The Benefit Of The Fit

THE BENFIT OF THE FIT

Fitting properly into something that you do, such as kayaking or your job is key to your success as well as your team's success. Having the perfect fit in a job position or your boat will make all your experiences more enjoyable and you will not go unfulfilled. To identify an improper fit, you must feel it yourself, no one else can tell you that you aren't quite fitting right because it's all about YOU.

My first two and a half sessions of Keeners have been hindered by a mysterious force that seems to be holding me back from many successes. My height has always been a denying force throughout my kayaking endeavors which limits my boat choices, seating position and overall comfort. It took me around 50 or so days on the water to come to the conclusion that I may not be fit correctly in my boat. I bought a new one as the opportunity arose in hopes to find a better fit for my long legs. When I got the boat, I felt much better and found that the boat was reacting better to my commands. Great! All of my kayaking problems solved, right? No. As I paddled more and more in this new boat, problems arose. I found that I could move side to side to much, and that I was not getting enough leverage through sitting to low and that I had no foot block to support my feet. The more and more I thought about it, the more it bothered me, the fact that I thought I had the perfect boat, but now it just seems like any other. 

I kept putting of the required time to fix my self-diagnosed outfitting problems. This only deepened my problem as my kayaking ability was not improving and I was not having as much fun in my boat as I used to. Eventually I was fed up with being sore and the same old kayaker I was, and decided to put in the work to fix it. The minute I got off of the river I got to work carving out hip pads that would keep me in my boat instead of cutting the blood circulation in my legs. I then got help from Stephen Wright, the guru of kayak outfitting, to help me devise a plan to keep my hip pads in place. After the main problem was dealt with, I stuck a foam pad under my seat to raise my seating position to gain more leverage and added a foot-block to have foot support. At last my outfitting has been fixed and I can now continue to progress my kayaking abilities and be comfortable! Right? No...

As I have found out, there is no quick fix to 'fit' problems, unless you get lucky once or twice. As I sat in my boat for the first time since the outfitting project began, I didn't quite feel right and I thought it could use a few adjustments. I tore most of the fixes out and made some changes and put them back in, and voila! I fit in my boat for the first time since I started white water kayaking! The feeling is unlike any other. Finding the right fit in my kayak was one of the most worthwhile experiences that I have ever come across. I can now enjoy my time on the river more and regain my 'will' to learn new tricks and won't be afraid of falling out of my boat.

Finding the right fit for my kayak has been an eye-opening experience for me because I realized that this can have huge applications in real life. Finding your perfect place to live, or your perfect job or the right things you should  be doing, often aren't things that come easily or without effort. Finding THE perfect place to live often is not YOUR perfect place to live. The Same idea goes with jobs, it doesn't matter how the rest of the world sees a job, it's about how you see, experience and enjoy that job. The job you get at first may not at all be the right job for you, but find out stick with it to find out what's wrong with it then find a new one that is a better fit for you. If you stick with the job that you don't enjoy or can't seem to find the passion to learn or get better in, there is a pretty high chance that that job may never take you to the places you want to end up. Even if the second job, or the third, or however many you need to try to get it right don't fit, there are always infinite ways to make minute changes inside one of those jobs. This can open new windows and really allow you to dial in the amount you enjoy, or how passionate, or how much you love the job. 

This experience is one of the biggest lessons I have learned in Keeners and probably one that I will take with me as I go on with my life without keeners. Nothing comes without effort and it shows you to not give up on one thing because there are millions of different ways to fix it.