The dress looks white and gold to me.

Ran really well all month long. I am happy with my grind and my processes. I need to step up my study habits next month, put in a few more hours and continue to give my best EFFORT towards IMPROVING my game. Very fortunate to run well above my hourly expectation over this sample.

I watched that whole llama video. I like how they Barry Sanders through groups of people a bunch of different times. I kept thinking how epic it would have been if someone had stepped up to the plate and just jumped on one, wrapped their arms around it and hung on.

Nice month man!

Haha, I know! I watched the whole thing too. It's kind of silly, but it was somehow mesmerizing.

And thanks

Does anyone know much about used cars? I'm thinking of getting one of these three:

http://www.crazycheapcars.com/web/us...y_type_id=2042

http://www.crazycheapcars.com/web/us...y_type_id=2042

http://www.crazycheapcars.com/web/us...y_type_id=2042

I don't know a lot about used cars but I prefer new cars just because of all the warranties and all repair costs etc. I myself change car every few years and had Mitsubishi Outlander twice in row. First one was manual but now I bought automatic just because it's a lot "funner" to drive in city.

Also you said you don't play video games at all anymore, I myself don't see point in quiting all video games. I enjoy playing all kind of games with my friends from time to time and good way to chill also. You just have to limit yourself so you don't go on those +10 hour playing sessions. ^^

I went with a new car a few years ago because it was easier to get approved for financing than for a used one. If you are looking to buy for cash then used is the way to go in terms of letting the first owner take the depreciation hit. Of those 3 you posted with all other things being similar I would probably go with the CRV since it has significantly fewer miles than the other 2.

Low miles is the key man, and making sure through carfax that the previous owner took it in for all the maintenance. I got a certified pre owned, and that definitely removes some of the worry, though it doesn't really matter that much I imagine. Depending on the company that usually gets you a 100k powertrain warranty along with some other warranties.

In terms of financing, I went with DCU (www.dcu.org), I have a 1.78 interest rate, which is pretty amazing. Though I have pretty solid credit, I was amazed to get such an interest rate considering I play poker for a living, and told them that. The dealership was considering matching the offer, but they could hardly believe the rate themselves so we didn't look into it much.

This is the site I used to compare cars and years. http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com...rankings/used/

Lastly, when I bought my car I took it for a quick test drive and decided it's what I wanted. I'd suggest checking out at least 3 vehicles before choosing. My car is nice, but now I'm pretty confident that I didn't need leather heated seats, or all that other features I got, and a slightly cheaper more eco friendly car would have been more optimal. They're nice, but now I'm thinking if I got a car it'd either be something like a prius or a FRS, though I'm leaning towards SUVs now myself, considering a Rav4 or the like, perhaps something that can tow a boat that I'll want to keep for 3-5 years.

Oh, and don't forget, low miles. A lot of cars have basically no need for maintenance outside of oil changes, maybe air filter, simple stuff, till about 60k miles. Then between 60k-100k there start to be some more serious maintenance issues. I'm not sure if timing belts still tend to die around 100k, but it's something to keep in mind, the regularly scheduled maintenance of the vehicles.

I would also do some research on the reliability of the different makes and models. Some have known issues that can be really expensive.

Thanks for the tips guys. My current car is getting really old. I'm really focused on increasing my savings right now, and I hate to part with a chunk of cash, but it's really on it's last legs. I will probably end up taking a couple months to research and decide and milk some more life out of my car, but it needs work and I don't want to spend money on repairing it when I'm about to get rid of it. I'm thinking something along the lines of those examples I linked is what I'm targeting.

Played some tournaments today, and had mixed success. I finished up a bit, but I can see that it's not the best idea for me to play a bunch of tourneys. One of the sites I play on doesn't have synchronized breaks, so as a result keeping to my normal break structure was problematic. I can see that for future Sundays, playing only one big weekly guarantee and then playing what cash I can find will be a better plan than trying to fire a whole flight of tournaments.

Ya the issue is for me is that for me to get real enjoyment out of a video game I know I would need to put in more than just an hour or two a week at it, and I just don't really have the time to put in the hours required to be proficient at the game and still achieve my other goals. It's tough enough to spend enough time with the girlfriend and get dinner with friends and catch up on reading I'm trying to get through and watch a couple TV series, etc. and then also put in the hours with the stable and study hours and get the hours I am targeting at the poker tables. It's all good, though - because right now I feel fired up to be doing these other things and pursuing these other goals so I don't even feel like I'm missing out or anything.

