Why Have a Poker Journal?
Poker is really a long-term game. It's really not that distinctive from investing, except you can't have someone else get it done for you. You've to make the money yourself. But you wouldn't invest without having an idea, keeping records, tracking results, analyzing new opportunities, and exploring new options. Right? Exactly the same will also apply to poker. Bad players (fish) never record anything. They never track anything. They don't make decisions today based on historic realities. They don't know the difference between playing your website they're on (or the table) and another sites in the poker world. They only sit back, blind in, and start playing. Fish don't play poker for the long-term. They play for the Right Now! This hand! This moment! This session! When they win they're thrilled. When they lose they're depressed. They are... in a word... VICTIMS!
You strive to become more than that, obviously. However, many players who strive to become more lose out on the Most Powerful Tool poker provides - HISTORICAL REALITY. Historical the reality is what HAPPENED. How it happened. Why it happened. Because, guess what... It'll happen again!
In the event that you don't keep records then you can't learn as quickly as you need to from your mistakes. Maybe you won't learn from them at all. Maybe you'll learn for a while and then forget about it again. Your poker journal is the manner in which you tap the most powerful poker tool that exists.
In the event that you don't keep records then you lose out on the Most Powerful Tool poker provides - YOUR BRAINPOWER. Your brainpower is what is going to get you in to the future. It's what's going to set the path for your future success or failure. Because... As a person thinketh... so is he! The Bible: Proverbs
You spend hours staring at a monitor, playing hands, making reads, learning lessons (good and bad). You read articles and books, speak with other poker players, and observe others who're more skilled than you. Where does all these records go? It can't just go in your head. Your face is really a horrible record keeper. It's manipulated by emotions, it's tons of non-poker work to accomplish, and it has a tendency to fail you at the worst times in poker. So, instead of relying on your mind, rely on your poker journal. A poker journal never forgets. You must review it often. And the fact you have recorded things, will prompt one to expand them and think about them more.poker88 slot
The how's and why's of keeping a poker journal.
Hopefully I've convinced you that the poker journal will really add value and brings about your poker game. Basically the HOW is simple. Just start doing it! But, here are a few things I've done for years with my poker journal. Hopefully you should use a number of them.
When you can keep a poker journal electronically on your desktop, I don't recommend it. And while any old spiral notebook will do, I'd encourage you to obtain something more substantial. Your following time out, have a shopping trip for a journal. About electronic journals, think of it in this way; just how many computer files can you will find from 3 years ago? Not many. Exactly how many pictures do you have from your childhood? Probably quite a few. Physical things are permanent, electronic files are easily lost, forgotten or damaged. So go for the physical thing.
I work with a refillable leather journal cover I bought at Barnes and Noble. Here's why. Leather is good! It gives your thoughts importance and heft. Leather is permanent and comforting. Whenever you write in this journal it draws one to become better. It's also refillable and it features a place to keep a couple pens. All of this is important for me because I need my journal to be ready to go and hold as much as my lifestyle. I undergo about 1 refill every 9 months or so and I obviously keep carefully the old journals for reference. I carry my journal with me almost all the time, and I make notes in it often.
So, what would you write in your journal?
Take note of whatever concerns mind. I take advantage of my journal for personal notes and goals as well as poker goals - to me they're one in the exact same; because, poker makes many areas of my entire life possible and my entire life affects my poker. I start every journal with my entire life goals and concepts that help me succeed at whatever I'm doing. Like that I am aware in which to attend get my mind right if I start to waver.
Next I simply write whatever I think is important since it concerns mind. These generally include things such as:
- Starting Hand Charts
- Poker Session, SnG, and MTT notes
- Poker ideas I read in books, magazines and online
- Summaries of what I think helps me accomplish my poker and life goals
- Personal Improvement concepts and notes
- Repetitive Sentences - That one is important.
Poker features a great capability to tie us up in knots once we have bad sessions or make mistakes. The easiest way to sort out the negative energy that gets built up in times like this really is to write a sentence 50-100 times. That helps me workout the negative emotions and refocus my efforts. Randomly opening my journal I see a couple pages of "I'll follow my rules 100% when I play." That's from a couple of sessions of breaking my own good advice and playing like a fool.
So those are some ideas of everything you could keep. I've notes by what poker articles I have to write, time management actions, and even questions I take advantage of to approach life in a positive way. It's all good!! Since the act of writing focuses your head, it creates permanent many things that you'd lose in the event that you tried to keep in mind them in your mind; it clarifies; and it provides you with something to look back on and see your achievements.
If you're thinking about seeing inside my journal, here's a sample. Several things don't seem poker related, but they set the foundations for my poker success.
LIFE GOALS:
1. Time, Flexibility, Independence - I'm an unbiased human being who has 100% control of my time and actions without financial restrictions or pressures.
2. Discipline, Desire, Control - I've the discipline and desire to regulate my own time and activities in ways that brings well-rounded fullness for me personally and for my family.
3. A Transforming Force - I'm a positive force to transform those around me for a better and happier life.
4. Kaizen - I'll improve and grow in large or small meaningful and positive ways in certain facet of my entire life each and every day before the day I die.
"We are what we think. All that people are arises with our thoughts. With your thoughts we make our world" The Buddha
"Things do not change. We change." Henry David Thoreau
Problem Solving Questions: (from Anthony Robbins)
1. What's great about this problem?
2. What's not perfect yet?
3. What am I willing to DO to produce it the way in which I want it?
4. What am I willing to no further do to produce it the way in which I want it?
5. How do I love the method WHILE I really do what's necessary to produce it the way in which I want it?
Those are a few snippets from my poker journal. Those don't say "poker", but also for me they're imperative to continued poker success. Many of my journal entries are the cornerstone for chapters in this book, because they have converted into full articles on the topic in question.
Conclusion
I really hope you're convinced that the poker journal will infuse power, focus, and long-term vision into your poker life. Any fish can post a blind and play a hand. Many players have longer term results without a journal. But giving your ideas, thoughts, frustrations, and observations a DESTINATION can provide an entirely new level of calm and balance for your game.
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