Onwards And Upwards

For all the new gym memberships in January the facts show that within 5 months 80% of members will have quit (2012 figures). Perhaps the problem is that in today's world the short term has become all important. Those of you interested in fitness will know the novelty of an endorphin rush and quick physical gains possible when you first start training. Keeping going when these quick-fix returns slow down is a much harder process but it is the key to real longer term improvement.

This winter at LWimages we've been preparing for our own medium and long term goals. Over the past few years I've been lucky to call Sweden my second home and this winter we've moved our office 10 hours north from the West Coast to Åre, Jämtland. For our long term ambitions we are planning to work on both our physical and creative fitness. For the physical side Åre is perfect with much better views than a gym! There are long sweeping trails everywhere – through the forests, up and down mountains and all covered in a blanket of winter snow. Together with Ulrika we have set ourselves the short term goal of a cross country ski marathon event but the real goal is making sure we're ready for the year of work ahead. That might seem a bit strange – training for film making, but the effort involved in keeping up with world class outdoor athletes on multi-day shoots isn't one to under-estimate.

Åre is also turning out to be a great place to work on our creative fitness. Now that might sound an even stranger concept to some – creativity is often seen as some kind of innate ability or 'god-given' talent, but we believe creativity is something you should work on as much as you would any other aspect of your life. You do need however to give yourself the time and space to let your mind have a 'creative workout' without the pressure of deadlines. That's what Åre is proving to be this year – a chance to be inspired and freshen up our creative responses to this amazing area. So what ever your physical or creative goals are for the New Year, put aside a bit of time if you can and remember it's not about a quick win in February but how far you can develop by the end of 2019.