Thanks for this question, it makes me examine myself. - What is holding me back.
You're welcome.
I will start here because this bothers me the most. I had a very good first 6 months of the year. And then I lost the drive to play everyday. I am trying to get myself back into my daily routine. This is not just about "playing" I stopped exercising regularly, I really started eating a terrible diet. I allowed myself to be distracted by outside things which I had no control over.
I get the sense you're a lone wolf as far as poker goes? Is that the case?
What are your thoughts on aligning yourself with someone at the same level as yourself or higher, with the same goal and drive as yourself. (For emotional support and reviews etc.)
My experience has taught me that No matter how much I'd like to do this alone, in poker it's always best if you have support and a completely separate life from poker.
I don't not mean for this to be condescending if that's the vibe you go.
If you had someone with your vision, he/She would have told you to fix up the moment you start going off course.
Do you keep a journal of your sessions and emotions?
My strengths are that I keep a fantastic database, I have learned how to review my hands. I have an engineering background so keeping a spreadsheet and analyzing actions is "interesting" (i know it can be incredibly boring to some) to me. Even if I "tilt" during a session, I will never forget about my bankroll and will stop before I self-destruct.
In the book "The mental game of poker" it is advised that quitting because of tilt is not control over tilt as it affects your volume and ultimately your bottom line.
Do you quit when you are tilting or when you reach the end of your planned session?
My weaknesses are : I am getting older and my brain is not as fast as it once was
. I have taken too much time away from the tables. I sometimes make plays that are "personal", especially in Mtt's. My skill level is not good enough for me.
Getting older could be an advantage. Patience, wisdom, experience and vision.
With age and experience, it's a lot easier to see things in the long term lense. At least in my case that has been the case.
There's a lot more to that least of course but that would be up to you to determine what strengths age has given you.
I think the only weakness is endurance and maybe caution to the point of risk aversion. The former can be resolved with endurance based trainings at the gym and the latter by plugging mental game leaks.
I am keeping this in general, when it comes to my weaknesses, I am very hard on myself. This helps me to study but I think it is one of the issues that keeps me off the tables sometimes. I am making this year- 2019. A complete year of study and moving up in stakes. I have the bankroll. I just have to FOCUS. I wish everyone achieves what they want this year.