Setting Clear Expectations for My Golf Lessons

The last time you got a haircut, did you tell the barber or stylist exactly what you wanted? Did you go to the same person you’ve gone to before? Or were you feeling adventurous enough to ask them to surprise you with a makeover? All of these set clear expectations

Have you ever received a haircut without communicating with the barber? Has anyone ever sat in the chair and had the barber start snipping away without knowing what he was going to do?

Probably not. At least, I hope not.

Golf is an amazing and amazingly frustrating game. Getting lessons is a great way to improve and achieve your goals. And just like a haircut, you should have clear communication about what you want to get out of the pro.

This is a screenshot from a video summarizing what I've been working on during my lessons. — *This is a screenshot from a video summarizing what I’ve been working on during my lessons.* The left is from a month ago and the right is from this week.

What kind of lesson do you want?

You should know if you want to work on driving or putting, chipping or long irons, or another part of your game. But that’s just the beginning.

What’s your goal?

Do you want to learn to read greens or work on putting the ball straight? Do you want to learn how to properly chip or do you want to learn when to chip versus pitch? Do you want to learn to draw the ball or do you want to learn how to make adjustments on the course in the middle of a round? Are you trying to modify your current swing to make it more consistent or do you want to completely rebuild it? Are you willing to have multiple lessons over time or do you only want one?

The answer to the above questions matter. You might not have a definite answer, but tell your golf pro what you’re thinking so you’re on the same page.

Clear communication of your expectations is the fastest path to achieving your goals

For me, I didn’t want to just make a few minor tweaks to be more consistent. I wanted to rebuild the swing completely. Of course, there are parts of my swing that haven’t changed, but I was willing to take a few steps back to, hopefully, make a few giant leaps forward.

Not everyone wants to go through the weeks, months, or even longer, of playing worse while they figure out a new swing. Some people just want to get rid of a slice. A pro can change you grip and swing path and fix your slice in a lesson or 2. That’s a lot faster, easier, and less frustrating than completely rebuilding a swing.

Nobody knows what’s in your head

This is relevant for so many things besides golf. Here are just a few examples where communicating your goals and expectations clearly can help you avoid bad and irrelevant advice, wasted time and money, and unnecessary mental fatigue.

Personal Trainer – Do you want to lose weight, get bigger, get stronger, be more flexible, learn how to recover, or learn how best to take care of your body?

Financial Advisor – Do you want to save for college or a bigger house, get advice on how you can get involved with philanthropy, make sure you leave money for your grandchildren, or learn about alternative investments?

Employee – Have you explicitly told your employee/subordinate what the priorities and deadlines are for today and the week, or are you assuming they already know?

Child/friend/parent – Do you want them to call you more often? What times work best for you?

Roommate – Do they know that you are trying to go to sleep earlier and that you can hear their tv at midnight, or are you just getting annoyed while laying in your bed?

Cleaning Service – Do you only want the surfaces and floor cleaned, or do you want them to scrub the tub and get the grime off the shelf in the fridge?

Mentor – Is this for advice on your current project, or are you hoping to get introductions to future opportunities?

Spouse – Are you trying to save more money this month? Do you want to eat healthier and be more active? Maybe you want to be more open and honest about how you feel with each other?

Key Takeaways

As you can see, setting clear expectations is important for every interaction you have. You can’t control everything, but you can control if someone knows your goals. The next time you are in a situation where you are interacting with another person, try to do the following to help stay on the most direct path towards success:

Know your goals. Think about what you want to get out of the interaction.
Communicate those goals and expectations clearly so everyone is on the same page.

Have any good stories about setting, or not setting, clear expectations? What was the outcome? I’d love to hear from you. Contact me at rosenbergmaxa@gmail.com.

December 7, 2018December 7, 2018

Why I Have SMART Goals

It’s been a month since I moved to Florida to pursue golf. While I had goals, they were not good goals. I look back on November and can’t say whether or not is was a success, even though I definitely made progress. I didn’t have “November” goals. 30 days have passed, and even though I was very intentional with all of my time and practice, I could have been a lot better about evaluating my success.

I will change this in December by having SMART goals, writing them down, and sharing them with others.

What are your goals for December?

Before you continue reading, try writing down your December goals. Did you already have a list? Was it easy? Has thinking about them caused you to think about what you should be doing to attain those goals? That’s the point!

