Gotta rush off to go on family holiday for a week!

That Kit Kat is still in my drawer!

Smashed through pull-ups and push-ups yesterday. Did quite a few more negatives after my "I want to quit" moment! Those are the ones that count!

Already been for run (okay it is a jog!) this morning and went a bit further (and faster) again!

===

Quick summary for the day...

===

I studied for 100+ minutes (target 90)...

Again it was over this but hard to measure.

GTORB / review notes / session review.

===

I played poker for 100 minutes (target 60)...

Feel really good. Mindset better every day!

===

I meditated for 10 minutes (target 10)...

Box breathing, non guided.

===

I studied mental game for 15 minutes (target 10)...

This part of MGOP is VERY good for me...



===

So now it is time for a break!

Kind of a shame as feel like everything is building huge momentum. Maybe the rest will do will me good though. I am sure it will!

Good luck at the tables amigos. Just keep trying!

XXX

Browsed through this thread and figured i would put my 2 cents in. First off BPC is a horrible scam Gordon or Nathaniel is his real name is a fraud. What he does is collects $500 from everyone and expects people to put in a crazy amount of volume while getting a piece of each students rakeback. His graph is super old I have no doubt that he would get crushed in today's games. His business model basically will always get 1 person who makes it to $60k for every 400 who don't make it. There's no 1 on 1 coaching and he uses what few do make it Hans or Iamachampion for marketing. I remember Iamachampion even said he doesn't attribute his success to BPC rather the 1 on 1 hu coaching he paid for with Krab. Not to mention in the early days his hu model was bum hunting on steroids. The only good thing about BPC is they help with a never quit attitude which definitely has value. I never did BPC CFP I just purchased his HU mastermind coarse and i worked at PayPal at the time so I looked up his account and saw the complaints. Fortunately, I was able to find my way to play for a living without BPC. What I really admire about you is how diligent you are about keeping a blog recording results and going through hands. The amount of work you put into this thread although im not sure how long of a time span it has been but you should be at midstakes by now. I wonder if you might progress better with a different coach. Some people can beat the game but can't teach. U have put more work into your game on this thread than i have my entire life. U have inspired me to start being more disciplined. If I were you I would go public with your graph while under BPCs instruction. They need to be outed, and you are a perfect example of someone who did everything they said and couldn't get there. If coaches went through your database and said "I can't figure out why you are losing you are doing everything right" shame on them. This is 2017 we have leak tracker and PT4 if you are losing after that volume and your ev line isn't 40 bi above your money line then there are definitely leaks that need to be plugged. It frustrates me that you aren't crushing the game with all the work you have put in. I too am a hu player and while it is harder to get action I still play hu HE and plo cuz it's only format that gets me double digit WR. I suggest hiring Alan Jackson's database analysis. It's not cheap but you definitely have the sample size I guarantee his analysis will point out every single spot where you are bleeding money. I truly believe that you are very close to climbing the stakes fast you just need to spend more time with HEM and PT4 and less time with mental coaching as it seems u have that down.

Omg so so sorry for wall of text. I was so fired up about BPC i forgot what paragraphs were. Flame away.

You might have missed the part where he says he does not work with BPC anymore. I coach him now and I did spot plenty of leaks. Why do you think I let him study defense vs cbet in certain spots? Because it was a massive leak. Same for many other things. Obviously nobody loses over a huge sample at those stakes if they have the right technical skills and he is aware of that now.

He works plenty on his technical game (at least I tell him to) and I do believe mindset is something that you need to work on all the time, no matter if things go good or bad.

Fantastic holiday, amazing in fact. Family time is just the best thing in the world!!!

Honestly, poker-wise I am struggling to get back into the fantastic "groove" that I was in just before my holiday (been back 3 days). In a way I understand that (back to work, kids back to school etc) but at the end of the day it is (mentally) weak and separates okay from excellent.

That's not to say I have done nothing by any stretch of the imagination. It is just not to the standards I am trying to set for myself.

I have played a few sessions and done my meditations and a small amount of study.

