand on your back to show where you should feel it?”). Then watch their body language to make sure they’re comfortable with it.

Don’t overdo it, though. Your prospect probably hasn’t had any hands-on coaching before, which means a couple of simple cues add a disproportionate amount of value.

Use downtime productively

A deconditioned prospect might need longer breaks between sets. That gives you an excellent opportunity to talk about your prospect’s lifestyle and diet, and show how the value of working with you goes beyond what you do together in the gym.

But don’t overload the prospect with information or advice. Modify your language to meet them where they are, and pay close attention to how they react. Too much talking can be counterproductive if it annoys or confuses them. And keep any strong opinions you have to a minimum. This isn’t the time or place to start an argument about the prospect’s nutrition beliefs.

READ ALSO: Personal Trainer Nutrition Guidance 101

How to close the sale after the complimentary session

You’ve gotten to the end of your complimentary session, and it’s crucial to go for the sale. If the thought of selling fills you with anxiety, you’re not alone. Even some experienced trainers dread this part of the process.

Think of it this way: You’ve been selling from the moment you first spoke to your prospect. You were selling during the workout, and you’re selling now. Asking the prospect to become your client is just the logical endpoint of what you’ve been doing all along.

Some clients will make it easy. They’ll either make it clear they have no interest in becoming a client, or they’ll ask how much you charge before you start your pitch.

Most often, though, you’ll have to guide them to the sale. Keep two things in mind:

The prospect expects a sales pitch.

The prospect has probably decided whether or not they want to train with you.

To get the client to reveal that decision, ask two straightforward questions:

“What did you think of the session? Did you enjoy it?”

“Would you like to continue training with me?”

If the responses are positive, you’re almost there. Move to an office or conference room where you can discuss training packages without interruption.

Prescribe, don’t sell

Think about your training service the way a doctor thinks about medicine. Most of the time, after examining the patient, you prescribe a solution.

You’ve spent the past hour listening to and observing the client. You’ve discussed their goals and training history. You’ve taken them through a sample of your training program, and drawn some conclusions about their fitness level and movement ability. Who better than you to prescribe the best training plan?

If you have a fixed fee for your training sessions, make a simple, direct proposal like this:

“Based on your goal of losing 20 pounds and reducing pain in your lower back, I recommend working out four times week—twice with me, and twice on your own, following a custom program I design for you. How does that sound?”

If you offer packages of training sessions, with a lower price per session for a longer commitment by the client, pitch that. Finish by asking, “Which package would suit you best?”

Note the assumptive language. You’re not asking if the prospect would like to purchase training. You’re asking them to choose which one they prefer.

Once you make your proposal, stop talking. Don’t open your mouth again until your prospect responds.

READ ALSO: How to Sell Personal Training in Five Steps

What to do if the prospect objects

I’m sure you’ve been on the receiving end of one of these three common objections:

“I would love to continue with you, but I can’t afford it right now.”

“It’s just not a good time for me to make a commitment.”

“Thanks for your help, but I’ll have to think about it.”

Notice what the client didn’t say. They didn’t say no. They didn’t close the door. They’re asking for more time, more information, and more space to mull it over. If you throw the towel in as soon as the prospect objects, you’re probably giving up on a sale.

The most effective way to work around an objection, in my experience, is to isolate it, with the goal of discovering the true barrier to their decision.

If the objection is based on cost:

Begin with empathy:

“I completely understand. Personal training is a premium service, and it certainly isn’t an investment you can take lightly.”

But just because the prospect says it’s a money problem doesn’t mean that’s the whole story:

“Just to clarify, if we put the cost of training aside for a moment, and imagine it’s not an issue, would you continue with training?”

If they say yes, they would purchase training if not for the cost, you can offer a few more options. Keep in mind that the prospect wouldn’t be in the room with you if they have no discretionary funds. Your goal now is to figure out what they can afford.

Maybe they train with you once a week, or once every two weeks, and do the other workouts on their own. Or maybe they pay you for program design and instruction on how to do the exercises, but do all the workouts independently.

The one option you don’t offer is a lower price. It’s a statement of your value, and it should only go up as you gain more experience.

If the objection is based on time:

As you did with cost, you need to find out if lack of time is a legitimate concern, or if it’s a smokescreen for something else. Ask a question like this:

“Just to clarify, if we put the issue of time aside for a moment, did you enjoy the session, and do you think training with me would help you achieve your goals?”

If your prospect says yes, they would train with you if they had the time, ask a few questions to understand why they don’t think they have time to train, and how they might be able to make more room in their schedule.

Keep in mind, as you did with the cost objection, that the prospect wouldn’t be talking to you if they didn’t want to pursue some kind of training program. It’s just a matter of figuring out how to make it work.

If they say they need to think about it:

Begin with a simple question:

“If you don’t mind me asking, what do you need to think about?”

Maybe there’s another decision-maker they need to consult. Maybe they need to crunch some numbers to see what they can afford, or look at their calendar to figure out a training schedule. Ask when you should follow up, and leave it there.

Or maybe what they’re really saying is, “I have the time. I have the money. What I don’t have is confidence that what you offer is what I need to reach my goals.” In that case, ask what you can do to gain the client’s trust.

What if you don’t make the sale?

Don’t be too hard on yourself. Even the best trainers can’t sell their services to everyone who walks in the door. Here’s what you should do now:

Create a record of your prospect’s training goals and contact details.

Set a reminder in your calendar to follow up in six to eight weeks.

You aren’t sending them a new sales pitch every two months. Just send them something of value related to their goals, like a link to an article or podcast. Make sure your email signature includes links to the social media you use most, like your Instagram page or a free Facebook group. Don’t expect anything in return, not even a response to the message.

Your goal is to show you’re thinking of them, and to ensure they’ll think of you when they’re ready to hire a trainer.

Who’s a more logical choice than the person who helps them reach their goals without getting paid for it?

        Ready to Start Your Personal Training Career?

Starting your career isn’t complicated. All you need is for someone to pay you to train them.

But how do you get that first client? What do you need to know? Where do you want to work, and how do you get hired?

If your answer to any of those questions is “I don’t know,” you need The Wealthy Fit Pro’s Guide to Starting Your Career, the ultimate launching pad for ambitious personal trainers.

Jonathan Goodman will show you how to …

Land the perfect job for you (pg. 17)

Attract more clients (pg. 95)

Keep more clients (pg. 55)

Get even more clients through a foolproof referral system (pg. 115)

Learn the no-fail secret to motivating clients (pg. 61)

Set yourself apart with programs your clients will brag about (pg. 71)

Master marketing skills that open up new income opportunities (pg. 152)

Become the best trainer you can be (pg. 46)

If you’re just beginning your journey in the fitness industry (or know someone who is), you won’t find a more authoritative or comprehensive resource.

Order this book in paperback today and get the audiobook and ebook 100% free (a $40 value).

It all starts by clicking here: The Wealthy Fit Pro’s Guide to Starting Your Career

  The post How to Turn a Complimentary Personal Training Session into a Long-Term Client appeared first on The PTDC.

How to Turn a Complimentary Personal Training Session into a Long-Term Client published first on https://onezeroonesarms.tumblr.com/

[ministrynuggets-blog]

Developing Spiritually Mature Temperaments

How to Be a Spiritually Mature Sanguine Husband or Wife

1. Stick to moral principles––one man, one wife!

2. Walk in the Spirit in your thought life: “...make not provision for the flesh...” (Romans 13:14). If a sanguine indulges in immoral fantasies he will soon fan his passions out of control.

3. Encourage your wife to be expressive. A loving, responsive and affectionate wife who freely lets her husband know how much she enjoys his love will keep many men.

4. His wife must be the sole object of his exuberant affection. He must avoid flirtations and flattery of other women (thereby reassuring his own wife and other women’s husbands). He should concentrate on bringing joy and fulfilment to his wife.

5. Talk less and listen more––God gave you two ears and one mouth––be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger. See the pitfalls of exaggeration, and try not to exaggerate.

6. Put away self-centredness. Most sanguines tend to be self-centred and self absorbed––they often do not remember people, their names and other details about them.

7. Carry a personal notebook so you jot down important things like dates, addresses, events etc.

8. Spend time if you must, with people who are a positive influence, and who will challenge you to grow as a Christian.

9. Practise being a good listener––do not interrupt or finish people’s sentences for them. Do not plot your sentence when others are speaking.

10. Focus on your heart––“...out of it (the heart) are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). A good heart will lead you to good places.

11. Use your personal popularity to promote good. For example, by engaging in witnessing and interaction.

12. Spread your creativity––at special events at church and for others.

13. Reach out to the lonely––you are a natural people person.

How to Be a Spiritually Mature Choleric Husband or Wife

1. Ask yourself what makes you want to take control.

2. Don’t think you know it all––only God does.

3. Be humble.

4. Learn to relax and know that the most important things in life are not just work and achievement but family, spouse, and people––make time for them and demonstrate love.

5. Acknowledge the truth that you are not in control of the universe––let God be God.

6. Realize that you are not naturally a people-person and make a conscious decision to work on that weakness.

7. Learn not to force your advice and opinion on people.

8. Feel free to let others be right sometimes.

9. Watch your tongue and try to be loving.

10. Be courageous, provide leadership, crusade for a good cause, stay productive, remain open and honest for these are your strengths.

11. Learn to forgive––vengeance is the Lord’s.

12. Show love and compassion.

13. Understand that many people are not as self-sufficient as you are. Others harbour doubts, unlike the choleric. He must therefore patiently show kindness and encourage his wife in lovemaking and she will be a better performer.

14. You must often give your spouse approval, love and acceptance.

15. You must develop tenderness and affection for your wife and children. The choleric must learn to say , “I love you” frequently and show his wife constantly that he is proud of her.

16. Eliminate sarcasm. Disrespectful, unkind and resentful words from you will turn your wife off.

17. You must be aware of the fact that the threat of an instant choleric explosion prevents your wife from expressing her real emotions to you. This is a hindrance to your love life.

18. The choleric wife must also walk in the spirit so as to conquer her hot temper and sarcastic tongue.

19. She must develop her emotional capability to show love and affection; recognizing that the more she expresses love, the easier it will come.

20. She must learn forgiveness especially for her father––no woman can fully enjoy her husband if she harbours hatred or anger toward her father.

21. Strong-minded, opinionated, often willful choleric wives may vent their frustration and anger on their husbands and stifle their expressions of love.

22. A choleric woman may have this problem because she resisted her father’s affections as a little girl.

23. Not realizing why she was rejected by her father, the choleric girl may increasingly withdraw from her father and refuse to show any normal expressions of emotion toward her father. This will encourage a growing resentment toward men.

24. She must avoid heaping sarcasm, criticism and ridicule on her husband in the area of sex.

25. Cholerics exude such self-confidence that without saying anything, people naturally feel inadequate. The choleric wife therefore needs to let her husband know how much she values him as a man and a lover––she must express appreciation for the masculinity of her man.

How to Be a Spiritually Mature Melancholic Husband or Wife

1. Lower your standards––we live in an imperfect world where things don’t always turn out as you plan. Learn to accept imperfection from yourself and especially from your wife and children. This will liberate you from the bondage of perfectionism.

2. Cultivate a heart of grace and mercy; consider the beam in your own eye when you get absorbed by the speck of others.

3. Develop your sense of humour.

4. Make a conscious effort to overcome depression. That is:

i. Meditate on God’s Word and pray daily (Psalm 119:27-28).

ii. Count your blessings (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

iii. Ponder on truths about who you are in Christ and believe them (Romans 8:17).

iv. Set yourself free––make a conscious effort to forgive those who have offended you. Forgiving doesn’t make them right but it sets you free (Matthew 6:12-15).

v. Stop, and look for the silver lining in the gray cloud––choose to focus your attention on what’s right in the world rather than what’s wrong (Philippians 4:6-8).

vi. Realize that depression is frequently biochemical; seek medication if you have to.

5. Be realistic––let go of unrealistic expectations. They only lead to disappointment, bitterness and anger. This is an imperfect world filled with imperfect people (Romans 3:23).

6. Concern yourself with the needs of others and not just yours.

7. Give unconditional love and not rewarded love.

8. Avoid critical and pessimistic attitudes which are two of your biggest problems. This causes you to become frequently disillusioned when things and people including your spouse don’t measure up.

9. Maintain a positive and wholesome thought life by thinking good things and giving thanks in everything.

10. Encourage your spouse with verbal assurances of love and approval.

11. The melancholic wife needs to have a vital relationship with Jesus Christ so that she may enjoy the love, peace and joy He gives, to make her an effective person.

12. Maintain a thankful attitude instead of thinking negatively and being critical so that you will have a happier outlook on life and enjoy more fruitful relationships. You must accept your husband as he is allowing God to make the needed changes. Your submission to him must not depend on his behaviour but on your obedience to Christ.

13. Forget about yourself and love your husband unconditionally so that you will reap a harvest of love in return.

14. You must learn the lesson of forgiveness.

How to Be a Spiritually Mature Phlegmatic Husband or Wife

1. Recognize that your unflinching behaviour can be a form of control for others because once the phlegmatic finds out he can upset others by his refusal to get enthused, he will use this ability as a quiet form of control and chuckle at the antics others go through trying to elicit excitement from him.

2. Recognize sluggishness as laziness and overcome it with hard work.

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

Proverbs 6:6

For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.

2 Thessalonians 3:10-12

3. Find ways to motivate yourself.

4. Actively seek to comfort those around you. It’s an incredible gift you have. Don’t allow your lack of motivation to drown this.