I do think I will just pay with cash, and that's what I'm thinking in terms of the depreciation hit. The Honda has the lowest mileage, only one previous owner, and it seems to be a better deal according to baseline KBB pricing. It seems like it also might retain better resale value. The Equinox has more miles, but it's a couple years newer and has more bells and whistles and luxury conveniences.

Ya I think I will go visit that place, and see about test driving those ones I linked and seeing how they feel. I'm tall, so a comfortable fit is a big priority. Hopefully I can get some sort of trade in value for what I have right now, too.

Ya good idea, I'll google around for maintenance issues on the different models.

Suburus are good cars too idk if 4wd is an issue for you but they regularly get voted in for 4x4's of the year, if you take care of them they run a long time, and they drive well and get good mileage.

Thanks, I'll check a few out.

edit: something like this would be amazing:

http://www.crazycheapcars.com/web/us...York/19780129/

that's too expensive for me, but perhaps I can find the right deal

Earlier I wrote about six basic human needs, and one of them being contribution. I wanted to seek out a preferred charity, and start giving on a regular basis.

The upside is that I will get extra periodic motivation to earn more so that I can give more. Also, I will feel a sense of fulfillment by supporting something I feel is important to the world. Hopefully the process does result in a true win/win scenario for both myself and the charity, where the personal benefits I receive are more than worth the "cost".

One of the first things I thought of when considering a charity was regenerative medicine research, and that's where I eventually decided to go. I found the above charity, and after some quick googling decided to sign up for a $25/month recurring donation. That's only $300/year, which isn't much, but hey, you gotta start somewhere and it's important to just go ahead take action and actually get started!

Made me smile. Kudos to you.

Good grinding today. I stuck to a healthy and regimented process, and it helped me play well. I was running hot early, and got to thinking about the dangers of running good lately. I've got to be mindful of various forms of winner's tilt (weaktight booking win behavior or overaggro invincible mode behavior, also laziness about sticking to the process or making mental excuses about why I can get away with breaking the process rules).

I was thinking, in order to get stronger, sometimes you need something to push back against (ie a bad run of cards). But really, being able to stay on top of things and do my best and maximize my earn when I'm running above expectation is just as important as doing so when running below expectation. I can view winner's tilt is that adversity to push back against.

Well, I ended up getting my wish and starting losing near the end of session. At first, I was kind of glad for the opportunity to work on variance tolerance, but when I lost a decent sized pot on my final orbit, I had a strong negative emotional reaction for a moment. I guess I wanted to lose a little, but in my mental fantasy plan only a little bit and not a lot. I felt like I should have just quit 15 minutes earlier instead of sticking out that last little bit, and I would have finished the session up more. I used good processes to combat that feeling, and breathed and injected logic about how it was good I stuck to the plan and finished the session out strong because I want to be able to log more total quality hours at the table, and also I have had plenty of these type of sessions finish with big wins at the very end. I should have been a bit more mentally ready for that last losing pot, but I was happy with how I cleaned up the mess.

Overall good effort today.

187.5/1000 hours
18.75% complete

I wanted to add something to the above thoughts. The last hand that bothered me, I was debating on whether or not to value bet the river or check back. It really was a clear value bet, but I was down to my last couple tables on my last orbits and starting to check email and such before finishing out the last 2 or 3 hands and I think in the moment part of the reason I was frustrated was because I was afraid the loss was a result of not using my best decision making processes (lack of focus). When I'm on my A game I just don't open a browser at all until the final table is closed, even if I'm down to just one table. I would have still made the same value bet, but I would have thought it through more thoroughly and been more prepared to get called and lose if I weren't distracted, and I need to be treating those final hands with respect.

I was in the car yesterday with my girlfriend, and we passed a pawn shop and I saw a guy carrying in a set of golf clubs and I commented on what a great business model pawn shops have. I don't exactly mean their profit margins or operating expenses in relation to square footage or that sort of thing, I mean that they inherently rely on poor people to make bad financial decisions, and they are there to take advantage of that. In fact, there are endless examples of similar things that siphon money away from the poor because they continue to routinely make bad choices with their money (it's not just poor people, but they are most prone to it).

