The Mental Game And Your Burning Desire
Are you the type of person who gets excited about your goals and are eager to go out and do the work necessary to achieve them? Or do you find that you spend more time feeling down about your current life situation and about how hard it is for you to change that? Your mindset influences a lot of things in your life, such as what attracts us in a potential partner, what we're willing to put up with at work or school, how likely we are to procrastinate on our homework, how motivated we feel. But it also has a strong effect on our mental game (what goes on inside of our heads during those crucial moments when we need to decide whether or not to play risky hands).
As a poker player, the mental game you play can be very important in determining how well you do with your poker career. If you have a strong mental game, then the decisions you make are usually based on logic and reason. And if the winning decisions are more logical and reason-based, that means that they're more likely to succeed. But if your mental state is weak, then instead of making rational decisions based on your own understanding of reality, you're more likely to make emotional or irrational ones -- and that results in less money for yourself as a player.
We know from studying psychology as well as from statistics studies that people's decision making is affected by their levels of self-esteem and confidence when playing poker . In one study, for example, researchers asked some people who were interested in becoming better poker players to play a series of well-known poker games against computer-controlled opponents. This is a type of experiment in which the details are controlled by the researchers and the overall results are predictable by previous research on past human performance. The researchers found that when these people played well, they did so based on logic and reason. They won primarily as a result of their own intelligence and skill level; they didn't depend so much on luck or random factors. But when they played poorly, they were more likely to gamble and make impulsive decisions, which didn't work well for them. People with a strong mental game are able to make good decisions based on reason and logic (aided by their knowledge of the game!), while people with a weak mental game are more likely to make poor decisions based on emotion.
But what exactly is your mental state? What tells you that it's strong or weak? And how do you know what your current mental state is? There are three key areas that determine your mental condition at any given time: your beliefs, your attitudes, and your expectations. And while they may seem unrelated, they play a strong role in your mental game. Let's look at each one of these three areas more closely.
Beliefs
First, beliefs are the foundation on which you build your mental game. Often, people who have a strong mental game will say that they make their decisions based on logic and rational thinking. They believe that good choices are based on sound reasoning and good logic. If they don't like what you're doing, they explain that they just don't understand how people could think something like that would work out well in the long run. They trust their own logic and intelligence over the advice or opinions of others. They know that if they think logically, then their decisions will be good ones. It's simply a matter of using logic and reasoning to make good choices about how to act in any given situation.
People with a weak mental game, on the other hand, believe that acting based on emotion is the best way to go. They accept advice from others without considering what it means for them individually. They don't think about whether or not something is logical, because they want something so badly that they won't let logic get in their way. They believe that going with their emotions is the best way to go. They are willing to ignore their own logic in favor of doing what feels better for them.
But there's a catch here: When you act based on your emotions, and not based on logic, it's often not because you actually want something, but instead because you fear that if you don't want it, then you'll suffer a loss. And this fear of losing is so powerful that it drives your feelings and even your thoughts. If we're talking about poker, for example, then someone who fears losing may be afraid of playing hands because they're afraid of winning less. They may not even necessarily know that they're afraid of winning less, because the fear is hidden under layers of more easily expressed desires and feelings. But if you can find the fear, then it's possible to help this person overcome it.
But as long as you believe that acting on your emotions is the best way to get what you want in life, then there's no hope for you when it comes to overcoming this problem. You'll continue making poor decisions in life that result from your own fears and anxieties. But if you believe that good decisions are based on logic and reason, that you can rely on your own intelligence and critical thinking skills, then you will feel more confident in your ability to make good decisions and better choices.
This belief is essential for someone who wants to improve their mental game. It's possible that you may have this belief already. And if you do, then it helps your mental game in a number of ways: it helps your self-esteem, which can help you deal with the emotions that can affect your game; it makes it easier for you to stick to your game plan regardless of what's going on around you; it helps keep distractions at bay; and others.
If you don't have this belief yet, then it's likely that if you're not already aware of it, then you need to find out. If you understand that your feelings are the key to your decisions, then it's essential for your game to become aware of your feelings. You need a way of looking at things that can help you decide what is best for yourself in every situation and fit into any given set of circumstances.
And once you realize that good decisions are based on logic and reason, then try some experiments in which you put yourself in the shoes of others. Imagine how they would act in these different situations and think about what they would do next. Think about how they would feel and think about their reactions.
Beliefs are what help you keep your game plan when others are trying to talk you out of it, help you stick to your game plan even in the face of distractions, and help you look forward to getting back at the table again after a break.
Attitudes
But attitudes also play a big role in your mental game. Attitudes are much like beliefs, but they're more deeply felt than beliefs because they're more emotional and less logical. The specific end result of a strong attitude is the same as that of a weak one: either poor decisions based on emotion or bad decisions based on logic.
Conclusion
Your mental state is a complex thing that is affected by a great many factors. But the three areas we looked at can help you improve your mental game and get you to where you want to be in life.