5. Translate your thoughts into actions.

6. Enhance your note-writing and card-sending ministry.

7. Persevere in maintaining old friendships because you’re good at that.

8. Be a peacemaker––use your mediation skills.

9. You must accept Christ and acknowledge that you are a sinner; a fact many phlegmatics find difficult to acknowledge.

10. You must walk in the spirit each day so as to gain motivation to overcome your passivity, selfishness, and fears; then you can become an exciting lover.1

Notes

1. Beverly LaHaye, The Spirit-Controlled Woman (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 1995), 195; Tim LaHaye, Spirit-Controlled Temperament (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House, 1993), 213, 231 - 51; Tim LaHaye, Opposites Atrract (Eastbourne: Kingsway Publications, 2000), 107

by Dag Heward-Mills

[courtneytincher]

Moon Jae-in's Dream: Korean Unification by 2045

Nobody can accuse Moon Jae-in of thinking small.  Within a year of taking office, the South Korean president decided to use his considerable political capital and domestic political support to begin a comprehensive rapprochement with his fellow Koreans in the North.  Kim Jong-un, the dictator who was testing intercontinental ballistic missiles as recently as the fall of 2017, sensed an opportunity to perhaps split the U.S.-South Korea Alliance and was intrigued by the policy.  And in less than a year, Kim and Moon would meet for three summits—the last one, in September 2018, resulting in a detailed demilitarization accord which sought to lower tensions along the Demilitarized Zone, regularizing bilateral contact, and pave the way for more serious discussions.2019 hasn’t been as hopeful. Inter-Korean talks have ground to a halt since President Donald Trump and Kim walked away from Hanoi in February without even a cursory joint statement. Nowadays, it’s more likely for officials in Pyongyang to scold the South for acting as an American stooge. Agreements that were inked last year are in purgatory, with a joint military commission in limbo and joint excavation projects on hold. Moon Jae-in’s judgment is increasingly being questioned from all directions. Chosun Ilbo ran an editorial in early August suggesting Moon may have lost his mind. The Korea JoongAng Daily wasn’t much kinder to Moon’s North Korea policy: “Seoul has itself to be blamed for the current pitiful situation...Because Seoul posed as an eager go-between [between the U.S. and the North], its role naturally became meaningless once the two hit it off.”Moon, however, remains a full believer in what has been described in shorthand as the “sunshine policy”—that you will get a lot more from the Kim regime by finding avenues of cooperation than by isolation.  This is a man who, after all, served as President Roh Moo-hyun’s top staffer, the major proponent of the sunshine policy and the architect of the second only inter-Korean summit since the end of the Korean War.  No amount of badgering from the editorialists or bad-mouthing from the political opposition is powerful enough to extinguish Moon’s hopes for the future.His August 15 speech commemorating the liberation of the Korean Peninsula from Japan was quintessential Moon Jae-in: full of hopeful rhetoric, wrapped with a touch of defiance about why his approach to the North will pay off over the long-term.  Moon is as committed to establishing a durable peace on the Korean Peninsula through bold economic integration as he has ever been.  “[W]e aim to establish a peace economy in which prosperity is achieved through peace and also complete our liberation through the unification of the Peninsula,” Moon remarked.  The final goal: one Korea by 2045.In Moon’s view, unification is not only possible but desirable.  “Once the Korean Peninsula is unified, it is expected to become one of the six largest economies in the world,” the South Korean president predicted. As soon as a single Korean nation is formed, businesses that once shunned North Korea or avoided it due to the intricate web of U.S. and U.N. Security Council sanctions will reassess and pour in investment.  Peace will hover over the Korean Peninsula like a sunny day hovers over the state of California. North Koreans will cease to be North Koreans and will instead become Koreans—citizens of a historically proud, politically unified, financial behemoth that could overtake Japan as East Asia’s economic powerhouse.  None of this is possible, however, if the spirit of constructive dialogue that prevailed last year is overtaken by paranoia, hostility, and pessimism.  What Moon was communicating in his address was the same message he has staked his political career on—shutting the book on nearly 70 years of Korean division.Today, of course, any talk of Korean unification is the stuff of fairytales. It’s as close to a mirage in the desert as you will find in global politics, about as likely as Iran and Saudi Arabia making nice or China allowing Taiwan to declare independence. Whether Moon wants to admit it or not, Korean unification is not as easy as turning on a lightbulb or willing it into existence through positive thoughts. In fact, the goal of one Korea won’t even be determined by the Koreans themselves; as long as Washington has a veto over Seoul’s North Korea policy and is willing to stifle the same cross-border projects the Moon administration wishes to implement, unification is not a realistic prospect.  But to rule it out completely would also be shortsighted. Crazy things have happened before. If you told a U.S. official in 1980 that the Berlin Wall would fall in less than a decade, you might have been called clinically insane. Very few people would have thought Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s 30-year dictator, would be swept from power on the back of mass protests. The same could be said of Libya’s Muammar al-Qaddafi.  And yet they did.Moon Jae-in understands Korean unity is a big lift.  He probably understands that accomplishing such a feat by 2045 is incredibly unrealistic.  But for Moon, none of this matters. What’s important is to keep the idea alive so the next generation of Korean leaders can turn the dream into a fact of life.  If Moon succeeds in doing that, all of the recent denunciations and insults that have been thrown his way may be worth it.Daniel DePetris is a fellow at Defense Priorities, a foreign policy organization focused on promoting a realistic grand strategy to ensure American security and prosperity.Image: Reuters.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines

Nobody can accuse Moon Jae-in of thinking small.  Within a year of taking office, the South Korean president decided to use his considerable political capital and domestic political support to begin a comprehensive rapprochement with his fellow Koreans in the North.  Kim Jong-un, the dictator who was testing intercontinental ballistic missiles as recently as the fall of 2017, sensed an opportunity to perhaps split the U.S.-South Korea Alliance and was intrigued by the policy.  And in less than a year, Kim and Moon would meet for three summits—the last one, in September 2018, resulting in a detailed demilitarization accord which sought to lower tensions along the Demilitarized Zone, regularizing bilateral contact, and pave the way for more serious discussions.2019 hasn’t been as hopeful. Inter-Korean talks have ground to a halt since President Donald Trump and Kim walked away from Hanoi in February without even a cursory joint statement. Nowadays, it’s more likely for officials in Pyongyang to scold the South for acting as an American stooge. Agreements that were inked last year are in purgatory, with a joint military commission in limbo and joint excavation projects on hold. Moon Jae-in’s judgment is increasingly being questioned from all directions. Chosun Ilbo ran an editorial in early August suggesting Moon may have lost his mind. The Korea JoongAng Daily wasn’t much kinder to Moon’s North Korea policy: “Seoul has itself to be blamed for the current pitiful situation...Because Seoul posed as an eager go-between [between the U.S. and the North], its role naturally became meaningless once the two hit it off.”Moon, however, remains a full believer in what has been described in shorthand as the “sunshine policy”—that you will get a lot more from the Kim regime by finding avenues of cooperation than by isolation.  This is a man who, after all, served as President Roh Moo-hyun’s top staffer, the major proponent of the sunshine policy and the architect of the second only inter-Korean summit since the end of the Korean War.  No amount of badgering from the editorialists or bad-mouthing from the political opposition is powerful enough to extinguish Moon’s hopes for the future.His August 15 speech commemorating the liberation of the Korean Peninsula from Japan was quintessential Moon Jae-in: full of hopeful rhetoric, wrapped with a touch of defiance about why his approach to the North will pay off over the long-term.  Moon is as committed to establishing a durable peace on the Korean Peninsula through bold economic integration as he has ever been.  “[W]e aim to establish a peace economy in which prosperity is achieved through peace and also complete our liberation through the unification of the Peninsula,” Moon remarked.  The final goal: one Korea by 2045.In Moon’s view, unification is not only possible but desirable.  “Once the Korean Peninsula is unified, it is expected to become one of the six largest economies in the world,” the South Korean president predicted. As soon as a single Korean nation is formed, businesses that once shunned North Korea or avoided it due to the intricate web of U.S. and U.N. Security Council sanctions will reassess and pour in investment.  Peace will hover over the Korean Peninsula like a sunny day hovers over the state of California. North Koreans will cease to be North Koreans and will instead become Koreans—citizens of a historically proud, politically unified, financial behemoth that could overtake Japan as East Asia’s economic powerhouse.  None of this is possible, however, if the spirit of constructive dialogue that prevailed last year is overtaken by paranoia, hostility, and pessimism.  What Moon was communicating in his address was the same message he has staked his political career on—shutting the book on nearly 70 years of Korean division.Today, of course, any talk of Korean unification is the stuff of fairytales. It’s as close to a mirage in the desert as you will find in global politics, about as likely as Iran and Saudi Arabia making nice or China allowing Taiwan to declare independence. Whether Moon wants to admit it or not, Korean unification is not as easy as turning on a lightbulb or willing it into existence through positive thoughts. In fact, the goal of one Korea won’t even be determined by the Koreans themselves; as long as Washington has a veto over Seoul’s North Korea policy and is willing to stifle the same cross-border projects the Moon administration wishes to implement, unification is not a realistic prospect.  But to rule it out completely would also be shortsighted. Crazy things have happened before. If you told a U.S. official in 1980 that the Berlin Wall would fall in less than a decade, you might have been called clinically insane. Very few people would have thought Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s 30-year dictator, would be swept from power on the back of mass protests. The same could be said of Libya’s Muammar al-Qaddafi.  And yet they did.Moon Jae-in understands Korean unity is a big lift.  He probably understands that accomplishing such a feat by 2045 is incredibly unrealistic.  But for Moon, none of this matters. What’s important is to keep the idea alive so the next generation of Korean leaders can turn the dream into a fact of life.  If Moon succeeds in doing that, all of the recent denunciations and insults that have been thrown his way may be worth it.Daniel DePetris is a fellow at Defense Priorities, a foreign policy organization focused on promoting a realistic grand strategy to ensure American security and prosperity.Image: Reuters.

August 15, 2019 at 03:27PM via IFTTT

[meraenthusiast]

You Are Broke Because You Root For The Underdog (S.W.A.T review)

You Are Broke Because You Root For The Underdog (S.W.A.T review)

[Editor’s Note: Today’s post is from Ryan who’s a full time police officer and personal finance blogger. Check out his blog over at ArrestYourDebt.com]

You’re broke because you root for the underdog? That’s quite a powerful assumption to make but it may actually be true. That statement serves two purposes – to get you to start thinking about money differently and to motivate you to make a positive change.

The S.W.A.T. Underdog In A Nutshell

Recently I have been watching a TV series called “S.W.A.T.” (2017 CBS TV Series) about a tactical team based out of Los Angeles, California. You may be surprised to learn that as a police officer myself, I usually avoid watching “cop shows”. Cops usually hate “cop shows” because of the ridiculous unrealistic expectations portrayed in the scenes.

**Warning – Quick Soap Box Moment**

If you have ever watched CSI, you know what I’m talking about. In a one-hour time frame, the cops can collect fingerprints and DNA from a crime scene and the lab will analyze them in about 10 minutes. The suspect is identified, the good guys catch the bad guy, and the case is closed.

Most of us hate that show because the general public now actually believes that if I collect blood from a scene, our lab will get back to us that day. In reality, if I submit blood to the lab for DNA analysis, I am lucky if I get a response within the next year. It’s painfully slow and our backlog is horrendous.

Sorry for that tangent – I’ll get off my soapbox now. Back to the point of this article.

As I watched the show S.W.A.T., I couldn’t help but identify with one of the main characters – David “Deacon” Kay.

Deacon is a senior member of a SWAT team and he quickly establishes himself as the underdog. He was recently passed over for a promotion and has his fair share of ups and downs with his wife. Since he is the only officer who is married and has children, it’s quite easy to initially identify with him.

When It Rains It Pours

In addition to workplace struggles, Deacon faces a myriad of life issues. His wife is hospitalized with seizures and his daughter is diagnosed with a heart condition. If that wasn’t enough, he finds himself facing a major plumbing repair bill of about $14,000 dollars.

Deacon is thrust into a position many of us have faced. He has more bills than money which causes him to start picking up overtime and a side gig. Rather than rolling over and admitting defeat, Deacon does everything in his power to provide for his family.

He does everything except actually set his family up for financial success. Living paycheck to paycheck has put his family in a financial mess.

Even with this extra cash coming in, it’s not enough to pay for the necessary heart surgery his daughter requires. Due to this, he makes a deal with a loan shark in order to get the money he desperately needs. As you can imagine, his life quickly begins to unravel. He’s injured on duty and can no longer work overtime or his extra job which puts him in a bad position to pay back all his bills – and the loan shark.

Cops Suck With Money [and most other people do also]

As a police officer, I know all too well how the cop mentality works. We spend 40+ hours a week fixing everyone’s problems. When we show up at a chaotic scene, we take control by any means necessary. If we don’t take control of a violent situation, people get hurt.

The police profession is filled with type “A” personalities, yet most of us are terrible with our money. You would think that control freaks, [cops] would have a structured plan in place in every aspect of their lives. The truth is, many times the only structure a cop has is at work.

Perhaps the general public is in a similar situation. People spend all their time and energy at work and when they get home, they don’t want to make any more decisions. They take control at work and don’t have the energy to take control when they get home.

We Don’t Expect To Win With Money – Why The Underdog Mentality Makes Us Losers

While Deacon’s circumstances may be a bit extreme, he’s very easy to relate with. He faces insurmountable odds and we are sympathetic towards people like him. Often we’re the “Deacon” in our own personal life. We want to succeed and win with money, but if we don’t we are not surprised.

The world tells us that it’s not our fault if we struggle financially and change may be out of our control. Our society constantly talks about the “Evil 1%” and how they control all the money. It’s almost unrealistic for us to expect to get our finances in order and build wealth because the odds seem to be stacked against us.

The Underdog Is The Natural Loser

This is where the underdog mentality comes into play. If we self identify with the underdog, we feel that we are up against insurmountable odds and if we beat them great, but if not, there was nothing we could do about it.

The underdog is someone who is never actually expected to win. That’s why it’s so great to root for them. Unexpected results are exciting compared to the status quo of daily life. However, when the underdog actually wins, the unexpected result naturally makes us happy.

“Schadenfreude” Keeps You Broke

“Schadenfreude” is a new word I learned for this article. Don’t ask me to pronounce it because I would probably get it wrong but it is an interesting concept. Schadenfreude is a concept that means we secretly or unconsciously take pleasure in seeing others fail.

For instance, many people do not like the New England Patriot’s because they’ve won so many Superbowls. People root against them simply because they win so often. If we look at this phenomenon from a financial point of view, we can often sabotage ourselves by being envious of others.

Rather than celebrating with those who have financial success, we can find ourselves secretly envious and wishing we were the successful ones rather than them. As bad as it sounds, we don’t always feel bad when rich people end up broke.

Instead of learning from other’s successes, finding ways to emulate them and to improve on what they’re doing, we tend to hope for their failure. It’s the mentality of dragging others down with us rather than climbing to the top with them.

Changing Our Financial Mindset To Finally Achieve Success

Without going into the controversies with the team, the Patriots constantly win because they have set themselves up for success. They recruit some of the best players and the team plays to win. The Patriots focus on what works and ignore what doesn’t. Each member of the team expect to win and they’re convinced they’ll be successful.

The team constantly reviews footage of prior games and they focus on what works. They build upon their successes and try to improve on what worked in the past.

Often the teams that are constantly losing review their video and focus on what they did wrong. While their intentions are good, focusing on what you are doing wrong doesn’t open many doors to improve on what you’re doing right.

Focus On What You Want In Order To Get It

Your focus has a tremendous impact on what you will achieve in this life. Years ago I went through bicycle training and I learned many life skills. When you ride a bike on an off-road trail, your focus determines your direction.

As you ride, there are cliffs, rocks, and other hazardous items in your way. If you stare at any one of these hazards and tell yourself to avoid it, you more than likely will run right into the rock. If you look straight ahead while you are turning, you will never make the turn – you’ll keep going where you’re focused.

To be successful when riding, you have to look through the turn. You stay focused on where you want to go rather than where you are. By starting a turn and looking way ahead at where you want to end up, you can successfully make a difficult maneuver.

Focus On Your Goals And See Yourself Achieving Them

This is so incredibly true in our financial lives. If we look straight ahead and do not clearly see the picture of where we want to end up, we can continually end up off track. If you look towards your end goal and stay focused on what you want to achieve, you can often avoid the majority of the obstacles.

You Are Not The Underdog – Identify With The Success Story

I encourage you to change your focus from an underdog mentality. Convince yourself that you are not destined to fail. Your success should not be viewed as an unexpected miracle. Give yourself the tools to be financially successful and believe in yourself. Make yourself the New England Patriots of your finances.

Make the best playbook to get out of debt and how to build wealth. Recruit the best people to cheer you on and focus on what’s working with your money rather than what’s not. Rather than beating yourself up about overspending in a certain area and focusing on what you screwed up, look at the areas you were successful in.

Focus on your successes and figure out what you can do to duplicate that success to the rest of your finances.

What Deacon Should Have Done

To tie this back into Deacon’s predicament, let’s focus on structure. We all know that life happens, and it happens when we least expect it. By setting up a personal finance structure in our life, we can actually be lazy with money because our choices are made up for us.

Deacon should have followed this personal finance structure to set his family up for success rather than failure:

Build a Budget

Save $1,500 – $2,000 For Emergencies

Attack His Debt

Have Cash Reserves For 6 Months Of Expenses

Invest 18% Of His Money For Retirement

Paid Off His Mortgage

Built Incredible Wealth

What Works For Me And How I Move Forward

I’ve built a system to set me up for financial success and I encourage you to do the same. If you have not yet created a budget for yourself, I have some great resources and tips including free budget printables to get you started.

Check out my related article: It’s Time To Budget Like A Boss! for a step by step process and your free resources.

It’s time to change your focus and your finances. You are no longer the underdog who is not expected to win. From this day forward, set your focus on what works for others and how you can emulate their success. Build a game plan that will work for your situation and equip yourself with the tools to ensure your success.

You do not need to live a life burdened by debt. It’s time you broke free from those chains and become the expected success story. I have complete faith in you that you can do this – I just need you to believe in yourself!

The post You Are Broke Because You Root For The Underdog (S.W.A.T review) appeared first on Debt Free Dr..

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[lyserod-blog1]

　Marie Claire’s March issue cover star Kaya Scodelario, MARCH, 2018.

　Open the link >>> ✿

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I put the breast pump on and was like, “Boys, you’ll have to deal with this.”

Skins’ hedonistic teen has navigated the world of Hollywood blockbusters and become a mother - all by 24. Kaya Scodelario tells us why she's always been a force to be reckoned with.

Kaya Scodelario’s performance in the recently released Maze Runner: The Death Cure is impressive. But when you consider that she had given birth to her first child just two months before filming started and was breastfeeding or pumping milk every four hours throughout 18-hour days on set, having relocated to Cape Town for three months, it starts to feel less impressive and, well, more superhuman. Not that Scodelario sees it that way at all.

‘One day I whipped my tit out and put the breast pump on and was like [to her Maze Runner co-stars Dylan O’Brien and Thomas Brodie-Sangster, “Boys, you’re going to have to deal with this,”’ she says in her north London accent, shrugging. ‘No one was weird about it. They know me well enough to know that I would have punched them if they were.’

Normalising breastfeeding was the 25-year-old’s schtick on set of the final movie in the blockbusting action trilogy, and something she often shares with her 1.4m Instagram followers. ‘I mean, you’re doing it 17 times a day – it’s bloody normal. I’m so grateful I’m able to, when many women struggle. It was very hard with the movie, but I was insistent on having a ten-minute break every four hours to pump.’

I can’t help thinking that the assertive, ambitious and outspoken artist formerly known as Effy from Skins (the cult E4 teen drama that launched a legion of British stars from Nicholas Hoult to Dev Patel), who holds her own as the female lead of a male-dominated multi-million-pound action movie franchise, is exactly what Hollywood, post #MeToo, needs.

It’s early on a crisp winter morning when we meet at a west London studio. She explains this is coincidently where she did her very first shoot, aged 14. I have to admit, she doesn’t look much older than that today; all make-up-free with hair wet from the shower, in skinny jeans, cream Nike trainers and a huge parka that threatens to swallow her up. She has just celebrated her son’s first birthday and is enjoying a bit of ‘life time’ with her husband of two years – and ‘co-parent; there are no gender stereotypes between us’ – American actor Benjamin Walker.

‘You’re breastfeeding 17 times a day – it’s bloody normal. I’m so grateful I’m able to, when many women struggle. It was very hard with the movie, but I was insistent on having a ten-minute break every four hours to pump.’

As well as filming the final Maze Runner last year, Scodelario embarked on a world tour to promote her role in the latest Pirates Of The Caribbean movie and moved the family into a rented house in Crouch End, north London. She is currently preparing for a move to Montreal, Canada, to film US indie movie Die In A Gunfight. It’s no wonder that she’s relishing feeling the ground beneath her feet and spending time with her oldest friends. Scodelario tells me that last night she met up with the ‘little writers’ group’ she gets together with once a fortnight when she’s in London.

‘It’s nice being in a room full of women, even if you’re just drinking wine and talking about EastEnders,’ she says. ‘For us, it’s a safe place where we can discuss the stories we want to tell, and feed off each other’s energy. In ten years, there has only been about two occasions [at work] where the number of women in the room has been equal to the amount of men.’

I assume her work on money-spinning blockbusters has been strategic to give her the freedom to be choosier with future roles. If only it were that simple, she says. ‘You don’t get paid anywhere near as much as people assume, especially when it’s your first franchise. There’s a set scale, so it definitely wasn’t because of finances.’

She is, however, optimistic about producing her own films in the future. ‘In 90 per cent of the scripts I read, the woman is in her underwear for no reason,’ she sighs. Certainly playing enigmatic hot mess Effy in four seasons of Skins led to ‘a lot of auditions for “the hot high-school girlfriend” and other cringey parts’. But Scodelario stood her ground, which is especially admirable when you factor in she had no prior acting experience.

‘In ten years, there has only been about two occasions [at work] where the number of women in the room has been equal to the amount of men.’

In 2007, aged just 14, she rocked up to the Skins audition on her drama teacher’s suggestion, but was so nervous she decided not to go in. She was smoking a cigarette outside the building when she was spotted by Bryan Elsley, one of the show’s creators. ‘It set the bar high to want to play interesting, layered, tortured women,’ she recalls, but says that after the show ended, ‘there was the fear of, would that be all I could do? I wasn’t trained, and I work very instinctively. I know that good scripts and good parts do exist; so now, let’s make it happen for ourselves.’

