Rough Start

Some lessons in life are easier to learn than others. The more difficult ones take a while to drill themselves into your head and usually only after repeated failures. This is known as "learning the hard way" as many of us know.

Being a naturally stubborn person, I have always been the type to try things by myself first and then read the instruction manual later. Of course this probably isn't the best approach to learning... it ends up taking much longer and is always more costly after things are said and done.

After many, many attempts to become successful at poker, and dozens of bankrolls later, I finally got to the point where I became profitable and started to really enjoy the game- not just because I was able to earn money but because I finally understood the mechanics behind it and mastered bankroll management. This took years of dedication and an ability to adapt to the evolving landscapes before me.

Persistence Is Key

Everyone knows the saying practice makes perfect. Well when I was a child I clearly remember one of my Physical Education teachers saying "No, perfect practice makes perfect!" and this somehow resonated with me for the rest of my life. If you are doing something wrong over and over you are just building up bad habits which could become even harder to correct as time goes on; this couldn't be more true in poker or in real life.

Building good habits while practicing or learning is certainly important. To be even more successful, however, it will take persistence and dedication to these things. Nobody becomes a professional overnight- these things take constant time, attention and sacrifice. After hundreds or even thousands of hours you will begin to see improvement across the board.

Any professional poker player will tell you that the real key to being successful is to never stop studying, learning and improving yourself. Dedicate as much time as you can to continually finding new ways to become more efficient and make less mistakes. Don't let small obstacles stand in your way because you can do anything you put your mind to.

Fear Of Failure

Bruce Lee once said "Fear is for others." Winners don't fear failure, they build on it, they embrace it's bitter lesson. They get back up and dust themselves off so they can try again with this newfound knowledge.

Every time I have failed in life it simply became a motivation for me to not do the same thing again. I have gone broke so many times I can't even begin to tell you- caused by everything from bad bankroll management, playing on tilt, playing drunk, playing while tired. In my personal life I can also say that I have seen rock bottom and was able to claw my way back up.

Each event was a learning moment for me and I slowly built myself up from there. Nobody is perfect so why are we all so scared of failure? Undoubtedly it is from the shame that accompanies these failures.

Table Selection

The one thing about most poker rooms is that if you don't like your game you can move tables. This is known as a "table change" and you can request it as long as there is another game to move to. If the players are annoying you, or the dealer is bad, or maybe the air-conditioner vent is blowing right on you. With online poker you will usually have a plethora of different games to choose from as well as other sites if you don't like your current setup. You don't have to always just "play the hand you're dealt".

In real life you can literally do the same thing. Don't like your job? Look for another one or transfer to a different location! Don't like the weather where you are living, well you can always move to a different climate. The only thing holding you back is yourself most of the time.

Sure you can just stick it out and keep doing what you are doing, hoping that things will eventually change, or you can get up and be the change. All too often we sit around waiting for something drastic to suddenly bring new light to a situation- that's not normally how things work in the universe though.

Your Body Is A Temple

The one thing you have in this world from the moment you are born til you die is your terrestrial body. Your health is entirely in your hands and that starts with treating your body right, both nutritionally and in regeneration. We know that staying up late, eating unhealthy food and ingesting drugs or alcohol are bad for us yet we rationalize these behaviors. "Oh I will change later" or "It's only a little bit" often comes to mind in these situations. If you don't eat right and give yourself enough time to rest and sleep it will catch up to you sooner or later.

I had always been a big fan of fast food, both for the convenience and the perceived value. In reality eating fast food isn't really fast or cheap especially if you consider the future health implications of heart disease and obesity. I also spent many years over-indulging in all forms of hedonistic pleasure like alcohol which could have easily cost me my life many times. I have been making it a point to limit my fast food intake as well as completely eliminating alcohol and drugs from my life so I can rebuild what health I have left and heal myself.

Since quitting drinking my body just feels ten years younger and my mind feels sharp as a razor. My mood is elevated and so are my energy levels. I don't have to sleep all day to get over my hangover and I feel productive again. I used to stay up til the sun would rise, drinking and gambling, then wake up in time to go to work so I could do it all over again the next night. Now with a regular sleeping schedule my life is starting to feel somewhat normal again.

Change Is Your Friend

Most humans simply hate change because it forces us to move out of our comfort zone and to do new tasks which involve breaking our beloved habits. Without change however there is no progress and without progress there would be nothing new in our lives. We can easily become complacent with what we know and are comfortable with which will end up hindering our personal growth.

You might be happy sitting at a table with a bunch of your friends, for example, content with making a few bucks here and there. Instead you should be looking for a table with amateur recreational players that you don't mind taking to value town, in order to maximize your profitability and time invested. Same thing with a job that pays a decent wage. You may be able to pay your bills but are you able to enjoy the lifestyle that you really want?

By challenging ourselves to change we can push our lives out of that dreaded rut that many of us get stuck in from time to time. Don't be scared of change because it could be the best thing that ever happens to you.