SMART Goals

Goals push you. They exist to prevent you from becoming complacent. They help you schedule and prioritize tasks and activities, and keep your foot on the gas pedal. Without good goals it’s easier to spend your time inefficiently, procrastinate, and ultimately not do what you set out to do. Try to have SMART goals, which are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-sensitive.

Specific

If you want to be more productive with your mornings, you might want to wake up earlier. But that is not specific. If you wake up at 5 am, it’s early. But what about 7:30 am, or 8:30 am? Is that early? Without a specific goal, it’s impossible to evaluate yourself. To make this one specific it should be something like “wake up by 7 am every morning.”

Measurable

Can the goal be objectively measured? There should be no debate if the goal was achieved or not. An example could be “go to the gym 3 days this week for at least 30 minutes.” When the week is over you can count to see if you achieved that goal.

Attainable

The goal should be reasonable. It shouldn’t be easy, but it shouldn’t be something like “win the lottery.” Yes, there’s a chance, but not really. They exist to stretch and make you better. If you’re looking for a new job it would be more reasonable to have a goal of “apply to 15 jobs this weekend” rather than “find and start a new job by next week.”

Relevant

This one might seem more obvious than the others but it’s still important. It ensures you spend your time making progress toward what you are trying to achieve. If you want to lose weight, eating 2 vegetarian meals each day would be relevant, but finishing this season of The Voice would not.

Time-sensitive

This is a deadline. The goal has to be achieved within a certain time period. Without a deadline, there’s less urgency to take action to accomplish the goal. Setting a deadline provides the structure to actually do whatever it is you want to do. While a deadline could be a date, it could also be an action. If you’ve ever told yourself “you can go out with your friends after you finish this project,” that is a time-sensitive and effective goal.

Write down your goals

Keep a notebook, google doc, or even the back of a used envelope to actually write down your goals. If you write them down, you are more likely to achieve them. Once you write them down, they are set. You will feel worse about adjusting them if you are momentarily lazy or unmotivated. If goals are only in your head, did they even really exist?

Make your goals known

Chipping practice for golf — Chipping practice takes up a large portion of my time, but it’s beautiful!

If you are the only person who knows your goals, it’s easier to forget them, make them easier, or sabotage yourself in another way. If you make your goals known, now you have some outside accountability. You will also have people rooting for you. Yes, others will know if you fail, but you are MUCH more likely to accomplish your goals if you tell other people. And you can’t be afraid of failing!

I’ve been talking about leaving Accenture to go to a startup, travel, or start my own business for YEARS. Life was good and I wasn’t working hard enough to make a real change. I realized that I needed to set a deadline and tell some people. It would force myself to take action.

Back in the spring of this year (2018), I decided my last day at Accenture would be November 1. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do after November 1, but telling people this date lit a fire under my seat and I ended up leaving work a month before my self-imposed deadline. Now I’m on this great journey.

Michelle and I try to share our weekly and monthly goals with each other. Getting a significant other, friend, or sibling to do it with you definitely makes it easier!

There have been some (weak) studies showing that publicizing a goal can actually make you LESS likely to achieve it. I think that as long as you know that TALKING about goals isn’t making PROGRESS towards them, it can be a very effective way to have accountability and even get help from others.

My December goals

I try to practice what I preach so here it goes. My December goals are:

Get at least 2 eagles
Average at least 2 birdies each round
Average less than 1 double bogey each round
Average score of less than 5 on par 5s
Average under 33 putts per round
Break 80 3 times
Scoring average below 81
Lower handicap to 6.8
Do yoga 3 days each week
Post at least once each week on the blog

November 29, 2018December 4, 2018

How to Make Friends and Have Fun in a New City as an Adult

Moving to a new city as an adult isn’t easy. It’s hard enough finding your way around and getting used to a new routine. And to really enjoy the place you have to make friends.

My brother and me in Savannah (en route to Florida) with some locals we met in a park

A couple weeks ago I moved from DC to Florida for the winter so I could play golf every day and try to go pro. I’m staying at my parents apartment and my 24 year old brother made the trip down with me. The community is mostly made up of retirees and the average age is above 70. We were eating lunch when an older dude sat next to us at the bar and started chatting. Before we even exchanged names he welcomed us to the neighborhood and invited us to dinner with his wife and another couple that night.