I ask if she is surprised by the revelations coming out of Hollywood post-Harvey Weinstein. ‘I’m in awe of the women who have spoken out,’ she says. ‘People are scared of doing it in an office environment, let alone on a world scale, so it’s great that we’re having the conversation. We need to keep on having it and flushing [harassment] out, so it’s not the norm.’

Although fortunate to not have experienced sexual harassment in her career, Scodelario used the #MeToo hashtag to break her silence about abuse she has suffered closer to home. ‘It’s taken me 13 years to say #MeToo,’ she bravely tweeted in October. ‘He is still protected by “family members” in Brazil. They’ve told lies to papers to try to silence me. No more. #MeToo.’

‘It was something that I’d wanted to talk about for years but I didn’t know how to,’ she explains, adding that she felt particularly vulnerable promoting Maze Runner in Brazil, when extended family members turned up at her hotel to ‘frighten and intimidate’ her.

‘I thought I was OK and, on the surface, I was because I’d survived, but I needed to regain that power,’ she says. ‘[#MeToo] felt like the right moment. I had this support from all these women I’d never met in the online community wanting to take that power back, and that’s what it was for me personally; to say, “I’m no longer afraid of you.”’

Did her mum know what had gone on? ‘It was a one-off incident and she was incredibly there for me… so I did it for her.’ Scodelario also did it for her son. ‘A lot of people say to me, “Do you play strong female roles so that little girls look up to you?” I say, “I do it so little boys will, too.” Now I’m raising a son, I want him to look up to me. Consent is a conversation I’m going to have honestly and openly with him from a very young age.’

Despite her experience, Scodelario remains vehemently proud of her heritage. An only child, she was raised in a north London council flat by her single mother, speaking Portuguese and surrounded by Brazilian culture, food and music. ‘It’s always been us two,’ she nods. She spoils her mother when she can, most recently with a trip to Doha in Qatar, where Scodelario was speaking at Ajyal Youth Film Festival.

‘It was wonderful because we used to struggle to afford Clacton-on-Sea. Now, I can take her to amazing countries on the other side of the world and she gets treated like a queen.’

I wonder if being cast in Skins affected the pair’s you-and-me-against-the-world dynamic. ‘It definitely did,’ she says. ‘I don’t want anyone to think we’ve had a perfect relationship because that’s unrealistic. I moved to Bristol and suddenly had this new group of friends and I was falling in love for the first time [with her co-star Jack O’Connell]. That’s hard for any parent, let alone a parent whose life is their child. There were a few years when it was difficult and we had to reassess our relationship.’

‘I thought I was OK and, on the surface, I was because I’d survived, but I needed to regain that power,’ she says. ‘[#MeToo] felt like the right moment. I had this support from all these women I’d never met in the online community wanting to take that power back, and that’s what it was for me personally; to say, “I’m no longer afraid of you.”’

Scodelario had left home properly by the time she was 16. ‘I rented a shitty little studio flat in Camden Town where people would get drunk and throw bottles at the window, but I loved it,’ she says. ‘It was the Effy years, for sure.’

When we meet, the ‘first generation’ of Skins (that’s Nicholas Hoult, Joe Dempsie and Hannah Murray, to name a few) have just had their annual Christmas get-together. ‘I cooked dinner this year – last year, Nick did it at his – but it ended up with the boys taking over and we just sat gossiping in the back,’ she says. ‘We’ve got a strong little group. We’re so close because we’re friends first. I don’t think I’ll ever find that on a job again.’

Scodelario is still recognised as Effy – ‘every day, every day!’ – ten years on, which isn’t surprising. Skins was both critically acclaimed and controversial, acutely observing millennial sixth-form teenagers and their antics with a rawness that was unprecedented. It wasn’t glamorous like The O.C. or worthy like Dawson’s Creek; it was daring and a little bit dirty, and no one, admits Scodelario, expected it to take off.

‘We used to struggle to afford Clacton-on-Sea. Now, I can take my Mum to amazing countries on the other side of the world and she gets treated like a queen.’

‘We were so dumb about it,’ she says with a laugh. ‘We’d go to Nando’s in a herd of about ten, then try to get into a bar despite half of us being under-age, and be shocked when people recognised us! People must have been like, “What are they doing? Is there a camera rolling?”’

She’s certainly packed a hell of a lot into her 25 years. Was Scodelario secretly yearning to settle down when she met her husband, in 2014, on the set of (yet to be released) The King’s Daughter? ‘So much of my life is unpredictable,’ she explains. ‘I can’t commit to a friend’s birthday party next week because I don’t know where I’ll be. I stress myself out about work and I want to do well… but when we fell in love, I realised what I ultimately wanted was to have that connection with someone. I didn’t want to let the opportunity pass.’

The couple were engaged after a few months of dating and married a year later. Their first kiss was on camera, so they asked the film’s producer to send them the footage to play at their wedding. If it sounds like a fairy tale and that’s because it was. A well deserved one at that.

[psychotherapyconsultants]

3 Unrealistic and Detrimental Expectations About Marriage

There’s no shortage of unrealistic expectations about marriage. Which we can pick up from our families, from friends, from fairy tales, from television and movies, from magazine articles. And these supposedly true beliefs can sabotage our relationships, creating a whole lot of misunderstanding and chipping away at our connection.

Unrealistic expectations “set up couples to fail,” said Clinton Power, a clinical relationship counsellor. “When you expect that your relationship is meant to be a certain way, and that expectation doesn’t happen, this can create feelings of anxiety, sadness, and despair.” It can spark resentment, which can ruin relationships.

Below are three unrealistic expectations—and the truths behind each one.

Unrealistic expectation: Happy couples continue to feel the same intense feelings of love. “Falling in love is often called a ‘temporary psychosis’ for the very reason that when you are ‘head over heels’ in love with another person, you are often blinded to some of their differences and quirks,” said Power, founder of Clinton Power + Associates in Sydney, Australia. You love everything about your partner, and want to be with them. All. The. Time.

There are physiological reasons for this. According to psychotherapist and relationship expert Melissa Ferrari, “Oxytocin, dopamine and serotonin dance with the sex hormones estrogen and testosterone, fueling our desire and keeping us on a ‘happy high’ of love and lust.”

But eventually, these electric effects dissipate. And what’s left are two people dealing with the reality of day-to-day life, Ferrari said. “And this is where the hard work starts.”

After the honeymoon period is over, it’s totally normal to enter a period of conflict, Power said. For instance, the quirks you once found adorable, like your partner regularly running late and losing things, are now like nails on a chalkboard. Now it’s a significant source of tension. After all, you take pride in your punctuality, and you have a penchant for organization. Which your partner keeps messing with.

The good news is that conflict isn’t inherently a problem. In fact, it’s actually an opportunity, Power said. When you’re experiencing conflict, you “learn to negotiate and manage your differences” and “how to successfully soothe one another when one or both of you are upset.”

Unrealistic expectation: Happy relationships remain the same. We assume that the person we married will remain exactly as they are, and thereby so will our relationship. This expectation might even be subconscious, but it rises to the surface in the form of surprise: Your spouse starts exploring a new career path or passion or moving away from something they used to love (and you still do), and you’re taken aback.

Maybe you even think, this isn’t the person I married. And maybe they’re not.

“[P]eople grow and change over time, and this means that the relationship changes,” Power said. He shared this example: A couple starts dating when one partner is only 19 years old. This younger partner receives a big promotion—and begins traveling more and more and spending more time at the office, building their dream career. The other partner, who’s at home, misses them and becomes increasingly bored. So they start going out more. Both partners are upset at their new reality because they feel disconnected from each other, drifting further and further apart.