I have done my exercise workouts every morning before breakfast and have pushed my boundaries every time. At the moment that is my main focus on almost everything I do - PUSHING MY PERCEIVED LIMITS.

---

Yesterday...

I studied for 50 minutes (target 100)...

- Session review (all spots good).
- 15 hands BB v BTN facing flop cbet (review and quiz)

---

I played for 100+ minutes (target 100)...

Mental game is massive for me in game now. Honestly I cannot believe how bad my mental game was (and still is). Improvements are showing and they are obvious to me as I play. Long may the improvement continue!

---

I meditated for 10 minutes (target 10)...

Hard to imagine playing without doing this first now. Affirmations/visualisations too.

---

I studied mental game for 15 minutes (target 10)...



Up to pdf page 80 "Fear profile"

---

So yeah, a large part of my focus is on my mental game leaks right now. It is crossing over into my non poker life a lot too. I have realised how effed up my mind really is lately and what a waste of potential I have been.

I am ready for my next poker coaching session but I am also very aware of previous mistakes I have made (in life as well as in poker) with regard to learning strategy. I do not want to overload myself with information.

Life is very exciting for me right now...

Hated my workout this morning! Went for a run (I hate running) and ended up back at home, lying on the floor in a heap, gasping for breath with a face like a beetroot!

On my way round I saw two people running together chatting. I immediately thought "what is the ****ing point of getting up at 0600 to go running if you are not really pushing yourself?". And at the point I realised that that is pretty well what I have spent MOST OF MY LIFE doing! Sailing along happily in my comfort zone!

Pretty sickening thought to be honest. I am (extremely) happy to say that I am getting out of that now and I am pushing myself as much as I can.

(Exception: When I did CFP at BPC I worked my ass off. The only thing I got out of that was learning that I can get by on 4.5 hours sleep a night for 14 months. That actually kind of made it worth doing! Oh I learned a few other things about how NOT to do some things too I guess ).

I really pushed myself working out. In fact I am injured now. Feels pretty good to have pushed myself that hard. Hopefully learned a good lesson there.

Almost everything I am doing at the moment is mind or "mental toughness" related. At the poker tables I am focused almost 100% on watching my mental game.

I am on a MINI-heater at the moment so it has almost been disappointing to not "test" my mental game! Last night, however, for most of the session I was card dead or folding the bottom of my range and I was thinking "good job, you are playing your A-game and saving money here" - a totally different state of mind for me. And then I flopped quads versus a fish and ended up booking a small win!

---

Yesterday...

I studied poker strategy for 40 minutes (target 100)...

Fail. No excuses but I actually had something better/more important to attend to!

---

I played poker for 100 minutes (target 100)...

Mental game is so much better. And I have only just got started on this!!!

---

I studied mental game for 15+ minutes (target 10)...

Actually this is way off. I am doing so much "life" mental game work at the moment that this is probably 240 minutes! #mentaltoughness

The Mental Game Of Poker (Study Notes)

FEAR PROFILE

Before addressing the fears I need to recognize and understand.

Best way is to identify patterns of doubt, anxiety and fear.

Questions:-

- What situations usually cause doubt, anxiety or fear?
- What are earliest signs of fear?
- Do I struggle with any of the things listed at start of FEAR chapter (answer was YES). Describe them in more detail.
- Can I identify the point when anxiety goes from helping to being excessive and causing problems?
- How do I experience anxiety (eg heart races, sweating, nausea, dry mouth, foot/hand tapping etc)?

Analyse my patterns and think about the below five common symptoms of fear. People view these as inherently bad and negative but they are not. They are associated with the underlying flaw(s) causing my fear. Understand them to get a step closer to removing and solving my anxiety and fear problems.

FIVE COMMON SYMPTOMS OF FEAR

1. OVERTHINKING
Fear makes my mind race, go round in circles and obsess over one thing. It is because the mind cannot find the answer to the underlying question. Because the antidote to fear is certainty the mind does everything it can to find the answer. When desperate it continues to exhaustion or distraction.

The mind is limited to a finite number of things it can think about at one time so WRITE DOWN MY THOUGHTS/WHAT I AM WORRIED ABOUT. This makes it easier to figure out the underlying questions I want to answer. Once the questions are identified, write out the answers.

