[Aytumious]

[ QUOTE ]
Goals, goals, goals. What are they?
Money?
Skill level?
Why do you play?


Answer those, you may know how to answer yours.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you for the post, mosquito. This is actually right on the money. Since I play to pay the bills, I've sometimes let that aspect of it seep into my mind. In the 14 months since I've been playing professionally, I have never missed my minimum monthly nut. I would imagine that many old time B&M pros would tell me to stfu and stop whining, yet my issues are clearly costing me money and I've not yet been able to say to hell with the monthly nut, let's move up and test my skill and, hopefully, increase my winrate.

As to your question about goals, my main goals going into this were to be an excellent player technically, both good enough to make a nice living and also to perhaps write a book on the subject of strategy. Technically I think I have a very good grasp of the game, but I still study constantly and aim to keep improving and tweaking my game throughout my life. I've always prided myself on my ability to write lucidly and to convey complex thoughts in an understandable way. Perhaps if I go into each session with the idea that not only do I want to play very sound fundamental poker, but I also want to backup my own beliefs in the technical aspect my game so that I feel comfortable writing them down and sharing them with others, then I will feel satisfied even if the session does not go well financially. I do realize that many people reading this will think, "dude, you play 200NL, stfu about writing a book," but that was my initial goal and I think it would help to both motivate me and help to break down the psychological barriers I'm facing at the moment. As always, please be blunt in your responses, as I appreciate any criticism all you fellow players have to offer, especially from the more experienced player on this board, as I am sure this situation is something you have both seen and experienced before.