How this Hobby spun me out of control

Published by Ryan Aschroft on 27 April 2024

Why YoYo?

If I’m being honest it was something I had done as a child, it has a low price point for entry and something I could easily store away within the little free space I have in my home that houses my hundreds of other hobbies. Little did I know this Hobby would take me to my breaking point both mentally and physically (and it’s only the second Hobby we’ve picked up) but for such a perilous journey it offered so many experiences and teachable moments that will likely help me for the rest of the time I create content in all forms because it’s only through taking part that I truly learn.

Curiousity

You will get used to the fact the best way to get and hold my attention is to make me curious, although I was well aware of what a YoYo was and I had used one before; times had changed and the amount of complex tricks people were creating made me curious and I felt this would be an ideal Hobby to pick up.

You can almost see why I’ve picked up hundreds of Hobbies because it’s that easy for me to get curious. When coming up with ideas for this series and what Hobbies I would be taking up my list was almost too big as such there had to be a system in order to narrow them down and let’s face it all the criteria for that will be discussed in today’s blog and you can begin to see why YoYo took such a high spot.

Cost

The cost for taking part in a Hobby can be a rather large deciding factor for a lot of people look for a new Hobby to take up. YoYos are still cheap, you can pick up a starter YoYo and kit allowing you to get going soon as you string it up with lots of replacements string for those beginning woes all for the price what would it be meal and or a few drinks out. When you put it into that perspective of being able to start a Hobby and not need much more than that to prolong the Hobby for some it’s rather great.

With a lot of Hobbies the more you get into a Hobby you want to invest more time and money to continue to enjoy the Hobby but there’s not much need with YoYos; you can get various different types of YoYo to try different styles, keep stock of replacement strings and parts. The only other factor could be travel to tournaments or customising your kit but that’s all preference not a requirement. This is what greatly attracted me to this Hobby, a simple Hobby I could pick up for pennies and wouldn’t hurt the wallet or feel bad if didn’t keep at the Hobby for the long term. Ideal for a Hobbyist wanting to try out as many Hobbies as possible.

Easy Level of Entry

There’s not many components or requirements for entry, you need a YoYo and maybe some spare string that’s it; this can make it very desirable to people that have limited space, time or normally lack motivation because if there’s not much to purchase and take care of it can be less of a stress to get started. Now we’re not talking about skill to participate in all areas of the Hobby that’s a whole different story but having a Hobby this easy to start can be ideal because you’re more willing to give a cheap and easy Hobby your time; combine that if you’re a person who once get’s going they have no problem continuing then this might be an ideal Hobby for you.

This is rather evident with myself, I overthink matters revolving around a Hobby before even starting. I make it rather difficult for me to start a Hobby but once I do it becomes an obsession, with the research, practicing and exploration making it my special interest that consumes my thoughts having a Hobby that easy enables this for people is no small feat.

Availability of Resources

YoYos have been around for such a long time as such the knowledge and resources available to beginners, intermediates and experts is rather extensive both in written medium or content creation and other visual media allowing a diverse means of learning tools and types to aid those of all specific needs to start, engage and learn the Hobby.

Having an established learning and resource base is a great thing that shouldn’t be overlooked because we’re not all born with natural skill and talent to any Hobby we pick up so having a community in which can provide educational material and advice to help you on your new journey makes life so much easier and enjoyable for us fellow Hobbyists.

I found so many tutorials online and in video format (ideal for visual learners like me) but also because this is a physical based Hobby with a lot of fast movements, precise and energetic actions it’s good to have a resource breaks down each individual trick into smaller parts for you to learn at your own pace.

Lessons Learned

This experience for me isn’t just about Content Creating as a Hobby nor about picking up as many Hobbies as possible but also about learning from the experiences along the way and sharing them with others to provide insights and growth within myself and the community I share this with. Every time I’m writing a blog or the script for a video I draw upon my experiences and the wisdom of my community to ensure that there’s a good source and diverse amount of information (before I lose track of my thoughts and ramble).

Taking part in so many Hobbies requires so many skillsets (besides financial and time management) so there’s always something new to learn and develop as such I like to take a moment to reflect upon this Hobby experience how it’s made me a better person through struggles and successes.

Via this Hobby

I didn’t fully know what to expect or what outcomes we would obtain for taking up this Hobby, as with most physical and dexterity based Hobbies I don’t expect much success but as always we set the bar low and hoped we wouldn’t hit our selves in the face too often. I knew that taking up YoYo as a Hobby would be a challenge, it’s rather skill and dexterous sport oh which I have very little of, but this entire experience is to step out the comfort zone, learn to embrace something new and learn from it.

What I wanted to do is be taken back to my childhood when I first used a YoYo and be reminded of the fun I once had with no expectation on accomplishment just simply trying the Hobby and having fun while doing it.

Skill Development

As with most new Hobbies my patience was always going to be put to the test, time is a resource we all have very little of in this world but I know having a job and responsibilities while also trying to enrich my life with Hobbies can be very time restrictive but I also like to feel like I’m getting better even if it’s a little. This allows me to know my time has been well spent even if it wasn’t as fun and amusing as one would hope.

I think it’s ok to learn a Hobby isn’t for you but I’m not going to say it was for nothing – this Hobby was fun, reminded me of my youth and did provide so much enjoyment when a trick actually went well (on four thousandth try).