Overthinking creates confusion and clutter in the mind. Like having a cluttered desk - I cannot find what I am looking for. Writing things out helps to unclutter it and then use the mind more efficiently to find answers.

---

Up to pdf page 80 - "2. NOT TRUSTING YOUR GUT"

---

I meditated for 10 minutes (target 10)...

Took a look at "The Honest Guys" on Youtube. Might be worth a look, tried one and was a 7/10 imo. Will try another one...

---

It's all good. Really good.

I almost despise being "comfortable" right now. I sure wish I hadn't spent 46 years being so comfortable. What a waste. Plenty of time to make up for it! Let's go!

---

Lol! No worries man - thanks for posting. Agreed with a lot of your points tbh. Except mental game comment - for me anyway. Victor cleared up the rest imo. GL.

Be careful. It's great to want to push yourself, but feeling as if you haven't pushed yourself when this entire blog is about pushing yourself can definitely be a mental leak.

Maybe you push yourself too hard? The people jogging and chatting, yeah they're not pushing themselves. But instead, they're getting exercise in while enjoying themselves. To each their own, but in the end people wind up remembering the good times, not that extra 5% that they gave on a couple of work outs.

And maybe that's something you can extend to your poker life. Spending 2 1/2 hours studying a day is great. But it isn't necessary. Right now, you're at 10nl. You should easily have the tools to crush it. It doesn't take GTO or exhaustive cbetting studying to beat the game. It takes ABC, value betting, and not paying off. You may be better off now just playing more than you're studying so that you can jump up in stake levels, where all of your studying is sure to pay off. Good luck!

Do yourself a favour and look up some basic novice running advice/plans. Running as hard as you can to "push yourself" is lol-noob mistake #1. Even elite runners run the majority of their training at conversational pace. Running hard every run is counter productive. You'll get injured (hint - that's not a good thing as you seem to hint at), you'll burn out, and it won't have the extra training effect you think it will.

KP does seem to lean towards masochism at times.

Today I am going to the horse racing! We go to Stratford Races at this time every year now since my stag do in 2012. Could be painful tomorrow!

Yesterday...

I studied poker strategy for 60 minutes (target 100)...

It's okay as I transferred time to studying mental game as that is something I am really focused on right now as I have found a big "improvement opportunity".

I studied my notes from previous coaching sessions.

---

I played poker for 140 minutes (target 100)...

Really good session. I lost but my mental game was great. Had a cool hand where I 3bet QQ (COvMP) and 3 barrelled my over pair to get called down by AA. Standard but it was a good opportunity to observe my mind. It wasn't perfect but it was pretty good!

I was card dead a lot but I feel really good at the tables lately, totally different in fact.

---

I studied mental game for 45 minutes (target 10)...


---

Up to pdf page 81 "GENERAL STRATEGY"...

Also spent some time reading through my TILT PROFILE and updating some things.

---

I meditated for 10 minutes (target 10)...

Used The Honest Guys again, quite liking their stuff.

---

I'm really on a high at the moment (more than usual). I feel like I am finding my purpose and learning how to realise my potential a lot more.

Time for some beers... Have a great weekend amigos!

---

Thanks for the great advice as always Ron. I hope you are still enjoying your running. Running has a totally different purpose for me - it is a mental exercise/test. I hate running.

---

I am just a beginner (so far)!

---

Thanks for the input and the good luck brah! The "pushing myself" is just the part of my journey I am on right now I guess.

Bolded was the hardest part for me to learn. So true.

Greetings KP24, hope all goes well

This is also an element and skill that can be hard to learn for some people like myself (who always try to push the next boundaries).

Interestingly i hit a long plateau (for a year) in lifting weights and talking to a coach (he was pro rowing athlete) he said that i need to go back to very light weights and train my very base endurance.

I view poker training in a similar way, altho only applied to studying . Playing in steady "auto-pilot" is like the long-run.

gl

What is the mental test? Are you trying to make yourself love it by hammering yourself at it every time? Are you trying to get better? Do you have any particular goals? Seems to me like the most rewarding and effective challenge would be to approach it intelligently and see how much you can improve.

