Blocks are usually just hurdles that people won't climb over as there isn't a necessity. Most underachievers are comfortable where they are. They exist in a world of "not quite uncomfortable enough" to force themselves to change. Humans are creatures of habit and stick to what works for them that is where resistance to change originates.
Leopards don't change their spots is an adage that comes to mind.
Necessity is the mother of change and invention. Only people with drive vision and some grit get to the top.
I have plenty of energy it's not about that for me. Poker is no different from any other game really. You have to learn the techniques practice practice review practice.Repeat as required.
I'm on a new diet at the moment. It's the less cake more exercise it ain't ffing rocket science diet.
The reason this is in the book to begin with is because there's no real good material out there on why the hell you're not really achieving what you could be achieving imho. Now, you guys all set a goal for yourself in learning and becoming good at poker. Why do so many people you know plateau, or end up quitting? Is it because they're dumb? Lazy maybe as suggested?
We're not looking to achieve spiritual enlightenment here. It's over rated any ways imho. lol I'd consider myself a pragmatic person in a lot of ways, and I'm not religious, buddhist or anything other wise. What I am is someone who, when they get stuck on something, figures out a solution. You don't think I had blocks as I was moving up the poker food chain? I could have easily stopped or plateaued. It's definitely the easy solution. It's actually the current fate of mankind. They hit a block trying to reach a goal, and then they give up or lessen their goal until they've watered it down so much it doesn't present any serious challenge to their beliefs. In the end they end up manifesting what they've come to unconsciously believe about themselves, which is pretty much total bullshit.
Our goal here, right now, is just to bring more attention to the fact that if you are not achieving goals for yourself, like study X amount of hours per month, then you're aware of it and you have a couple of tools to push through and make sure you keep on track with your goals.
The reason people get blocks while they're trying to reach their goals is because we know there's something important about ourselves that is at risk IF we reach those goals. And like we said, the more personally meaningful that goal is, the more blocks you're going to encounter in reaching it.
Learning poker as a goal will have different significance for a lot of you. For some, you just want to get better and have some fun. For some it's a possibility of having more financial freedom and more time with your kids / family. So for some of you, you're going to have more blocks than others might.
Now, what is that "something" that is at risk if you achieve your goal? It's the very image and belief system that you have created about yourself. Pretty much all of this goes back to your youth, and to messages and stories that your parents and other people who loved you would subtly tell you about yourself and what the world is. We accept and take that all in, mostly very unconsciously as feeling states when we're very young. And the reason that blocks come in is because when we set something up a goal for ourselves, and if we achieve that goal, then all of those messages challenge all of those early message about who we are and what the world is about. We're challenging the core messages from the people who loved and took care of us. Reaching those goals will change you to some degree (depending on the significance of the goal again), and thus will challenge and potentially change those relationships as well.
The kicker in all of this is that people aren't aware of these message or when these blocks come in because when you accepted them in your youth, you never put those beliefs you accepted fully into words. They've been a part of you that remains as an emotional state, and can be triggered through similar present scenes you have. When a similar state is triggered, you unknowingly react and play out these scenes which usually turn into cyclical patterns that you repeat without knowing why your whole life. A simple example is how or what you get mad at... ever stop at some point and go, geez, I'm acting like Dad, or mom or.... ? You may recognize it at some point, but you still don't know why it's happening. In order to move through one of these blocks, you must recognize the state, and put WORDS on it so you can then understand it. When you understand it, it ceases being an unconscious emotional state that controls you.
Now WTF does this have to do with poker? I'd say pretty much every student I've taught, I could see, hear and watch as they went through one of these states, or continued to do the same mistakes over and over in their game and couldn't figure out why. I finally decided to write about this, even though I know there will be a decent amount of resistance to talk about things in this manner, because I had one student in particular for about 2 years that really wanted to move up stakes. We moved up a couple of stake levels and he had all the skills to keep going but he kept getting himself into the same spots that would end up ruining his session. It was really hard to watch over and over for that length of time, and I knew there was only one way to resolve it. And let me tell you, this person, and they may end up in this study group at some point, really wanted this goal. They were extremely big hearted, kind, and deserved to move through this, but no matter how much I explained the problem and how to correct it through simple poker theory, it never changed.
And thus... here we are. So it's up to you. Maybe this isn't necessary for you, maybe you have other ways to figure these things out, or maybe you just never have any blocks in your life. If that's the case, just skip this part and we'll be on to the next chapter soon.
For those that do, here's the simple goal:
If you find yourself in game making the SAME mistake over and over. Stop. Get a pen and paper, and write down about 2 - 4 words that describe your current mental state when you're in that position of making that mistake.
When you're done with that session. Take those words and think about that state as best you an again. How did it make you feel? Then, ask yourself when can you remember first feeling that way. Write down anything you can about that first time. The whole scene. Who was there, what was being said, where were you. Just write out anything you can. Believe it or not, it's all there, but it will take a little bit of time. It's a powerful state and it's effected you your whole life, so it will eventually all come out.
The goal is to just think about that state, and try and see what kind of conclusion you made. Now that you're seeing this with adult eyes, create a new conclusion about the scene and put it into words. It's that simple and that complex all at the same time.
IF you can do this, this block will cease to exist for you. Some blocks may have other connected scenes. The depth of the blocks plays a roll, but for the most part you will stop being UNCONSCIOUSLY controlled by that state any more. At the very least, you will be completely aware when it potentially comes up again for you.
So that's it. You can ask yourself the same kinds of questions on specific goals that you may have procrastinated on as well.
And like I said, if this isn't for you, no big deal. We'll be on to a new chapter soon, and back to poker. lol