Knowing your Weakness

I think going into a Hobby knowing your strengths and weaknesses allows you to approach things in a way that is easier for yourself but I’m also a believer that your weaknesses and failures are the key learning points in your life and one shouldn’t simply focus on their strengths. Now knowing this I ensured I used my strengths to their best affect (being organised, keeping track of time and allowing spare time to be used wisely or if in situations can’t be shot, I work on something else) this allowed me to buy more time for the things I wasn’t so good at.

Motivation
Physical Process
Dexterity
Failure
Practice
Working with others
… the list is long let’s stop here.

There was a lot of weakness that where put to the test here, a lot was going on during the time of shooting, a lot of what I wanted to do fell through and a series of burnouts and bad episodes left me struggling with practicing within the Hobby to prepare for the challenge tricks which made my motivation slip.

Seeing this within myself made me work on other things while I built up my strength, confidence and bought myself a little free time to get what was needed done. Having a little break from the Hobby to work on other ideas, scripts and future videos allowed me to recharge my batteries and still take part in the Hobby in small doses so I didn’t become disheartened.

For Future Hobbies

What have I learned specifically from this Hobby that will help me with future Hobbies? Knowing when a difficult Hobby or Shoot is ahead of me; is to simply not waste an ideal moment when mind, body and soul are in agreement go for it and even though it’s so out of character but if that time comes and I don’t have a plan then simply enjoy the Hobby and use what footage you can later on in the process. The end of the day this series is about adventure and exploration, it’s not a blockbuster movie it’s not going to be a cinematic anything but a time to take on something new, have fun and share it with others. With each Hobby, experience and adventure it shapes me further on what I can provide for the future.

I felt a lot of defeat within this Hobby, it being the second Hobby I took up for this series meant my experience was low and my expectations where too high; as such when learning the tricks and they didn’t go well, the string kept getting stuck and it took me days rather than days to learn simple tricks it had me deflated. if I was to tackle a Hobby like this in the future, I would learn from this one and ensure not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Learn and Move On

I’m not going to let past experiences slow me down, I’ve got so many Hobbies I want to try but will be giving few slow-paced ones a try. I think the idea of doing a few of these upcoming ones might seem so strange to call them hobbies and that intrigues me very much like the Jigsaw Puzzles. I wouldn’t discount physical or sport-based Hobbies in the future, but I will give myself more time to train and learn; maybe take few days off work to give it the attention it deserves not to mention would be nice to edit some good footage for the community.

The Struggles with YoYo

I think when I was practicing with what little time I had most of it was spent unwrapping the string and fixing it because it became stuck this happened more so than the attempts at doing the tricks as such it became more about fixing the YoYo rather than enjoying it so I then became very disheartened and less motivated with the time I had to keep practicing.

I give myself roughly a month to take up a new hobby, shoot footage and edit but with this Hobby it took almost two months to get to a place where I felt enough was done to truly say I gave it a good try and was proud of my engagement in the Hobby.

Mentality Shift

Although I had moments during this Hobby of feeling defeated, deflated and even thinking of not shooting this Hobby as an episode all together in the end it didn’t stop me, might of slowed me down but it also allowed me to shift gears and approach this Hobby differently to others and that gave me the momentum to engage in this Hobby on my own terms and I’m all the better for it.

So that experience will be with me to the next Hobby and those after allowing me to shift gears, gain perspective and change direction if need be for the betterment of myself and the community; although I won’t be going back to YoYo any time soon I do appreciate that I gave it a good try and I learnt so much (about YoYo, my inability and how to help the content going forward.

Balancing Hobbies, Work and Content Creation

I think the answer to this would simply be what makes you happy, doesn’t tear you down and doesn’t disadvantage another to the point it causes problems. You know yourself, how much time you have and the needs you want fulfilling but how we get there without a negative impact on ourselves, others and aspects of our lives is the true journey.

From my perspective it’s a lot to undertake, I work full time, I have a multitude of Hobbies and although Content Creation is a passion of mine it’s not something I’m skillful at and it takes considerable time, but I also don’t mind shifting things to ensure the balance and enjoyment is there as it brings me so much joy to engage in my passions.

I keep to a schedule I don’t release videos every week, if I feel I’m over committed and overworked then I can reduce it because the Hobby is about my enjoyment and the engagement with the community not reaching some magical number so my needs are met but by simply by engaging in the Hobby and sharing it with others therefore I get to decide the pace because I don’t have a deadline or a target to reach; my goal is to help others and enjoy my interest.

The Dreaded Signing Off

The early days of our content and blog will be focused on around general subject matters, something we can all relate to, such as time, money and organising / routines then branching out to more diverse and sometimes wacky subject matters all to get you thinking about your Hobby in different ways but also for you to pay it forward and teach us about your Hobbies.

I thank you for making it to the end, there are and should be other blogs for you to read; if you like diversity in your content you can watch our video-based content on YouTube, our reels and photos on Instagram or you can swing by our live streaming on Twitch to engage with us in real time, no matter your content of choice I can’t wait to hear from you.

*Please note any funding or donations towards the Hobbyist Community goes into helping fund the creation of the content here and I thank everyone for their time in visiting our website and other media.

Have a lovely day and happy Hobbying.