"The new year stands before us like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals."
-Melody Beattie
I ****ing hate new years resolutions. Mainly because I think it is a weak excuse for people not to take immediate action during the other 364 days of the year. Something like 90% of new years resolutions fail. So basically, the plan to success is essentially: 1) figure out your dreams 2) make a plan 3) put the plan into action...the third part is the hardest.
Anyways, all that negativity out of the way for now. It's 1 a.m. and I'm still hungover and foggy minded from all of the extra curricular activities this weekend to celebrate new years. That brings me to my first resolution: No alcoholic beverages for the month of January. I'll do my best to put together a coherent post before bed, which was supposed to be done prior to January 1st, 2017. It is currently January 2nd, 2017. This brings me to my second new years resolution: stop procrastinating and take action.
I was going to make a new thread for this but I think I'll just post it in here as there as I would like to re-read this stuff one day and see how far I've come in the past few years.
About me: For those who don't know my name is Mike. I am about 24 and 3/4 (will be 25 in February.) I've been playing poker for ~10 years now, as a means to make a living ~5 years. I just graduated University in April 2016 from Bishop's University in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada (Bachelor of Business). Recently I purchased a condo in Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. I call this "The Lion's Den". (Will elaborate on that later). Poker has been very good to me in the sense that I have made enough money to pay for my living, travels, education, degeneracy, and basically whatever else I have spent money on in the past 5 years, whilst having some saved up as well . Outside of monetary gains I've also won a lot of life experience: dealing with 6 figure transactions, meeting and doing business with the widest array of people ever, setting my own schedule, owing heaps of MU and clearing it, working for a boss, being my own boss, etc etc... I've learned several lessons from the game, some better than others. Some examples: people's intentions might be well, but circumstance might inhibit those intentions being fulfilled, in general, you get out of poker and life what you put into it. Almost every guy that I've been close with in poker has had at least 1 6 figure score and made consistent $. I've seen so many people succeed in poker and so many fail. There are often similar traits on each side (maybe I'll talk about my observances one day).Possibly one of the most obvious things I've learned is that my mental and physical health is not so forgiving, and the poker lifestyle does not always help that. I remember when I was younger I felt invincible, eating and doing whatever I wanted, and still remaining in great shape. Man, life was easy when I was 18 I'm happy that I hit rock bottom in my 20's because my problems are easier to fix now than later on in life imo. I've also learned some invaluable lessons that will/have already made me a stronger person. I HIGHLY recommend checking out this podcast/article. The author talks about the things he learned in his 20's. I've learned a few of these things myself but suck at articulating them.:
http://www.knowledgeformen.com/the-1...nging-lessons/
As much as I love poker and have learned from the game, it is so comfortable for me, and I feel at times that I need to broaden my horizons and leave my comfort zone to improve as a person. I want to use this year to really start leaving my comfort zone and finding new streams of revenue, and possibly retiring from poker.
Here are my plans for 2016: I've come to believe that the 3 most important things to me in my life are:
Health: This is the pinnacle of living a great life. From my experience it is difficult to be happy if we are not well mentally and physically. The benefits of being in top physical/mental form are astronomical and stretch far beyond increasing your life span and appearance. Far, far, far beyond that.
What is my end vision: By the end of 2017 I want to have a lean/toned body type. Moreover, a low body fat % and reasonable muscle tone. By the end of the year I will have a completely changed mind set towards healthy living. I don't want it to be a choice or a chore, I want it to be a standard and my baseline. I want to be extremely confident with myself. (Although working to do that every day, but this will help imo).
Action Plan:
-Update this blog every Sunday night with results
-Complete P90x in the first 3 months of the year without skipping one day
-Keep my fridge and cupboards stalked with healthy foods. I really haven't struggled much with this in the past. I really struggle and make poor decisions when I am out of the house however.
-Drink a glass of lemon water every morning.
https://draxe.com/benefits-of-lemon-water/
^quick article on the benefits.
-Take a cold shower every morning to leave my comfort zone. (There is also a lot of health benefits of this as well).
-Meditate for a minimum of 20 minutes per day.