“The issue is they haven’t accounted for some of the individual changes they are each going through. The relationship can’t be like it used to be, because they are different people now than they were when they first met.”

Unrealistic expectation: Partners are responsible for each other’s happiness. We tend to have expectations about what we’ll “get” from our partners, Ferrari said. And when our partner doesn’t give us what we think we should be getting, resentment emerges, and starts settling in. (“Over time, resentment can evolve into contempt, which is coined ‘the sulfuric acid of love’ because it will erode a marriage.”)

Ferrari works with many, many couples who expect their partner to meet their happiness quota. For instance, they expect their partner to yearn enough money to give them anything they want. “That places pressure on your partner to make you happy about something that you could be aspiring to yourself.”

Plus, it’s very different from trying to understand your spouse in a profound, meaningful, vulnerable way, and fulfill their unmet needs. This might look like giving your partner a big, long hug every time you come home because you know that physical touch helps them to feel loved. This might look like making it a point to thank them for their kind gestures, because you know that as a child, they regularly felt unappreciated. This might look like talking calmly through conflict because they grew up in a volatile home.

The above is about being considerate and getting to know your partner. It isn’t about doing something for them that they can do themselves. It isn’t about taking responsibility for satisfying their needs. It is about supporting them.

It is about helping them to heal past hurts, Ferrari said. Which can “help them greatly psychologically, particularly in terms of confidence, feeling loved, safe and secure…” And that is incredibly powerful.

Explore the expectations you have about relationships—about what healthy, connected marriages look like, about how you and your partner should behave, about what you should “get.” Then explore where these beliefs stem from—and whether they’re genuinely true. Because many of our expectations are not, and many of them can interfere with our relationship.

from World of Psychology https://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2017/12/14/3-unrealistic-and-detrimental-expectations-about-marriage/

[thoughtsofaghost]

Review: The Selection by Kiera Cass

Warning! Before reading any further, I did not like this book and so this is a negative review. If this book is close to your heart, please do not read this. I am well aware that everyone is entitled to their own opinions and I have nothing against anyway who enjoyed this book. 

Now, for those of you who haven't read the book yet, I am dividing this review into two parts, where the first will be free from any spoilers. So here is the spoiler-free basic summary of my review:

The story is about America Singer, the middle child of five, born into a family of artists and musicians, which falls under the caste called Five. The caste you are born in determines the sort of work you can do. There are eight castes and lower caste numbers represent families that are better off, One representing royalty. America's family are in quite a bad caste and barely have enough to get by. The demand for their services is usually low, except for around Christmas time, where they make most of their money. America lives in our world's future version of the USA, which has been renamed Illéa.

The story begins with America receiving a letter about the selection, a process for choosing the bride of Prince Maxon Screave. In this world, princesses are selected to marry princes in the royal family from amongst the common people to promote better relations between the rulers and the public. If she is selected to be his bride, her family will be heavily compensated, which is something they desperately need. Eligible citizens can fill in a form to be part of the process and one woman from each province (there are 35 of them) will be selected to meet the prince and stay at the palace, where he will get to choose which one of them he would like to marry.  America is not keen to join the selection, despite it being a chance to improve the lives of her whole family, as she's in love with her secret boyfriend, Aspen, who is a Six, and wants to marry him. This makes her come across as rather selfish, as she would rather her family continue to struggle than to potentially try to improve all of their lives. Another flaw in this book is how America and her mother act about the selection. They both assume that by America simply entering, she will be one of the 35 selected contestants. Upon first hearing about the selection, America is adamant not to enter, which doesn't add up if she felt that she didn't really have a chance of getting selected in the first place. It is only later on when Aspen convinces her to fill in the form, that she decides that she probably won't get selected anyway, as she doesn't want to be separated from him.

When the 35 women are announced, America ends up as one of the selected. She's given a list of rules she has to follow during her time in the palace, she moves in, and her family is heavily compensated for each week she spends there. At the palace, America meets Prince Maxon and realises that he is not the snob that she was expecting.  In fact, Prince Maxon comes across as a genuinely kind character. They seem to get along very well and America begins to start to feel something for him.

Now, aside from America's attitude to the selection, I also have issues with her name, along with a few others. Multiple times whilst reading this book I was drawn out of the story simply because her name seemed so ridiculous. However, that is just a minor issue and something you will eventually get past.

Another issue is the character of America herself. There are times when the author tries to make America come across as a kind character, where she cares for servants and the common public, but most of the time, America comes across as rather unlikeable. The only redeeming thing about her is her sense of humour. The book also rarely shows the hardships America has gone through being a Five. We're told that her family struggle to get by, but she still gets three meals a day and the most work we ever see America do is cooking and cleaning, which is only in the very first chapter. In contrast, Aspen struggles much more and it comes across both in the story and his character. America comes across as a little too spoilt to be someone who has been through so much hardship.

Other issues are the prince himself and the world building. Maxon comes across as a genuinely nice character. However, for a prince, he can be incredibly ignorant over things such as the caste system, and it just comes across as unrealistic. The palace also has unbelievably bad security, where rebels frequently attack it.

Overall, I do not think I will continue reading this series, as I don't like the main character and the plot of this story is not really my cup of tea. I don't care about America and I'm really not that invested in what happens to her. That being said, this is a very popular book series and if you do feel like you would be willing to give it a try, by all means, do so. Everyone has different tastes in literature and I am not here to dictate what others can and can't read.

And now for the spoilers (and possibly some ranting):

Let's start with America. This character irks me to no end! She has been given the opportunity to join the selection, which could vastly improve not only her life, but also the life of her family, and she doesn't even want to attempt to enter! I understand that she wants to be with Aspen, but her internal conflict just makes it seem as though she doesn't want to join the selection just because she thinks Prince Maxon is a snob. I really wish her thoughts had been written better to show us that she was just so torn between helping her family and being with Aspen. I would have liked her instantly. Instead, I'm already angry with her in the very first chapter! Not to mention that her mother has no doubt that America will become the next princess. I know it's in the title of the book that she will join the selection, but the characters in the story don’t know that. Even when America does decide to enter the selection it is because Aspen convinced her to and not because of her family.

America is also constantly whining through the book (I'll spare you from that) and occasionally comes across as unrelatable. An example is when Aspen calls her gorgeous.

“Please don’t call me gorgeous. First my mom, then May, now you. It’s getting on my nerves.”

I understand that when it comes from your family it can be a bit annoying due to rose tinted glasses, but has any girl ever gotten annoyed at their boyfriend calling them gorgeous? Apparently America does.

The one thing I do like about her though, is her sense of humour.

“Do you think the ability to sleep in counts as a special skill?” I asked Dad, trying to sound torn over the decision.

“Yes, list that. And don’t forget to write that you can eat an entire meal in under five minutes,” he replied. I laughed. It was true; I did tend to inhale my food.

There is an odd scene that happens when America first moves into the palace. She basically has a panic attack and rushes to get outside. The guards try to stop her and this is when she first meets Prince Maxon because plot. I don't know why it annoys me that she meets him in this way, but I would have preferred if she had met him with everyone else the next day like they were supposed to. Also, this is the only time she experiences a panic attack. Convenient. The whole scene is rather embarrassing though. Prince Maxon asks her if she is all right, which brings us this conversation:

“Are you all right, my dear?” he asked me.

