( Pisałem po angielsku, więc nie chce mi się już tłumaczyć na język Mickiewicza :))
I think this is a very important subject, with which I've been struggling for many years. In the past, I've often caught myself on changing my goals based on the heater I was experiencing at the time. I've had a pretty sick beginning of February, made shitload of money within the first 3 days (10% of yearly goals in 3 days? Huh.. that's not bad, isn't it?).
But this time it was a little different. This time I could control the sense of immortality, so my ego hasn't gone up through the roof. I just kept on rolling, and tried to play the best poker at any given time. However, as strange as it is, I still made a couple bad decisions, based on the fact that I was running hot, and making a mistake didn't seem to be that hurtful at the time. What's interesting, I did the most bad plays on NL200. If you play NL200-NL2k stakes, sometimes NL200 seems like play money – it happens especially after I grab a big pot on NL2k.
The great technique that helps to keep it all in perspective is making hand history notes, during or after the session. I mark hands that have a big impact on the final score but aren't visible on the adjusted win-rate graph. I analyze:
– how often did I hit my equity in a 4bet pot
– how often I had a positive/negative cooler
– how often my opponents 3betted me
– how often I grabbed a pot pf when 4/5betting
– how often I won 4b/5b pot that was played post flop
– how often my opponents hit their small equity in a big pots
The ultimate goal, is trying to not attach to daily, weekly, or even monthly results. I want to achieve such mindset, that I am able to concentrate only on the big picture. I'm sure this ability would decrease the negative impact the bad periods have on my life, therefore it would increase my overall level of well being. Of course it's just a theory, and the real life verifies it all. I know there would still be periods of both bad and good variance that would have a negative impact on my mood and my productiveness.
That's why I believe the work should never stop. Quoting one of my personal mentors, Sir Richard Branson's 'Life Is A Never Ending Learning Process', 'Many times, when I was at my low, I would lose the urge to learn new stuff. Although when I'm in a positive mental period, I would like to learn something new every day, I'm hungry for knowledge.'
The main conclusion is, don't get fooled by the periods of good variance, which make you feel pretentious about how you have it all figured out. Work hard on a daily basis, and it would eventually get You closer to being the best poker player and the best person You can be. Remember, one brick at a time…