I've been learning more and more about investing and money management skills, and it got me thinking to my upbringing and the habits I've learned and developed in life. I grew up in a poor household, and learned the "skills" associated with being poor: impulse buying, lack of saving, overspending, credit card misuse, etc. My mom still routinely intentionally bounces checks to this day instead of just waiting a few days for her paycheck to make a purchase. Over the course of her lifetime, it is literally thousands of dollars just on bounced check fees - if that was invested instead she could reasonably have more than $20k today just by developing a healthier habit with her checkbook. A lot of these "skills" we learn from our parents, whether positive or negative. If we weren't fortunate to be taught solid money skills growing up, we have to work extra hard as an adult to develop these skills.

I'm committed to saving 10% of everything I earn moving forward, and I find that developing better habits and skills makes the process easy. I signed up for a cash back rewards credit card that gives me 1% back on everything and 2% on gas/groceries type of things. I'm using that for all my day to day purchases, and making sure to pay the balance in full every month to avoid any interest payments. I put my emergency savings into an Amex savings account that pays 0.9% annual interest, which is a 30x increase over the 0.03% interest my BoA savings paid. My girlfriend and I have cut down a lot on our food spending, eating out and ordering delivery less often. When I want to buy something now, I save up the money first and look around for the best price and then make a good buy. In the past, I would have gotten so set on getting it right away I'd put it on credit and pay too much just so I could have it RIGHT NOW.

I'm coming to understand that being "good with money" or "bad with money" is just like any other skill that can be practiced and learned. By coming up with a more concrete plan for my future savings, it gives me a lot more life confidence and fires me up to save more and be more effective with my money. For a long time, it was a topic I just kind of always wanted to avoid, because on some level I understood I was messing up and and didn't want to face the problem.

This book helped me tremendously, both in formulating the specifics of a plan for my life savings path and eventual retirement, but also in understanding some deeper motivation concepts. It's especially important to poker players, because we don't have employers and thus we aren't eligible for 401k plans, and obviously we don't get that juicy 401k matching from employers either. With the use of IRAs and other investment vehicles, we can still make it all happen for ourselves, but we have to be especially mindful of it and avoid the temptation to just deal with it all "someday down the road".

http://www.amazon.com/MONEY-Master-G...mm_hrd_title_0

The precursor to taking this step for me was reading Outliers by Malcom Gladwell. The part of the book that most resonated me was the section comparing people with genius level IQs and their achievements in life, and how so much of that was dictated not by their IQ but by their "practical intelligence". A person of moderate intelligence who is "good at life" is SO much better off than a genius who didn't have anyone to teach them important practical life skills (not just money, but how to approach life in general, "street smarts", growth mindset, all sorts of stuff outside of book learning). We inherent so much of this from our parents, and as someone that didn't have the benefit of learning a lot of valuable life skills at a young age, I only wish I had come to understand the full value of cultivating these other skills earlier in my adult life. Better late than never!

http://www.amazon.com/Outliers-Story...words=outliers

Lastly, I can't link personal growth books without always coming back to the one that benefited me personally the most, and really helped me get my life pointed in a better direction. Your mileage may vary, but for meit is perhaps the best thing I've read:

http://www.amazon.com/Mindset-Psycho...ywords=mindset

One other thing I wanted to write about but forgot to include:

For a lot of my life, I had this notion that self-help was for losers. Self help clinics and seminars were a scam and just taking money from suckers, and to even entertain the concept of self-help was to admit there was something deeply flawed within me. If someone would suggest something to me, I would get defensive, and focus on what is wrong with them in order to mentally discredit their opinion.

I prefer the term personal growth to self help now. Instead of feeling like "what, you think there's something wrong with me? who the hell do you think you are anyways?", I understand that something is wrong with EVERYONE - no one is perfect! We all should be working on improving ourselves, and of course we all have things we need to work on. Coming from a fixed mindset, I know how scary it can be to confront our issues, and transitioning to a growth mindset has been so incredibly beneficial to me. It is a shame this type of practical intelligence is not mandatory in schools.