It would have been easy to come up with an excuse to decline but we accepted and had a great and unique experience.

A quick thank you

I just wanted to thank everyone who goes out of their way to help make others feel welcome. Personally, I have been extremely fortunate to have met many who have invited me to dinners, parties, vacations, events, and countless other activities that have made great memories. It is because of you that I have had such a good time in my post-college life.

Try to have unique experiences

I’m a HUGE believer in having unique experiences. Ever since I moved to DC 5 years ago I’ve tried to be a “yes” man as much as possible. Unique experiences are easier to remember, stand out, and make life more exciting.

Sometimes it’s a trip to the UAE with a couple friends and some others you don’t know when you find a glitch $200 round trip flight. Other times it’s going as a plus one to a roommate’s Tinder brunch date on 10 minutes notice. We are primed to say “no, thank you” when there’s an unexpected invite, especially when we don’t have the time to think it through. But saying “yes” to these has created some of my best memories.

Unique experiences don’t have to be expensive trips or odd activities

Tough Mudder group picture — A few weeks after I moved to DC I did a Tough Mudder with my friend, Sean (green shorts), and met Jon (next to me), who is now a great friend

Something as mundane as eating dinner with new friends can be a unique experience. But it could be something as simple as going to a party where you only know 1 person, going to karaoke with a random group you met at a bar, sitting next to someone at the coffee shop instead of alone, cooking something new with friends, signing up for a Tough Mudder, or even pulling over during your commute to watch a great sunset.

Back to my dinner – How many times have you eaten with someone 40-50 years older than you, who wasn’t a coworker/boss, relative, the relative of a friend, or the friend of a relative?

In each of those situations, the other person has a persona to fit into. But because we had no outside connection we let our guard down and hung out in a way none of us had ever done before. Politics, travel, regrets, changing policies, and life achievements/goals were all discussed. They even invited us to their apartment after dinner for dessert and coffee, and to introduce us to their dog!

People in their 20s can really be friends with those in their 70s.

Making Friends

The easiest place to meet people is at college. Everyone is your age, at the same stage of life, doing the same activities, and you all live together.

But it gets harder as you get older.

When I moved to DC, at 24, I only had a few friends. They were all in their last year of law school and had their own friends. My roommate was also new to DC and in a similar situation.

Volleyball team picture — Almost all of us were randos who were assigned to the same volleyball team. 3 years later we are still together and I have to miss playoffs next week!

I quickly realized that if I wanted to have fun in the new city I needed to meet as many people as possible. I started meeting people on the basketball court at the gym, parties, and through friends of friends of friends. We went to each other’s friends’ parties, joined intramural sports leagues, and went to each others’ work happy hours.

I had always had similar friends growing up and in college. There’s nothing wrong with that, but in DC I started meeting people who were different. They were older/younger, had different careers, different backgrounds, etc, and it was amazingly eye-opening to spend time with people who have different experiences than me. They see the world differently and gave me additional perspective, in addition to a larger pool of potential friends.

Birthday picture — Before I moved to DC, I only knew 2 people in this photo, taken on my 27th birthday.

Be “down” and inclusive

When you’re post-college and trying to make new friends it’s different than building a bond over a decade or 2 as a child. You aren’t forced to see these people every day in school and your parents don’t organize playdates. People are also much busier, so there are fewer opportunities to hang out.

That’s why its super important to be “down.” People like those who are willing to do things with them. This is how you get invited to the next thing. And if you keep declining offers they will stop coming!

I felt a little awkward when that first dude in DC invited me over to hang out with him and his girlfriend 2013. Jon and I had just met a few days earlier, but now he wanted me to come over to his apartment? What a weirdo! But I went.

That hangout turned into countless dinners, activities, trips, and new friends. He ended up becoming one of my best friends and I was even a groomsman in his wedding a few weeks ago.

Groomsmen Photo — I met Jon at the Tough Mudder when I first moved to DC. I was recently a groomsman in his wedding.

Accepting invitations is great, but extending invites is even better. It feels great when someone invites you to something even if you don’t want to go. Make people feel wanted and invite them, especially when there’s no cost. Have BIG birthday parties and invite those random people who you once exchanged numbers with but never ended up hanging out. Invite that guy you like but aren’t close with to watch the game when you were planning on watching it alone. It helps you build a relationship and makes it normal to chat more often. Soon you’ll have friends for all activities in your life; gym buddy, fellow foodie, sous chef, single going-out PIC, etc.

Summary and takeaways

Moving to a new city has a lot of challenges, but making new friends and enjoying your time shouldn’t be one of them. Hopefully I’ll be able to write a similar post about my new friends in Boca in a few months!

Try to have unique experiences because they are more memorable, fun, and make life exciting.
Be “down” when you get invited to things, even if don’t think it will be super interesting. Most of the time you’ll be glad you went.
Invite your new friends to hang out and participate in activities, even if you don’t think they would want to go. Everyone likes to feel wanted and sending an invite is an easy way to do that.

November 25, 2018November 25, 2018

How I Used Data to Improve My Golf Game in 3 Steps

As you know, I recently started a year long journey practicing and playing golf. I wanted to give myself the best shot at making big strides in a short period of time so I adopted a data-driven approach to improving my overall game. While this post is specific to improving my golf game, the approach can help improve anything. The three fundamental components are:

Understand what to focus on to maximize impact
Track current results/mistakes so you can make adjustments
Get the right help so you get the experience/knowledge of an expert

Understanding what to focus on

No matter what you do, it’s important to have data so you can perform some kind of analysis. If you’re a manufacturer it might be how long each step of the process is. If you’re in client services it might be ROI. It could be calculated by how much money you earn compared to how much time you spend on each client. You would see how valuable each client is on a per hour basis and could make adjustments to how you spend your time.

I wanted to figure out what part of my game I should focus on so I started keeping detailed notes of each shot. I tracked the club, distance, quality of shot, if it went left or right, etc. After each round I entered the data into a spreadsheet. This is what my typical scorecard looked like.

My golf scorecard with notes — This is what my typical scorecard looks like after a round.

After just a few rounds I had some actionable data. The most eye-opening visual I created showed how often I use each club in my bag.

This shows how often I use each golf club. — This shows how often I use each club. Please note, while collecting the data I marked the putter down for “1” even if I had 2 or 3 putts, so the putter circle should be about twice as big.

Everyone says the short game is the most important part of golf. I, like most others, was spending most of my time taking full swings on the range. This visualization had an immediate impact. I only practiced pitching, chipping, and putting for a few weeks. That small amount of focused practice drastically improved my short game, and I’ve seen the results on my scorecard.

Tracking mistakes to improve

Hypothetically, let’s say your subordinate comes over and says “I’m sorry, I just can’t get this right. I keep messing up.” You might say something like “let’s take a look,” and start to diagnose what’s wrong. The important thing is that it helps to know how you’re messing up, so you can figure out what to adjust.

In golf, some common “mistakes” are hooking and slicing, and pushing and pulling the ball. All of these are caused by different “mistakes” and knowing how you mess up makes it easier to make the right adjustments.

It’s clear from the charts below that my typical mistake is a hook/draw (these were measured compared to my attempted ball flight. So if I tried to draw the ball and it drew the amount I wanted, I marked it down as straight).

This chart shows how often the ball curves left or right in the air for each golf club. — This chart shows how often the ball curves left or right in the air for each club.

This chart shows how often the starts too far to the right or left for each golf club. — This chart shows how often the starts too far to the right or left for each club.

Getting the right help

Golf, like many other things, is very nuanced and technical. It’s important to get the right help so you know that the changes you make are actually going to cause improvements. This is consulting, and I like to view any lessons, coaching, training, or service as such. A consultant works with you. The answer is not one-size-fits-all, and the consultant is there to be your expert. Doctors, lawyers, personal trainers. They all should have recommendations and a plan catered to your needs.

From the charts above and below, you can see that my shot quality was not consistent, so I asked around and got a few recommendations for coaches. One stood out and I’m currently working with him. We’ve been working specifically on not hooking the ball and having a lower trajectory, both of which will help my game. Hopefully I can post a new and improved chart in a few weeks!

This shows my shot quality for each golf club. — This shows my shot quality for each club.

One last chart

This last chart shows one reason why I chose golf for this journey. A lot of sports these days require you to be a physical specimen who has genetic gifts. Read The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance if you’re interested in going into more detail (thanks for the rec, Shane!). In golf you just need to hit the ball straight and the correct distance. The one physical benefit you can have is hitting the ball far. That I can do.

This shows how far I hit each golf club. — This shows how far I hit each club.

Key Takeaways

If you want to get better at something, merely putting in hours is not the best approach. Get whatever data you can, do some analysis, and see what you can improve, and how you can improve.

“Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect” – Vince Lombardi

Focusing on where and how to improve will help you have the best value impact with your time and money. This, with the help of an expert, is a great approach for getting better at anything.

Please feel free to comment or email me at rosenbergmaxa@gmail.com if you have any questions or want help collecting data and doing your own analysis, even if it’s something completely different than golf!

November 22, 2018

What I’m Thankful For

Happy Thanksgiving! I just wanted to write a quick note about what I’m thankful for today (and every day). My friends and family are everything to me. Everything that I have done has been supported by my closest allies, or at least discussed with my best interests at heart.

When I started socializing my plan to pursue golf, almost everyone was super excited and supportive. And those who weren’t were still there to talk it through with me. Without this, I’m not sure that I would have actually ever started this journey.

While I’m able to choose my friends and girlfriend (and they are all amazing), I didn’t choose my family. I was just lucky.

My parents and siblings have always been my number 1 fans and supporters. My sister once tackled a “friend’ who I was wrestling with when she was 5 years old. My brother is happy to drive from New York to Boca Raton, Florida so I don’t have to do the drive alone. My parents biggest wish has always been that I am happy, and their actions, advice, and attitude always support that wish.

On the days that aren’t so great, remind yourself of your relationships. I’ve always found doing that makes me thankful, grateful, and motivated.

Eat well and travel safe this weekend!

November 14, 2018November 15, 2018

How to Lower Your Expenses

I get a lot of comments from people when I tell them I’m leaving my job to follow a dream. The first is “I didn’t know you were that good,” which I have some thoughts about here. The second has to do with how I can afford to not work for a year. This post will share what I did to prepare for my life change, and while this example is unique to me, everyone can find ways to lower expenses.

But first, a thought experiment: A dollar is always a dollar

Let’s say you just bought a soda for $1 from a store 10 minutes away. When you get home, you realize that they charged you $11 instead of $1. Do you go back to the store to ask for your $10 back?

Now let’s say you just bought a car from a dealership 10 minutes away for $40,000. When you get home, you realize they tacked on a $10 service fee that they hadn’t told you about. Do you go back to the dealer to ask for the $10 back?

Most people would go back for the soda but not for the car because of the relative size of the injustice. But at the end of the day both situations leave you with the same question. Do you want an extra $10 in your pocket?

So how do you get ready to give up your income for a year?

piggy bank — This photo is by rawpixel on Unsplash

I didn’t just decide to leave my job to pursue a dream. I started pursuing the dream while I still had my job. Eventually, it got to the point where I needed to make a bigger commitment than my job allowed, and at that point I had already changed my spending habits to reduce my expenses.

My cost cutting goal

My goal was to change as few habits as possible while maximizing my reduction in expenses. I didn’t want to have to make dozens of mildly painful decisions to not buy something that I wanted. I planned to make just a couple of changes that would have a big impact. (Check out Dollars and Sense by Dan Ariely for a great read about how we misthink about money if you’re curious about what guided my logic).

Planning

My typical expenses in the spring of 2017 — My typical monthly expenses in the spring of 2017

A few years ago I had a master suite (with 2 roommates) in a new apartment building on 14th street, was single and went out a lot, and went on a lot of trips. I said “yes” to everything, which resulted in a very exciting life, but also an expensive one.

My monthly expenses, not including trips, were between $3,000 and $3,500 per month. Saving $1.50 on eggs by going to Safeway instead of Whole Foods was not going to make a difference.

Changing spending habits

Now, a lot of people will tell you that this is the time to skip the guac at chipotle, clip coupons for the grocery store, and start shopping at Marshalls.

While these will allow you to save for smaller purchases like new Allbirds, they won’t give you the freedom to make a big life change.

Look at it this way. You can save $2.50 each time you skip guac at Chipotle. If you have 8 visits, that saves $20. But, you didn’t get to enjoy the guac, and you had to make the slightly painful decision to skip it on 8 separate occasions!

What would be an easier, faster, and less painful way to save $20 over the course of a month?

I was going out about twice each week, or 8 times each month. If you’re with 1 friend or on a date, each round of drinks is about $20. Deciding to not buy that additional round just 1 time saves $20 with a single decision. If you skip it all 8 times, thats a total of $160 of savings each month. You can even skip the bar entirely and grab a 6-pack instead. But there are better ways to cut costs!

Lower your expenses by focusing on the biggest impact

In April 2018 I moved into a 470 square foot studio with my girlfriend, Michelle, and her cat, Tucker. This brought my rent/utilities/parking total down from $1,850 per month to $850 per month. That single decision saved me $1,000 per month! That’s the same as:

guac 400 times
a round of drinks 50 times
a $200 dinner 5 times
a round trip international flight
rent and utilities for a month while I am not working

You can see below that the driving factor for my overall spending is lowering my biggest expenses, which is rent/utilities/internet. Making a significant dent in any other category would take a lot of effort, and for me, wouldn’t have the same impact as significantly lowering my rent. For you it might be rent, but it could also be a car, club or gym membership, or something else (I did make additional lifestyle changes which you can see below).

My Average Monthly Expenses — My average monthly expenses from Mint.com

How to lower rent without moving in with your significant other

Not everyone can or should move in with a significant other (THIS SHOULD NEVER BE A FINANCIAL DECISION!). Michelle and I were going to move in together at this point in the relationship, but we decided that I would move into her small apartment, rather than move into a larger/more expensive one.

You can usually find less expensive living accommodations if you’re willing to make some sacrifices. When I first moved to DC I was paying about $1,900 per month, which I quickly realized was way too much. At the end of that lease I moved in with 2 friends and my new rent/utilities were about $900 per month. I was still in a good location with a doorman, and had a roof with grills, tv’s, a pool, and a hot tub. BUT I slept in a fake room with poor airflow and had to walk through my roommate’s room to use the bathroom (thank you Bradley!). Nobody chooses to live like that, but it saved me $1,000 per month!

The bottom line here is you should be open to living with roommates, moving to a less convenient location, living in an older building, or taking the fake bedroom if you want to put a real dent in your rent.

Summary and takeaways

Before I decided to try to be a golfer I toyed with the ideas of traveling for a year or trying to start a business. While the purpose of leaving work would have been different, the planning and action that I took is largely the same and can be a template for anyone who wants to cut costs to travel, start a business, or even have a mini-retirement.

Going back to the thought experiment, fighting for $20 off your monthly rent is the same as getting a $40 scarf for 50% off. $20 doesn’t seem like a lot when it’s a part of your rent, but it’s still $20 dollars, Don’t forget that!

If you get anything out of this post, let it be the following:

Determine your largest costs and how you can cut them
Try to exhibit self control when it isn’t painful
Get the guac

Additional lifestyle changes

My other major lifestyle change was to go out less and cook more. I went out less because I had a girlfriend and a great group of friends, so I wasn’t trying to meet people like when I first moved to DC or when I was single.

Below, you can see that my alcohol and bars expenses have been going down for years, while groceries have been creeping up slightly.

This shows my average monthly expenses for dining, drinks, and groceries taken from Mint.com

How to display your expenses like I did above

Sign up for Mint.com and link your credit card/bank accounts.
Go to the “trends” tab and select the largest category.
Sort the expenses from largest to smallest.
Check the expense category for the largest expenses to make sure Mint.com allocated the expense to the correct category – I’ve had a restaurant show up as an auto expense.
If you find an expense that is allocated incorrectly, click “edit details,” and create a rule to allocate all similar expenses to the correct category so you only have to make the change once.
Do this for the other categories until you’re comfortable that the largest expenses are all properly allocated. There’s no need to correct the small expenses because they won’t make a difference with the overall trends and it will take a lot of time.
Go to the trends “over time” and filter by category. You can export the data to excel and make graphs there if you like.
I used Tableau Public to create these graphs. You can sign up for free here.

October 26, 2018February 22, 2019

No, I’m not that good… yet

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash of little league game

I’m almost 30 years old and took a leave of absence from my consulting job October 1 for 12 months. One major focus is golf with an ultimate goal to play professionally in the future.

The first thing most people say is “I didn’t know you were that good.”

Well, I’m not. Not yet, at least. And the more I think about the statement, “I didn’t know you were that good,” the more it puzzles me. Keep on reading!