Fwiw I think running is a fantastic sport. It's so simple and hassle free, and if you do it right can take you to some amazing places. It's also excellent for mental state as the meditative state you can attain while running is easily equal to, or even more effective than (imo), your standard meditation.

something tells me kp24 is a troll

lay u anything he isn't

I had a great day out at the horse racing! 10 of us met in the pub at 12.00 and 5 of us made it until midnight.

The other 4 were smashed but as I fully expect my kids to jump on my head the morning following a booze-up I try to miss a few rounds of beers out! Sunday was surprisingly "okay"!

I had 3 winners out of 7 races so I think I made a few quid. Just picked the best names of course - gambling is a mug's game!!!

---

I went to Wing Chun training last night. My neck is still really hurting me from Friday and I know that previously I would have not gone to class but would have taken a rest. I just told my instructor and did as much as I could. It actually loosened it up a bit but an hour after stopping I was slamming pain killers down my neck again!

I was awake at 0500 this morning as my neck seized right up overnight. I hauled myself out of bed (lying still is the WORST thing I can do) and went out for a run. F U running!

---

Yesterday...

I studied poker for 105+ minutes (target 90)...

1 x flop analysis v GTORB
3 x review previously analysed flops
1 x re-read coaching notes and make short notes for pregame routine

---

I played poker for 85 minutes (target 90)...

Whoops, miscalculation of time. Wound my session down before realising and going back for 5 mins seemed EV-.

Playing A-game much more lately but still gotta work a lot on fear and confidence issues.

---

I meditated for 10 minutes (target 10)...

Box breathing plus some visualisations.

---

I studied mental game for 30 minutes (target 20)...

It is kinda huge for me at the moment so doing a bit extra on this for a while. Probably will reduce again after next coaching session (Thursday).



Up to page 82 "COMMON FEARS"

---

Same plan for today... Overcome self-perceived limitations...

---

To see how much I am prepared to suffer. To observe my mind under extreme stress.

---

Hmm...



No. I do live under a bridge though!

---

I had to wave the white flag last night!

Neck was hurting still and I had taken all of the recommended doses of paracetamol and ibuprofen. I envisaged a night lacking in quality sleep so ended my session a little early and hit the sack.

If I could get to sleep quickly AND sleep through I could get a massive 7 hours 30 minutes sleep. I somewhat doubted it though as last few nights my neck seized up in the night and kept me awake.

BUT... I slept through! AND my neck feels a bit better today! I will train Wing Chun tonight but take it carefully and hopefully it will be gone fully by tomorrow.

Such an old decrepit git these days!!!!

---

Yesterday...

I studied poker for 110+ minutes (target 90)...

1 x flop analysis v GTORB
3 x testing myself on old flop analyses
Reviewing coaching notes from Victor

---

I played poker for 60 minutes (target 100)...

Just had to cave in to the need for rest! And the wife had me making stuff for her school kids too!

Mental game improvements were really good again. I think it is largely a reflection of how bad my mental game was before but my study of The Mental Game Of Poker seems to be really paying off.

---

I meditated for 10 minutes (target 10)...

Box breathing and visualisations.

---

I studied mental game for 25+ minutes (target 20)...

The Mental Game Of Poker (Study Notes)

COMMON FEARS

FEAR OF FAILURE
Failure has different meaning for different people. For some it just means missing a goal but for others it DEFINES THEM.

Fear of failure is not necessarily bad as it might force me to work hard and succeed. For some people though it can be disastrous!

In competition someone has to "fail". Fearing it might be me is common. The pressure to succeed causes over thinking decisions, only playing when feeling perfect, obsessing over lost hands (all symptoms that I have). These things all make failing more likely.

Common advice about fear of failure makes the solution seem simpler than it really is (for most). The fear of failure is often caused by underlying flaws that are not well known. Resolution can only happen when ALL of the flaws causing this fear are fixed.

LIST OF TYPICAL UNDERLYING FLAWS THAT CAUSE FEAR OF FAILURE (players typically have more than one):-

- HIGH EXPECTATIONS: Having ideas of how much I should be winning, how high my win rate should be, what stakes I should be playing. When they are not met I am unable to understand why I fail. That causes anxiety and fear. Solution is to turn expectations into goals. A goal is slightly different as it is something to strive for and I know there are necessary steps that need to be taken to get there (whereas an expectation is just supposed to happen). Seeing it as a goal hopefully means I will make adjustments to learning strategy when the goal is not met rather than taking no action to find the cause of failure. Having high expectations causes fear of failure because I have not learned how to use failure to help me succeed.

- CHOKING IN BIG SPOTS: Not knowing WHY one chokes in big spots can cause fear to develop. Not knowing WHY means I am unable to prevent it or see it coming. Then this uncertainty makes me protective against failing, causing further paralysis and thus making it more likely to happen again. Choking over a big decision happens when accumulated fear rapidly overwhelms the brain shutting off thinking. Identify the underlying cause of the fear and follow the steps in section Accumulated Emotion.

- TRYING TO CONTROL WHAT YOU CAN'T: Spending time trying to control variance or other players means I am less focused on playing well. These things are out of my control. I must keep my focus on controlling what can actually be controlled and work on better understanding the factors that I cannot control.

- FAILING TO SEE SUCCESS: If I don't recognise actual successes (however small) then it appears I am failing at a higher rate. Search poker history for previous successes and recognise them. Do this steadily over a few weeks.

- TRYING TO WIN EVERY SESSION: Cash players often believe it is possible to win every session. Then if I lose one session it means I have failed! This is an expectation that is beyond reach - so everything short of it becomes failure. To solve this prove that it is unattainable and realise why I don't even want it to be so. Set realistic goals rather than unreasonable expectations.

- THINKING SUCCESS SHOULD BE EASY: If success comes easy for a while then it may cause struggle when one hits the first setback. Fear quickly sets in "will I ever win again?". Setbacks are normal. Learning how to get back to work during a setback is a skill (so develop it!).

- THINKING YOU'RE A FAILURE: If failing in poker makes me feel like a failure then there is a lot more on the line than just money. This type of fear manifests by not trying hard, not putting the hours in, not working on game enough. If I did those and still failed it would be too much for my confidence to handle. An underlying confidence problem is the cause of this fear. Restore confidence and the fears disappear (see Chapter 8). Be aggressive in correcting the underlying cause(s) of my fear of failing. Expect setbacks (normal part of learning). Setbacks are NOT failure.



---

Up to pdf page 83 - "Fear Of Success"

---

I think 7 out of the last 9 days have been sugar free! And on the other 2 it was negligible. I made sure to ask the wife not to put Kit Kats in front of me now though!

Are you not concerned with the long term effects on your health of regularly getting <7 hours sleep?

I hit bad traffic driving from work to Wing Chun. It takes about 50 minutes usually and I was approaching half way and it was looking unlikely I would get there on time. I would usually take the easy option and take the fork in the road home, especially as my neck was still sore. Kinda forced myself to push on and it felt pretty good afterwards! Neck is back to 90% now!

Almost had a sugar free day until I realised I had had tartar sauce with my scampi! Damn that ****!

---

Yesterday...

I studied poker for 115 minutes (target 90)...

Made a quiz for "flop OOP as PFR"
Took my quiz for "flop BB v BTN SRP"
Reviewed and re-wrote coaching notes

I just realised I am not reviewing my played sessions. Back on it tomorrow!

---

I played poker for 90 minutes (target 90)...

Mental game work is becoming really good fun now.

If I am card dead my attitude is "yeah, I am still here, come at me variance!"

I lost a medium pot and did not know in the moment if it was a mistake or bad luck or whatever and my thought is "I did what felt right, don't get involved in mind ****, play the next hand the best I can and maybe review it later..." (turned out it was something I don't expect to know yet and trying to learn it right now would clutter my mind so move on).

I am almost in a situation where I WANT to be tested by some bad variance but I am running okay lately!

---

I meditated for 10 minutes (target 10)...

This is one I really like...

