Goals vs. Achievements

[brimstone1]

Dear 2+2ers,

I want to share with you something I've been thinking about for a while.

Each month, between the 1st and the 10th, we get the classic "<Insert month> Goals/Results" threads, in which people who have had a positive ROI month will boast their winnings and their stats, and in my opinion, have a giant e-penis circlejerk.

I remember loathing those threads when I ran bad, so I made a pact with myself. I told myself I would never post my stats/winnings even if I ran on a heater the size of South America, giving me an ITM of 100%, and a finish distribution of 100/0/0/0.

For those who are wondering, I am doing okay, and no, I'm not on a cold streak or a losing month or a giant cooler. I'm doing just fine, thank you very much, I'm not making this thread out of spite or bitterness.

Gigabet's famous "Almost there with Success and Failure" got me thinking.

While some people might benefit from setting goals from themselves and trying to make them, setting goals in an environment where simple variance can be the difference between your new car's down-payment and not making rent can cause severe morale loss.

Goals + Poker = the foundation for the sense of "failure".

So, in this thread, for a change, set aside your $ winnings or your $2000/hr rate, and forget what you had set as a goal for the past month. I want you to tell us what you feel you achieved recently.

Did you take a shot at a new level? Thats an achievement -- it doesn't matter if you got a -100% ROI at it.

Did you have an epiphany about bubble-play while taking your morning shower? Achievement! Tell us about it.

You set out to play X, but you played X-10? NO! don't tell us about that, there is no failing in this thread.

Just say you played X-10 games, thats your achievement.

You played 1000 hands of 10/20, regardless of outcome.

Please stay away from giving numbers that will give anyone with a calculator your exact winnings.

The whole point is to avoid having a goals/results thread.

As our dear *COUGH*friend*COUGH* Michael O'Malley would say: Enjoy!

[Cactus Jack]

Too funny. Love the giant e-penis circle jerk analogy.

Never done it, never will. My "goals" are totally different than the threads to which you refer. My "goal" is to improve. I could care less what my stats are. If I succeed at my "goal," then the stats to which everyone you speak of are so enamored will also come.

You may be missing what it often apparent to those who are not involved: peer pressure. Most here are still in school, either high school or college, and not yet removed from the need for approval from peers. While they state one goal, their real goal is to get approval. It's understandable. Everyone wants approval. But approval at the expense of what should be your real goal, whatever that real goal should be, is expensive indeed.

I'm many, many years older than the average poster. I'm not immune to the need for approval, just old enough to be past caring as much. It comes with time, for those who ever learn it.

Wisdom is Mother Nature's trade for taking your hair.

Nice try, but I'll lay 4 to 1 that this thread either dies or devolves into a flamefest. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

CJ

[Irieguy]

Interesting post, and interesting reply by Cactus.

You both hit on some very important points, IMO. Cactus hit the nail on the head with his comment about the age of most posters here and their need for approval.

Every few months a new batch of teen marvels will emerge claiming 25% ROIs over thousands of $55s and setting goals to play 20,000 SNGs over the next year so they can buy a car and their own island and quit school. Then they run cold for like 3 seconds and get depressed and embarassed and stop posting while they dream about buying real estate with no money down or whatever.

There you go, Cactus... I'll see if I can turn this nice thread into a flamefest.

Irieguy

[freemoney]

you got it right and that includes me.

[The Don]

[ QUOTE ]
Interesting post, and interesting reply by Cactus.

You both hit on some very important points, IMO. Cactus hit the nail on the head with his comment about the age of most posters here and their need for approval.

Every few months a new batch of teen marvels will emerge claiming 25% ROIs over thousands of $55s and setting goals to play 20,000 SNGs over the next year so they can buy a car and their own island and quit school. Then they run cold for like 3 seconds and get depressed and embarassed and stop posting while they dream about buying real estate with no money down or whatever.

There you go, Cactus... I'll see if I can turn this nice thread into a flamefest.

Irieguy

[/ QUOTE ]

Guilty as charged.

Im buying an island next week!

LOL! Just jokes.

[TruFloridaGator]

[ QUOTE ]
Im buying an island next week!

LOL! Just jokes.

[/ QUOTE ]

Uh, I bought one with my super duper 67% ROI for my first few months but then I had to sell it because of my current 142 OOTM streak. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Lady Dont Tekno]

Excellent post Irie. I think you also found the reason why poker will always be profitable for some, even if the boom subsides.

LDT

[Cactus Jack]

[ QUOTE ]
Interesting post, and interesting reply by Cactus.

You both hit on some very important points, IMO. Cactus hit the nail on the head with his comment about the age of most posters here and their need for approval.

Every few months a new batch of teen marvels will emerge claiming 25% ROIs over thousands of $55s and setting goals to play 20,000 SNGs over the next year so they can buy a car and their own island and quit school. Then they run cold for like 3 seconds and get depressed and embarassed and stop posting while they dream about buying real estate with no money down or whatever.

There you go, Cactus... I'll see if I can turn this nice thread into a flamefest.

Irieguy

[/ QUOTE ]

I was hoping I could innoculate it, but you closed the deal.

nh

CJ

Edit: The truth is I've never put a dime of my own money up. (I got $10 last year from Royal Vegas and Pacific, and have been playing on it since.) That's my single claim to achievement. My goal is to remain flush while getting better. So far...X <--fingers crossed

[chisness]

i admit that i did set a goal over the summer to play 20,000 next year, though with intentions to buy things like a new TV and save most of it rather than wasting all the proceeds. however (this goes against the thread rules, but is important) i realized after school started that playing that much during school is simply not realistic since a problem set, lab, or studying needs to take priority.

goals, to me, are extremely helpful because they give me something to reach and for me it's an accomplshment that i was able to tell myself "no, 20,000 will not happen and there's no point in killing yourself then lowering it massively near the end of the year." i've set a new goal for 12,000 in a year, which i still believe will be a challenge (especially since i'm going to be either working or in school full time).

as for recent things, i had my worst downswing ever, of about 30 buyins (until this point, i was always able to play a couple more hours and the downswing would end and i'd break about even or win a little bit with rakeback) but then managed to win back about 20 of them in one session, which made things a bit better.