“I am not your dear.” I looked up to glare at him. There would be no mistaking the disgust in my tone or eyes.

Not only is 'my dear' an acceptable term to be used by strangers who are simply being polite (consider being called love, duck or flower in the UK) but also she doesn't know this prince AT ALL. All she knows about him is that she must give into all of his requests, and that is NOT a good basis to suddenly decide it's safe to be rude to him. In fact, I think it is the exact opposite! It's lucky the prince isn't like Joffrey from game of thrones or she'd probably be sentenced to death for being rude. I know the author is trying to get across that America is independent and doesn't belong to any man, but 'my dear' is not a term of possession.

Then this happens:

“Excuse me, dear, are you going to keep crying?” he asked, sounding very put out by the thought.

“Don’t call me that! I am no more dear to you than the thirty-four other strangers you have here in your cage.”

which receives this incredibly cringe-worthy response

“That is an unfair statement. You are all dear to me. It is simply a matter of discovering who shall be the dearest.”

I can't! The cringe is too great!

America comments on his use of the word 'shall', as though it is the most sophisticated word in the world. Obviously the prince is educated to speak more formally and how America is so oblivious to this fact is incredibly frustrating. America would be THE WORST princess. She knows nothing about anything! You're a prince but why don't you talk like normal common people? It's not like you had a different education and that you are going to rule a country! I am at least grateful that later on, she apologises for her bad behaviour.

The next thing is that America's character just does not fit in this book. There are multiple times when Maxon asks her why she just doesn't leave since she hates it there so much. The story has basically led her to the point where going home would be logical, but the plot can't have that. America first comes up with the excuse that she wants to help her family, but seeing as she didn't want to join the selection for them in the first place, we know this isn't true. Even the author knows this isn't a good enough excuse because later on, her reason is because she wants to avoid seeing Aspen. I know Aspen hurt her by breaking up with her before she left, but if she truly loved him, she would do everything in her power to fix things. She's had a few days to get over the initial shock and hurt of the breakup. Now she should go back home and fight to get him back. Her just accepting things as they are does not work in her favour.

There are also multiple times when America just comes across as stupid.

Why did Mom have to push me so much? Wasn’t she happy? Didn’t she love Dad? Why wasn’t this good enough for her?

She's wondering why her mother isn't happy with the current life they have where they struggle to feed themselves and it's even mentioned that they had to sacrifice electricity for food before. If they had an opportunity to improve their lives, of course they would take it.  Why is this a hard concept for America to grasp? Then there's the fact that America doesn't understand why the other contestants see her as such a threat after she was friendly and greeted the public. 

I didn’t understand why it was all so important. So the people seemed to like me, so what? They were outranked in here; their little signs and cheers didn’t matter.

She is just so clueless! Good relations with the public = even more of an asset to the royals. It would probably even help with the rebel situation since some of them are the dissatisfied public.

America also doesn't really understand the prince's duty.

“I wonder why. I mean, what’s the point of him being that strong? He does deskwork. It’s weird.”

Crown princes have always been trained as part of the military. I do not know why America thinks all he does is deskwork, unless he really is not military trained, in which case, that's just poor world building.

There are times when America is kind, such as when she took the time to talk to her fans and give them autographs, and she also cares a lot for her maids. It's just that the rest of the time, she's whiny and annoying.

The next major flaw is the world building. There are two main rebel groups: the Northerners and the Southerners. As for their intentions, Maxon doesn't know why they attack the palace.

“The Southerners appear to want us demolished. I don’t know why, but I’m guessing some dissatisfaction or another, tired of living on the fringes of society..."

Any government would try to find out the motives of their enemies. This sort of description of Southerners being so dissatisfied they would kill, is insufficient. It's even worse that they have no idea what the Northerners want. Maxon suspects that they are looking for something, but even that is just a suspicion and he doesn't even know what they are looking for. It's strange that the Northerners have attacked the palace multiple times and the royals still have no clue what they want. They clearly shouldn't be running a country! Also, when the palace is attacked the first time in the book, the guards hold off shooting until the rebels get too close to the main doors. Why didn't the guards just start shooting earlier? I really don't know. I don't understand the palace security at all. It wasn't even as though the rebels were out of range since they were throwing things at the palace. It doesn't matter that this group of rebels do not kill. They were still threatening the palace and some action should have been taken. And why were the rebels just let go? Any sensible person would have captured them and taken them in for questioning! No wonder the royals haven't found out what the rebels want!

Next, consider the knowledge Maxon has about the world around him. He's going to be ruling one day and he attends most of the important meetings. It really doesn't make sense how little he knows about the world outside the palace. He even admits to it.

“But I’m only starting to realize how much I don’t know about my own country. Please.”

He lacks knowledge of how much the lower castes suffer and doesn't know that the Eights in his own kingdom are starving most nights. I guess they never go on tours around the country.

“Good God. When you said you were only here for the food, you weren’t kidding, were you?” he asked, shaking his head.

Also, his mother, the Queen, was a Four, so I don't know how he doesn't know more about the struggling castes. Does the King ignore the Queen on such matters, and does Maxon not talk to his mother? So, since Maxon has suddenly learnt people in his kingdom are struggling to eat, he decides to set up a fund to help feed those that are struggling and it's all thanks to our protagonist, who had to tell him something he should have already known.

The next flaw in the world building is how Illéa was formed.

“When the United States couldn’t repay their massive debt, the Chinese invaded. Unfortunately for them, this didn’t get them any money, as the United States was beyond bankruptcy. However, it did gain them American labor. And when the Chinese took over, what did they rename the United States?”

This is explained so badly. Since China basically owned the US anyway, invading would be a waste of time. Also, the population of China is so large they don't need American labour. Wars cost money, so there has to be a significant benefit for the country invading. Plus, both countries have nuclear weapons so simply going to war would have devastating effects for both countries. The book also implies that none of the other countries came to aid the US. I wonder what the US did to annoy everyone else.

After that, Russia tried and failed to invade.  The man who headed the assault against Russia was called Gregory Illéa and since he was successful, the whole country was named after him... That's not really how naming countries works but ok. Gregory was married into a royal family, thus the reason why I guess formerly US now Illéa is a monarchy. I still don't know why they reinstated the monarchy and a more backwards version than some of today's systems at that. This explanation does not answer all of the questions I have.

My final issue with this book is that I do not like how rape is just randomly thrown in. Perhaps it becomes more significant later on in the series, but in this book it just felt unnecessary. We're told that a rebel raped one of America’s maids, Lucy, during one of their attacks. Since then, Lucy gets seizures whenever the rebels start attacking. America is suitably disgusted that such a horrible thing happened to her and that is the end of that. So, what was the point of that? It really is just, 'The rebels are so terrible! They raped her!' and I know America is supposed to use this as motivation to find a way to stop them, but she has no power and at this point in the story, she doesn't even want to be the princess. All America knowing this information achieves is that she hangs out with her maids more. If you're going to put rape into a book, do it well or just don't add it at all.

Those are all my issues with the book and since I really don't like America and am not bothered to find out what happens to her, I just can't bring myself to read the next book in the series. I found a lot of this book was quite dull and I even considered stopping at some point because I didn't care about what was happening. I like a lot of action in my stories and this one lacked that. Even the climax at the end consisted of them hiding in a basement waiting for the rebels to be defeated. I am giving up on this series but I hope that I enjoy the next book that I read.