-Read 1 book per week. 52 books this year.
-Keep sleep schedule relatively consistent, and never sleep more than 8 hours and 30 minutes. (I've made my room completely blackout...check out the benefits of that if you get a chance.)
-One cheat meal within reason per week.
-Never drink calories outside of cheat meal.
-No processed foods
-Limit bread consumption to a maximum of 2 pieces per day and keep it healthy types of bread.
-Leave my comfort zone to an extent at least 1 time per day. Write about it at least once per week in here.
-Continually strive to be in a positive mindset and view circumstances through a positive light. Whatever happens to me this year I have responsibility for how I handle it.
Improving my health and wellness is 100% my biggest goal this year. During University I struggled a lot with my health and neglected it. It's time to get things back up to par and feed my life operating vehicle the top notch fuel that it needs and give it the engine maintenance that it needs.
Wealth: It's funny as this is often the main area of life people put the most emphasis and focus into. I won't lie...it's extremely important. However, don't put all of your eggs into one basket or one end of the scale, as it will overflow or tip. So many people are deluded by money that they forget other important things in life. That being said, money is extremely important. To live a great life requires a bit of financial freedom imo.
End Vision: Keep my net worth in the positive for 2017. Generate enough money to fund my life experiences whilst building some savings. Generate multiple streams of revenue (outside of poker and gambling), and figure out how to make money for the rest of my life.
Action Plan: Poker will be my primary wealth generation vehicle for at least the first few months of this year. Ideally, I would like to start working on some types of other income that have less variance and get me more out of my comfort zone. Here are a few possibilities that I've thought of:
-Stock market
-Real estate investment
-Social media marketing expert (and sell consulting)
-A normal job in my field
-A working holiday visa maybe in New Zealand or something.
-Any one else have any suggestions?
As for now here are my goals for 2017 in regards to wealth generation:
-Grind a minimum of 4 solid sessions per week. Likely take some Mondays off and all Fridays/some Saturdays.
-Keep table counts up even when session is winding down. For example load some turbos towards end of day instead of 1 tabling.
-Continue to build my coaching operating and coach a minimum of 4 hours per week.
-Develop webinars and power point presentations for coachings and provide great value coaching.
-Watch at least 1 training video per week.
-Spend at least 2 hours in the lab per week.
-Sell a reasonable % of every session with some markup to cut variance.
-Be great at game selection. $/game and the variance it takes to achieve that $/game is really all that matters at the end of the day. No point to measure my d everywhere.
-Become elite in MTTs
Relationships: This is obviously an extremely important aspect of life as we are social beings by nature. I think we all know that relationships and networking are vital in life, but even then, I think we still underestimate the importance.
End Vision: Have a few circles of friends and solidify my relationships with my best friends this year, and find out who my best friends are (I have certainty for a few already.) Be going on dates at least once per week and have my options with women expanded. I want to help my close family and friends out as much as possible and help them achieve success.
Plan of Action:
-Activate tinder and online dating profile apps.
-Attend the program Toast Masters
-Increase conversational skills and decrease anxiety with this (especially with random people)
-Cut people that are net negatives out of my life. Stop reaching out to people that are dragging me down and spend minimal time with them.
-Reach out to friends and family as much as possible and help them out.
-Continue building confidence and becoming a man of extreme value.
-Watch at least one video per week from RSD and read some books on relationships.
Anyways guys, doubt most of you are still with me here after I just babbled out about 30290483 goals. If you are thanks I appreciate it
2017 is my first year that I decide what I want to do for myself and I have my own place to do that. I don't feel trapped and pessimistic anymore. I feel free and optimistic to crush it this year! I look forward to updating this thread on Sunday nights and seeing how far I can take myself this year. Hopefully I can provide some interesting content for some of you guys and help out if at all possible!
The slate is clean and there is 0 excuse not to do this. The time has come. I don't want to leave anything on the table this year. Life beckons...
Will give my weekly update tracking template in post below.
Thank you my friends, 2017 is here let's get it!!!
Mike
i wouldnt mind talking some lineups etc in the future if your interested. i currently only have 1 other guy to talk DFS with haha
