Tuesday, November 27, 2007

The Price of Success

As I am only a month and a half into my newly devised strategy to play poker profitably, I am on a very steep learning curve. I’m reading as much as I can – and not everything I’m reading has to do solely with poker. As you may have picked up from the bulk of my posts, I am relying on the power of goal-setting, combined with a basic poker savvy, to keep driving me forward.

I thought I would share the latest valuable nugget that might help you get over the next time you go bust:

There is an old saying: "Anything worth doing well is worth doing poorly at first." It is not practice that makes perfect; it is imperfect practice that eventually makes perfect.

Whenever you start something new, you can expect to do it poorly. You will feel clumsy and awkward at first. You will feel inadequate and inferior. You will often feel silly and embarrassed. But this is the price that you pay to achieve excellence in your field. You will always have to pay the price of success, and that price often involves the hard work of mastering a difficult skill that you need to move to the top of your field.

Source : Goals by Brian Tracy (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.)

2 comments:

Theologian78 said...

This is an interesting and well-written blog. If you keep working hard and keep your head straight (and keep in mind the quote from this entry), you should make a profit.

I've tried my hand at the "disciplined" approach, though my focus is on 1 Table SNGs and MTTs, not NLHE cash games. My results have been fairly mixed, but I've had the advantage of starting w/ a $350 bankroll, as opposed to your $30.

Keep up the good work, and I'll keep reading.

Damien said...

Thanks for the comment and in particular, the encouragement, it is really appreciated. I've had a go at the odd 1 Table SNG myself with a few wins sprinkled between the losses.

I'll stick to the cash games for the time being though, I'm enjoying the challenge.