I settle myself in and calm my breathing. Then I just breathe in normally. On the out breath I recite one letter of the alphabet and go through the alphabet as per normal.

So breathe in... Breathe out and think "A"... Breath in... Breathe out and think "B"... And so on.

The idea is that it is something really easy to do whilst also just observing where my thoughts go. Having the alphabet there just helps to notice when I have gone off on a tangent and is something to bring myself "back" to.

I really like it, give it a try!

---

I studied mental game for 30 minutes (target 20)...

20 minutes studying and making notes of TMGOP and then an extra 10+ minutes going deeper into my "Fear of Making Mistakes".

The Mental Game Of Poker (Study Notes)


Up to pdf page 84 "Fear of a Bad Run"

---

Loving every minute of this journey lately. But I have probably written that a thousand times!!! Seems as long as I feel growth I feel really good!

Coaching with Victor tonight!

---

No, not one tiny bit concerned. I think if I needed more sleep my body would tell me so. If I was using an alarm clock in the mornings and feeling shattered/desperate for my bed each night then I would probably feel concerned.

FWIW 6 to 6.5 hours seems to be my "norm" for the last 6 months or so. Beats the hell out of all those 4.5 hour nights struggling to meet the demands of BPC!

hows poker results?

That's not really the way it works though - you feel good, until you don't, and by that time it's too late.

It's not about feeling tired. There is a bunch of evidence that lack of sleep increases risk of mortality, as well as links to stroke, alzheimer's, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, respiratory issues, mental health issues, lack of productivity and many more.

Great day! I did 45 minutes extra study AND had my coaching session.

In the coaching Victor found lots of problems with my thought process. Also I had over compensated in a spot we worked on at the last session. A lot more work is needed in GTORB but that was totally expected.

We worked on my play OOP as PFR in the previous session and I have not drilled that hard enough. In fact I have hardly drilled it at all. I have still been drilling the BB v BTN flop stuff until the last week or so and I know I will still have to return to that BB work a lot.

I need to work on turn and river now as well. We looked at quite a few hands where I made bad decisions, often weakness. I need to re-watch the session but I think it is going to be hard for me as it was quite a wide ranging "topic". I will re-watch it and write here what I am working on exactly...

---

I went for a run this morning and pushed myself harder than my last one by running a bit further/for longer. A couple of times my mind was making excuses like "take a breather, walk for 10 seconds" but I managed to tell myself to suck it up and push on.

I also had similar thoughts with my poker study but made myself do a little bit more. I think the mindset work from running is starting to roll over into other things now. AKA I am not being such a fairy!

---

Yesterday...

I studied poker strategy for 135 minutes + 90 minutes coaching (target 90)...

50% extra PLUS coaching! Gotta be good!

2 x Flop analysis v GTORB for UTG v BTN
1 x Take quiz for OOP as PFR
1 x Re-write coaching notes from previous

---

I played poker for 30 minutes (target 45)...

Coaching got brought forward a little so I did not play before the session. Afterwards my brain was totally fried and I did not really want to play. Kinda forced myself to put a little session in but I played lower stakes than recently.

---

I meditated for 10 minutes (target 10)...

Guided from The Honest Guys as I needed calming from outside!

---

I studied mental game for 20 minutes (target 20)...

The section I am currently studying is pretty massive for me. Must come back to it and do some big work...



---

Up to pdf page 85 "Risk Aversion"

---

So another great day, always feel really good after days like this. Feel like I left nothing out there and did my best.

Tonight Helen and I are going away for the weekend to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary! A nice hotel with swimming pool/spa etc and hopefully a couple of nice meals in the restaurant. Really looking forward to it.

Have a good weekend amigos. Keep pushing!

What happened!? Personal issues kept me away from blog for a while. Nothing to worry about and not going to explain. Not much poker happened for 10 days (but some)...

Dear Diary...


Fulfilling My Potential

Positives (Poker)

1. Targeted longer sessions without break (but still take regular ones) so I can increase volume. Conclusion: Did it but must be wary on work days that I don't slip into auto pilot.
2. Get out of comfort zone with bluffing turns/rivers and calling turns/rivers. Conclusion: Better. Will be expensive for a while! So study it!
3. Check raise. Conclusion: Better. Watch the board!

