So, this was WCOOP month. I figured it was the most important month in the year but realistically consistency matters most throughout the year. In principle, it's great to get used to playing a full festival schedule and working very hard for 3-4 weeks. When I play the $200-$10K+ buy-ins at high stakes in a few years, the WCOOP will be huge. For Mid stakes though, it's only 3-6 tourneys per day that I'll play which are all high variance. The daily grind doesn't change that much other than the player pool being slightly softer and tourneys generally being higher variance.

I'm not playing 10Ks yet though. I haven't had a full series of high-quality Pads- like grinding for 3-4 weeks straight. However, I am grinding way more and playing longer sessions with more + more tables whilst feeling good :).

Some other things are coming together too. Exercise and a good schedule are giving me more sustainable energy throughout the day. Sleep routines and diet are nearly there too, which will help. The attitude to keep pushing and striving for more is also getting stronger, which makes me more resilient to bad days and problems in life.
That's why I love poker. There's nowhere to hide your problems if failing isn't an option. My last big improvement and most important part of my routine is meditation/presence. Cracking this will significantly improve my life as a professional and a human, and I notice the biggest difference in myself and my standard of living when I don't meditate.

I know it sounds cheesy, but there' so much to it. The problem is you can't explain the experience of improving in meditation because you aren't thinking at the time (if you're good). Believe me though, it's my #1 daily priority.

Of course though, there are always way more things I want to improve. Poker wise this starts with awareness of weaknesses, which is why evaluating my collecting results after playing is so useful. That's actually how I start writing tis blog.

Energy wise, it's Tv that's my biggest enemy. I don't feel rested after it, and it almost always lasts longer than I plan. This effects sleep too and stops future recovery time at night. Study also misses out which is MASSIVE in this journey. There's no substitute for putting consistent time into poker, ever. If I don't study, I have to accept that I will plateau in terms of ability, which I can't accept. Poker is always about the journey and consistent improvement.

Another weakness this month/ summer has been a mental game one. It's a subtle form hate losing tilt, where I don't like to lose money on the day. It never effects my in game performance because I'm not scared of money at all, I just associate the time I put in on previous days to results today. This can actually help on big Sundays as pushing for break even days can be really important, but overall I'd be more happy with aggressive investment strategies when it comes to poker tournaments at these stakes. So really it's about controlling this rather than removing it, but I have a plan.

Lastly, my schedule is important for work-life balance and energy to study and play long hours. This means that I want to TRY and start earlier always. That give me more control in my day, and I have the energy left to run spots or see people later on at night after my session. Also, it can shock myself out of de-motivated states of mind (especially on weekends), where others have time off. Nobody wants to live their 'dream job' and be sat on their own all Friday/Saturday knowing that the biggest day by a mile is still to come (Sunday) with little social interaction. Also, if I start early, I always push my session longer. There's only so far you can push after 10 PM imo because I need sleep and juicy tourneys to play. But, the problem is a 1-5 PM launching session < 4-8pm launching session (at least I think). If nothing else though, poker allows you to be flexible, so picking and choosing working hours to fit your week must has to be utilized. Shift workers all over the world would kill for that.