thebuddhistbear

Ok, update after week 2.

Play 21k hands in blocks of no more than 500 hands in order to keep maximum focus level (x) - ended up moving house at short notice so got in only very small volume on 2 days but managed to catch up on remaining days to just hit the 21k hand target.

Spend 1 hour per day studying video, creating flashcards and drilling them ( )
Did a reasonable amount of study, but missed those 2 days that I moved house, and was short of the hour target on a couple of other days. So need to be more structured with this, and set a specific time each day to do this.

Meditate 3 times per day every day ( )
Missed this on the day of the move - not an excuse as I could have found 10 mins in the morning still, and could have meditated during the train journey, but I didn't think about it at all until bedtime when I suddenly realised I'd missed 2 meditations. So also need to ensure I get back to hitting this everyday for this week.

Do a yoga session every day ( )
Well, this one was a huge fail, as I didn't even do a single yoga session this week. Not sure why I'm so resistant to doing it, as it would certainly help with my bad back and general lack of fitness/flexibility.

Post one hand per day in BrPC discord, and respond to one hand posted by other players, if someone posted ( )
I was pretty active in the group this week, posting my own hands and also responding to other players, but again I missed the day of the move.

So overall, obviously disappointing that I only completed 1/5 goals for the week, but looking at the positive side, that does mean that I completed 1 :-D And 3 of the others I felt that I did ok in them. So that gives me something to work toward this week coming.

So, I'm actually going to scale down a little this week and set myself only 3 goals and then add in an additional next week once I complete those 3:

Play 21k hands in blocks of no more than 500 hands in order to keep maximum focus level -
Repeating this one to keep me on track for completing the monthly goal of 80k hands and to unlock the stars challenge x2.

Meditate 3 times per day every day
Thought I had this one pretty well down pat, but it seems that this habit is still far from automatic as a change in routine for the day caused me to completely forget about it. So time to get back on track :-)

Do some form of exercise every day, including 1 yoga session for the week
I am more or less in the habit of doing some exercise every day, whether it just going for a walk, or a short home workout, so just going to specify that 1 of these exercise sessions must be a yoga session, to try to start incorporating this into my preexisting habit.

Still going to be aiming to study and post in the group discord as much as possible, but not going to make specific goals for those this week.

GL this week, everyone :-)

Hello again everyone :-)
So here we are with the update after week 1. This is how my goals for the week went:

Play 14k hands in blocks of no more than 500 hands in order to keep maximum focus level (x) - Played a total of 20k hands in the end, and stuck to taking a break after every 500. Felt like that approach worked really well, and that I was able to play very focused.

Study 1 video per day and create flashcards of all relevant info learned in Mochi ( )
I heavily underestimated the time it would take to create flashcards with all the relevant information and to study them - ended up taking 2.5-3 hours per ~40 min video and so only got through 2 videos for the week rather than the planned 7. So will need to adjust this goal based on studying a particular amount of time per day.

Meditate 3 times per day every day ( x)
Stuck to this without any problems :-)

Home workout everyday (x)
Stuck to this too - was feeling pretty tired recovering from covid, so some "workouts" were just 10 pressups or 5 mins of stretching, but the main aim was to get back in the habit of doing some sort of exercise every day, and this coming week will aim to increase the workouts.

Post one hand per day in BrPC discord, and respond to one hand posted by other players, if someone posted ( )
Disappointed in myself not to have completed this one, as it was probably the simplest of the goals - it only takes a minute to paste a hand (I mark several every day) in the group and write my thought process to get some feedback. Posted hands the first 2 days and then dropped off. So will be repeating this goal again this week.

So, goals for this week:

Play 21k hands in blocks of no more than 500 hands in order to keep maximum focus level ( ) - stepping up the volume target a little to get on track to clear 2x stars challenge, worth $800

Spend 1 hour per day studying video, creating flashcards and drilling them ( )

Meditate 3 times per day every day ( )

Do a yoga session every day ( )
- 1 youtube yoga session for beginners per day, usually around 20 mins

Post one hand per day in BrPC discord, and respond to one hand posted by other players, if someone posted ( )
- repeating this one with renewed determination :-) Just pick one marked hand per day, post it in the group with my thoughts. And give my thoughts about my teammates hands should they post one. Simples. So no excuses.

Alright, that's my goals set for the week. Thanks to all for reading, and gl :-)

Gracias amigo! :-) Seeing the hard work that all the guys in the team are putting in, and the desire to improve ourselves really spurs me on. And together we will stride forwards! Vamooo! :-)

Hi Aquila!
Thanks a lot for your post and the good wishes :-)
That idea of the group that your wife has joined sounds great! What word did she choose, if you don't mind sharing? I'd be really interested to hear about how that progresses for the two of you! :-)
I think the main step in working on persistence is just constantly reminding myself that there are no quick fixes or hacks in getting to where you want to be, and the only way to grow and progress is to be putting in the work on a daily basis. That's always been something I've struggled with to be honest, so it's a work in progress - but having this journal I think will play a big role in keeping that upmost in my mind :-)
And yes, I use starscaption on pokerstars to keep a hand count, and as soon as it hits 500 hands I log out of stars, and leave the room to ensure that I don't continue past that. I would definitely recommend sticking with the short sessions, so adding in a 3rd 30 min session as and when you can sounds like the way to go :-) I think 2x45mins would be ok too, but I definitely find that my focus starts to drop off after 45 mins so wouldn't recommend going for 1 long session.
And the meditations I also keep short and sweet, usually 10 mins each, 1 upon waking, 1 sometime during the day or evening, and 1 before sleep. Do you meditate too?

Thanks a lot Nachos! :-) Been reading through your blog after being linked to it recently by Mates. Super inspiring stuff, great to see such hard work and dedication paying off! :-) All the best for the coming year :-)