Negatives (Poker)

1. Had an opportunity to study for 30 minutes in the morning when family were all busy. I started and got distracted (not even sure what by). Conclusion: I will let me off this time as it was unplanned. Fulfilling potential involves taking these opportunities by the scruff of the neck so do not waste them!

---

Positives (Non Poker)

1. Spent 100% quality time with my daughter and her friend. We learned how to make slime! We made 4 batches! Conclusion: When my family do actually get my time give them 100%, no looking at pc, no mobile phone, no nothing! WP.
2. Helped my wife prepare stuff for an event she is organising at school. Chopping up wood and smashing pallets up for fire wood. Conclusion: Family time - give 100%. WP!
3. Spent 1 hour checking over finances regarding my property portfolio and checking the current market. Conclusion: I need to make sure I keep some focus on this and not take for granted the hard work I already put in.
4. Cold shower. Hot shower then 25 seconds of cold shower. Conclusion: Out of comfort zone AND feels great afterwards!

Negatives (Non Poker)

1. Wife hinted that we (the other 3 in our house) don't show our appreciation for all the good things she does for us. Conclusion: She is right. I will teach the kids how to do this and will make sure to do a better job of it myself. A trip to the florists to start methinks!

---

I studied my last poker coaching session in great detail. I spent some time in GTORB. I have realised that I had no understanding of poker before this and my eyes have been opened (or maybe the blindfold has been removed).

Currently my game is going through a huge change. A totally different way of thinking (I am not necessarily saying it is going to be profitable). It is going to take me out of my comfort zone a lot. I need to keep working on my mental game and keep drilling in my study.

---

Thought for today...

"Listen pu**y, stop asking yourself what the least you need to do is, and start asking yourself how much you can bear" - Tom Bilyeu

Posters in this thread it's time to stop. When certain individuals continue to follow a dream but take no time to consider the feedback or advice of anyone posting it can mean only 1 thing. They have a vision that they are going to follow and if any advice is valid it will still not be considered. Time to let him go and believe he will make it to pro level.

Hi! Thanks for the valuable post. I would just like to expand on a couple of things...

The "take no time" bit is not accurate. I mean, yes, if somebody says "you suck, quit poker" I don't give it a second thought but I do consider most of the advice.

This isn't about a vision of making it to pro level anymore. This is a journey. This is about the process. I no longer have a fixed mindset. I have learned more about myself on this poker journey than I learned in school, at college or from anything else in life.

I still love playing poker. I still enjoy studying (especially now I just might be doing it "correctly"). But what I enjoy most of all is testing myself and trying to improve myself. I am just trying to bridge a gap between what I am now and my potential. Poker is just one of my vehicles for doing that.

Poker is not the be all and end all for me. I sometimes wish it was as then I would be really pushed! On the other hand trying to find a way to push without the motivator of desperation is also interesting for me.

Once again, thanks for the valuable post, I hope I explained myself a little.

Positives (Poker)

1. Check raise more - 10/10 (definitely did it more than ever in good spots).

2. Study every chance possible - 7/10 (super busy day but could fit some more in).

3. Barrel turns rivers more - 6/10 (need to study it more as I am just missing spots).

Negatives (Poker)

1. Finish session and cool down FAST - 1/10 (time is so valuable but I took too long to shut pc down and move on).

2. Prepare - 4/10 (I need to do some of my pregame/session prep earlier so on the days when I am really busy [wing chun, mon/weds etc] I can get more time at the tables).

---

Positives (Other)

1. Helped out more at home! - 10/10 (Angelic!)

2. Mindset - 9/10 (Doing everything better and bigger to achieve potential)

3. Other - Trained Wing Chun and a sugar free day!!!

Negatives (Other)

Can't think of any!

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Really good day. Got some clarity on a few personal goals and felt like a big step in achieving potential in life. There is more. Much more.

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Thought For Today

"Only those who risk going to far can truly find out how far one can go" - T.S.Eliot