Are You Really a Great Competitor?
Posted by James Obst
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Could listen to James on poker psychology / philosophy for hours, more please.
Words of Wisdom.
Thanks James
great stuff, thank you!
Fantastic video!!
Thanks to Andreas & Aaron for the visual part of this video :)
wow great video ty James!
i think setting the money on fire is better than spending in on vegemite.
I tend to agree.. just set that up to build rapport with you. hi
What an inspiring video!
This couldn't have come at a better time for me, this past year has been one of the toughest years of my life both in the poker bubble and the "somewhat" existing life outside of it.
During my seemingly unending downswing, I have poured hours upon hours of energy into revamping and fine tuning my strategies involving every aspect of my technical MTT game. As well as grinding ridiculous 12-16 hour sessions to try to meet my monthly responsibilities. I would just tell myself "this is what I need to do to become the best in the game"
I may have lost sight of who I was/am outside of my poker life, which I think has had a great negative impact on my mental game, as well as the quality of my life and mental/physical health in general.
I've concluded that I'm just putting so much pressure on myself to be successful. I routinely put myself in situations that are harmful to my mental stability (ie. long hours grinding mids and micros/obsession with strategy/not meeting bills/too many stimulants/unhealthy food/not enough exercise) All along these things that I thought were "necessities" for my lifestyle, were actually the things hindering me the most from becoming the best competitor that I could possibly be.
Anyways, sorry for the ramble but I just wanted to take a minute to marvel at and appreciate the golden content in this video. I can add some new things to my list of things to work on. Looking forward to the next!
Thanks,
Brady O. (aspiring pro)
Thanks Brady, glad it helped - it's tough to read those sorts of stories because I feel your pain and it's an all too familiar pattern. Personally I'd say the worse the downswing, the greater the % of your energy needs to be poured into non-poker areas of your life. Most people operate in opposition to that because it's so much easier... who wants to go be social, who has time to 'waste' on spiritual growth, who can afford to spend weeks retraining themselves to sleep better by "detoxing" from ongoing use of sleeping pills... when they're feeling stressed, anxious, glum and financially pressured. I'm sure the right response for every situation is different, but in a lot of cases seeing someone bury themselves deeper into poker at these times is like imagining watching someone who's asleep while their house is on fire. All you're thinking is "Open your god damn eyes man!!!" but as the smoke gets worse, you start realising they're not going to and that it's not going to end well.
So many reasons why I feel it's the wrong approach, but the most glaring one has to be that you just can't escape circadian biology. You can't escape the effects poor sleep, erratic sleep hours, artificial light from screens, stress etc. have on hormone production. You can't cheat science... your brain simply will not be operating near its capacity. In the poker age of small edges, 10 good hours a week is a hell of a lot better than 60 bad ones. Hopefully you'll enjoy part 2, GL, you'll be right :).
Thanks for the nice comment James, I am taking some steps to improve my situation. I just took a new job at the beginning of the year, and I'm hoping that will relieve some of my financial stress. As much as it will hurt to not spend as much time competing at the tables, In the long run it will be better for my bankroll and my mental health as well.
I'll just have to be a "Sunday Grinder" for a bit.
Take Care!
DONT FUCKING ACCEPT IT
Loved that part
Thanks heaps for this, James. I was thinking as I was watching that you might enjoy the work of a fellow Australian, Russ Harris, who teaches ACT (acceptance commitment therapy)--interesting, practical stuff which connects quite well to some of the themes in this video.
One of the best videos I've seen on the site. Thanks for sharing!
good video...is the second part out already?
Legendary stuff!!! Part 3??
Great
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