In the book Mindset, the author tells the story of a young person who always got good grades in school. Everything was easy for them in school, and they never had to try hard to get good grades. In fact, over time that child learned to take pride in the fact that school was easy, and they didn't have to work as hard as other students. They were deemed a "natural", and came to believe that "being smart" was just a built in part of their being. Parents and teachers heaped praise upon them. When they finally encountered classes in college that were very difficult, they were totally unprepared. They had not developed effective study and learning skills. They were unaccustomed to working hard at academics. More importantly, the idea that this new material couldn't be instantly grasped and mastered struck a devastating blow to their ego. Being the naturally smart kid who didn't have to try was their identity, and crucial to their self esteem. This student, full of potential, had learned such poor skills and was in such a poor mindset their natural reaction was to practice avoidance, and stop going to class and end up dropping out. We could make this exact same story with a little league baseball player, or any number of parallels.

If this resonates with you, I would urge you to read Mindset by Carol Dweck. If you already understand the true importance of effort and process as opposed to results, understand how to deal with and learn from failure, consider yourself lucky and thank your parents/mentors

I suspect that anecdote will strike home with a large portion of the poker playing community, it certainly does with me.

Will be reading that book.

First of all, great thread! I admire your self-aware, meticulous approach to your craft and always enjoy reading your updates. Mindset offers an important insight into human psychology and has benefited my life, too. I hadn't heard of the Tony Robbins book, but you've piqued my interest in it enough that I'll probably check it out.

I agree whole-heartedly with your last post; I've witnessed a similar development in my own attitude towards personal growth-oriented resources and have now read at least a couple dozen books along such lines. Some have been much more beneficial to me than others, but on the aggregate they've enriched my life very much. I hope the stigma associated with the "self-help" label dies soon.

Nice thread indeed, gonna follow.

I've read something like 35% of Robbins book so far, feels like a bit distended so far (maybe because I'm quite familiar with info I read so far), but probably won't give it up yet
The book Mindset got my interest since in that young person story is about I see myself. Thanks for recommendation, will check it out

I went through a phase where I was obsessed with self help stuff. Watching Tony Robbins, Jim Rohn as well as anything I could get my hands on about successful people. I never saw it as a negative thing. I just have always been ambitious and luckily I learned somewhere that if you want to be good at something you should have and almost need a mentor. Who better to have as a mentor than Tony Robbins who had coached people all over the world including mostly extremely successful athletes and business people.

I know what you mean however. This guy in a cheesy video telling you things you mostly inherently know and saying you can do whatever you set your mind to. I dont know why it seems cheesy. Once you come to realize it all of that self help stuff seems silly because it so simple. Like using visualization.

Honestly through fist hand experience I think I understand how this works. As a child I constantly daydreamed about doing well in baseball or hockey or whatever else I was interested in. I mean in an obsessed way. With these things I was generally pretty successful as well. I mean I also worked pretty hard for my success but having visualized the success before hand to the point of obsession I had trained my mind and body what it would feel like and the act of doing it seemed much more natural. Like it was something I was supposed to do. I think thats a good example of a simple self help technique that can be very strong. Seriously try it with anything. Golf for example before every single shot imagine the feeling of taking the shot as if you were physically doing it. I think visualization is a learned skill as well ( like anything) so its not something that wroks every time. There is variance involved. Overall though it has clear and studied benefits.

I am also osessed with money management to some extent. I wasnt taught it very much growing up and nobody teaches you finance in school systems which is a joke. I think because the only thing my parents ever argued about was money is why I have always been so determined to be financially independent. Absolutely saving and investing are soo important. It's amazing how few people do this but not surprising because like you said who teaches it to you?

I could talk about both of these subject all day but in interest of preserving your thread I will stop now. If you ever want to discuss any of these things feel free to get a hold of me! I'm kind of young but I feel I have a good grasp on a lot of this material as it has been something I have been extremely interested in for a while.

Who doesnt want to be a better version of themselves and have a larger bank balance? No matter what your reason both of those things are beneficial.

I'm naturally pretty good at not wasting money. I don't mind splurging if I really want something, but when I get something I don't really need it usually takes a lot to actually convince myself it's worth buying. I definitely think poker is great for learning the importance of building your net worth and money management though.