Goal Setting For 2017

So as the year draws to an end and I take the next two days off from grinding (mainly to get some uni work done before Jan 1st but also to take a break and come back refreshed) I thought I’d lay out some goals for 2017.

Before jumping right into the goals I’d like to go into a bit of detail about goal setting.

So at the start of every year PGC is littered with a good 100+ new (and some old) posters who set out goals for the year ahead.

“Here’s where I crush 2k17”
“Let’s make it happen this time”
“My journey to the top”
“Spinning My Way To-

You get the picture just insert a midly motivating title or you’re good to go. General rule is better you are, smaller your title needs to be, the stake you’re playing already attracts enough clicks, dw.

I’d guess around 1% (maybe 2%) of those people succeed and the large majority bail out within the first couple of months. This (in my eyes) is largely due to poor goal setting.

Poor goal setting often comes in the form of pure unrealistic and uncontrollable goal setting.

“Have a 1k month before April!!!!!!!!”

Let’s say you’re currently playing 25z, hell maybe even 50z. Unfortunately you have next to no control over whether you have a 20-30BI month within the first 4+ months of the year. This goal is entirely dictated by variance and a wasted goal to have on your mind.

“Always book a winning month”

Again variance see above ^

“Be at x stake by x”

Variance ^ (spotting the trend yet?)

“2017 2z -> 200z”

Again this in completely unrealistic not only since it’s incredibly hard to move up the stakes now, in the period of a year even if you did have the potential to make it to 200z (the irony is people who title their threads like this likely don’t) you’d have to run really well in regards to shot taking etc to get up to that stake.

And now I’m going to bring up a point, a point which I’ve brought up in this thread previously and will likely bring up many times in the future.

People aren’t good enough at taking accountability and looking into their current approach. The issue with a lot of these “Micro>High Steaks” “$1k month” goals is that’s all those people have. They take next to no interest in their current thought process and how they’re going to get there. They don’t mention potentially improving their routine, eating better, exercising etc. It’s just a narrow minded view which is just an empty dream in most cases.

Some of you may know that I browse a fair amount of threads and for most people (I should do this for everyone). I ask a simple question.

“What are you going to do differently next year?”

I feel if anyone out there is looking to make a proactive change in their life in or out of poker they need to take a massive look at themselves and think what they’re doing currently and why it’s bad instead of dreaming about what it would be like to be a sicko at the end of the year.

An issue with people who often do this is they have this “I’m a slob, now I’m going to crush” attitude, with no actual small fundamental goal setting.

This is the thing I want to see people have in their threads for the year ahead, it’s always eye catching to have some sicko vamos goal and everyone says “in glgl” but I think it’s way higher ev to nit pick what you’re failing at currently and make some small improvements so you give yourself a solid foundation to grow off so those long run goals are actually achievable.

With that being said here are my goals:

Have a set daily schedule for uni work and poker which fluctuates based off of Timetable/Lectures.

No caffeine after 6pm – I like warm drinks in the evening and I’ve bought decaff tea. This links in with the point below.

Sleep at least 7 hours a night with a constant fixed sleep schedule – Having those talks to 3am with flat mates or someone in the stable can be ev in some regards but a good schedule will be way higher when looking at long run ev. To have a good schedule I’ve installed f.lux on my computer which takes away harsh lights which harm sleep, I’ll try and have 20-30minutes after my session before I go to sleep to relax.

Exercise/Get fresh air – The Ev of doing this is way higher than people think. It doesn’t even have to be for long either, just a 15 minute jog or walk can do wonders to ones mindset. To make this be a successful goal I need to allocate time for it. I’ll say a walk everyday and a run Monday/Wednesday/Saturday and whenever I’m super tilted.

Play Piano/Keyboard 30-60mins every day – I feel having some balance off the felt and away from studies can be +ev and playing really takes my mind off everything else. Issue is with this as a side hobbie is there maybe isn’t enough room for self developement as I’d like (e.g from reading) but there’s something magical about music and listening and playing it which I just love.

Have time for other people in my life – I’ve be lucky enough to have a few friends who I can learn a lot from and who are definitely plus ev in my life. Whilst I can’t spend every hour of every day talking to them or visiting them it’s still important to make time for them.

Be efficient with my time – This ties in with the routine point but making the most out of every minute I dedicate to something. If I have a set time where I’m doing Fluid Mechanics Revision from 2pm-3pm I can’t waste the first ten minutes on my phone or procrastinating.

“Huh, no long term goals?”

Not really, I mean long term wise I just want to try and become a better person and poker player. I feel if I do all the above to a high standard there’s no reason why I wouldn’t be able to achieve lots from poker and uni/life.

I guess a mini one is putting myself in the best spot for the summer after exams where I’ll be playing poker full time for the holidays. I want to work as hard as I can on my game to put myself in the best position possible to make the most out of the 8hrs a day I can invest in poker during the summer.

I wish you all the very best for the year ahead.