Hello all, i am back! first of all i would just like to wish everyone a Happy New Year, hopefully we all have an excellent year and improve both on and off the tables.

i was unsure about creating another thread after doing two last year, the first one you can find here: 100k challenge #1 and the second one here: 100k challenge #2 however, i have ultimately decided that it is more beneficial to create one than if i weren't to. also, it's fun interacting with people on RIO and maintaining accountability on a daily/weekly basis when i decide to take random days off that weren't warranted or earned.

i do not have 'new years resolutions' because this implies a fleetingness that is unlikely to last beyond January. it's also why i think the term 'diet' is a poor one, because this also has connotations of a short term fix that is not sustainable for the mid-long term, thus rendering the 'diet' pretty much pointless as we will not be making any changes that will benefit our health. i will, however, be setting some annual goals that i have every intention of achieving, if not bettering. these will be split in to two categories, poker related and life related.

poker related goals:

1- get in to a regular poker grinding routine. my aim is to play 5/7 days per week, and try to avoid playing on weekends so that i can maintain and improve my social life. i usually play 2kish hands per session, so that would mean 10k hands per week and thus i should fairly easily reach that 400k hand target if i maintain this consistency. that would mean i would only have to play 40/52 weeks per year, which would allow me every weekend off and roughly 12 weeks of free time to travel etc. so when you look at it from this perspective, in the word's of Jocko Willink- discipline does indeed equal freedom!

2- increase volume. play AT LEAST 400k hands in 2022. i only played roughly 330k hands last year, and 350k the year before, though there were a couple mitigating factors in 2021 like the fact that i done quite a lot of coaching, and i also increased the time i spent studying. so i did improve quite a lot and gained a much better understanding of how PIO constructs it's ranges in certain spots, so i am hoping to put that knowledge to good use this year!

3- solidify myself as a regular at $2k and $5k on Stars, take first shots before the end of the year at $10k. i have been very conservative over the years in terms of moving up, and have likely held myself back needlessly in this regard due to fear of failure/wanting to avoid the stress that higher stakes entails. so it's time to continue to get myself out of my comfort zone and expose myself to the swings of higher stakes (but also, hopefully, the profits).

i have other smaller goals, but these are easily the most important and i don't want to overcomplicate things needlessly. i study enough, so that's not the problem, and i usually play pretty well, so that isn't an issue either.

the only person standing between me and the highest stakes is myself.

non poker related goals:

1- spend more time living in the moment, by maintaining consistent meditation and continuously bringing myself back to the present moment when my mind starts to drift off in daily life. i often catch myself nowadays doing activities as a means to an end, whereby i am only doing them to 'get them over with' and move on to the next thing. however, this is a very poor way to live your life as you do not know when your time will come, so you should appreciate each moment so that if it is your last, it was a good one!

i am currently reading the power of now, so that is guiding me in this regard.

2- try one new sport/activity per week. for the past five weeks i have been doing a new sport each week. so far i have went skiing, rock climbing, swimming, golfing and then trail running. by forcing myself to do something 'new' each week (as in outside of my daily/weekly routine, so the gym etc wouldn't count) then i am living experiencing life as it's supposed to be; fresh and exciting. not boring and repetitive as can become the case with a rigid and similar routine week on week.

3- train/complete a marathon. this one is fairly simple :)

i am hoping this manifests to other areas of my life as well, so that i can create new relationships, visit more new places etc. i don't want to experience the same year as last year, i want it to be different and keep me on my toes!

apart from that, my sub goals would be smaller and i will administer less importance to them. some of these include putting on weight, continuing my chess improvement and cook new foods/dishes. however, these things are more just for fun, so i don't mind whether i achieve them or not, so long as i continue to enjoy doing them, that's good with me! if i stop enjoying chess (which seems unlikely just now cos i find it very fun and intellectually stimulating) then i will just find another game that is similar to use as a warm up for poker.

so yeah, this year there are no profit goals (i want to focus on quality of play, and volume, then the results will take care of themselves) and no twenty long list of goals for 2022. i want to keep it simple, enjoy the moment and enjoy playing poker, because, after all, why are we playing it?

i really enjoyed doing coaching last year, so if you are interested, drop me a PM. i think my coaching has improved dramatically over the past year, so i am sure you will benefit from this if you choose to go with it!

anyways, going to get back on the grind tonight after a couple weeks off. i was back at my parents for Xmas and then went down to London for a couple days to watch the darts final, where Scotsman Peter Wright won and is now world champion again! it was really fun, and we bumped in to two other guys i know from my hometown. such a small world haha. i don't think i'm going to share my results nearly as often, and instead focus on the process. i didn't mind sharing results for 100k sample size, but i am less keen to do it for my annual results. however, i am still going to share plenty hands, insights on higher stakes games and my daily life etc. so i still think it will be an enjoyable read!

GL and lets go!