Trainwreck of a poker career...where do I go from here?

[MikeRand2000]

Hi all-

Well, I'm fed up. I started playing last November and since then I've proceeded to lose about $200 playing various different games.

1) After reading SSH, I thought I'd be able to master $0.50/$1.00 Party limit. Nope. -$200, and I don't even think I knew what was going on, despite being able to recite half of the book in my sleep.

2) After deciding that I hated having flushes and straights catch up to me, I started in on 22 and 11 NL sit-n-gos. Due to an INCREDIBLE run of luck and the amazing book that is HOH, I was able to break even. Recently I've been stuck in the 4th-7th place rut (I'm apparently too much of a wimp to go out in 8th-10th).

I've read Hold'em, HEPFAP, SSH, TOP, TPFAP, HOH, SSH, WLLH, Poker Essays 1-3, Inside the Poker Mind, The Psychology of Poker...basically anything 2+2 has put out. I understand the math behind the concepts I'm reading about (semi bluffs, pot equity, etc.). I just can't seem to apply it. Truth is I can't even tell whether or not I'm applying it because I don't know how to take a step back and evaluate my play.

Has anyone here had similar experiences? Did you keep powering through, or did you just start over and try to relearn everything from the beginning? Any tips on how to take a time out and really analyze your play in a methodical way> I just don't know where to go from here and I'm afraid that I might do more damage than good if I don't figure stuff out now.

Anyway, any advice/comments would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike