A Firm Belief

I realize I don't update this blog as much as I should. I'll try to update it more often. I do keep another journal, but it's mostly for my private need, so it has all kinds of things mixed in, including poker related thoughts. But I'll share something that's poker related yet it's not. Honestly, this is the answer and nothing outweights its importance. I'm reluctant to share but I will anyways. This is something I firmly believe and honestly I was naive to not believe this before.

In the Western culture, everyone have this belief that "you can achieve whatever you like as long as you put your mind into it". I believe the same thing, but with a little intelligence, I always thought that is my biggest edge. I don't need to try as hard as anybody else to achieve the same thing, that's what I really believed. I doubt these beliefs will shock anyone reading this because I imagine a lot of people believe the same thing given the type of environment you grew up in.

This is where I'm going with this. I believe firmly that if you want to achieve what you want and outmatch your competition, you need an edge. An edge can be anything that gives you a slight or large advantage over your competitions. One of my biggest fault for the longest time is to believe my "talents" is going to get me to where I need to be without any type of effort. Basically whatever I want is going to be hand wrapped, shipped right in front of my doorsteps. If you really think deep down, it makes no sense that one can outperform another just doing basically nothing. Sadly, I think a lot of people still believe this.

I actually spend a lot of my free time really studying some people who have achieved what I call "excellence". These people are like Tiger Woods, Michael Phelps, Michael Jordan, etc.. You get the point. You hear it all the time, they get to where they are not by chance but through intense hard work and dedication. If what you are trying to accomplish is so easy that it will be practically handed to you, will you really get a satisfaction out of it? Will you look back and say "Wow, I did it!" and feel you've accomplish what you've always wanted?

Your potential is pretty unlimited if you are willing to work hard and let nothing get in your way. I'm not saying you will always achieve your goals because many have failed even trying their very best. But will you look back and say "hey, I really did tried my best and I have no regrets"? Or will you be the typical who makes up some petty excuses for why they did not achieve their goals? One cannot depend on these "natural talents" or "luck" to achieve goals. They must do something MORE and/or BETTER than their competition to have an edge.

Please don't believe you have an edge without making more of sacrifice than your competitions. People who believe their talents can get them "there" are the same people who believe in luck. I'm not saying there is no such thing as talents or luck, I'm saying some people put all their stock in them and believe nothing or little can be changed because of them. Basically those artificial things dictates one's life and when things don't go your way, it's very easy to blame it on things you have no control over. Please don't be that guy(or gal).

I believe this problem arises because of the books, media, tv shows, movies, etc that we are so often exposed to. You see the main character always achieve whatever they want and be talented in every skill imaginable. It's not real, guys. In the real world, people sweat to get what they want.

I am by no means saying I'm perfect, actually far from that. The fact that I'm so flawed is the reason why I need to realize what I need to do to change. My perfectionist personality wants me to hide all my flaws, and make petty excuses also when I don't succeed. But the fact that I put the time to understand myself and open my own eyes on what is truly important. That's when I make progress as a human being. I understand I must accept my fate if I don't maintain my edge and do my part to outmatch my competitions. Luck does not control me, and won't stop me. As long as I'm on the path, I will get there.

Good luck on the tables guys.