September- On Pace & Working on Balance

I'm doing pretty good as far as my overall monthly goal is.  My goal is 120,000 VPPs, and so far I have 55,000.  If it wasn't for having to take a couple days easy recently, I'd be right on track.  I'll talk more about that below.

I'm having a great month as far as results go.  I'm running good, and have been tilting less than prior months. I have learned that I'm prone to getting over confident when things are going well in poker, which shows up in it's own form of winners tilt.  I start playing more hands, making too many calls etc. So, probably my biggest goal for the rest of the month is too make sure I try to handle that. I've let winners tilt ruin my results time after time and I'm sick of it.  I feel like I've made a lot of progress in this area of my game because I've been so focused on improving overall.  As long as I really stick to focusing on strategy, I think I will be OK. I find when I'm doing well, I tend to stop working on my game and get in auto pilot/ I can do anything I want mode because winning feels so easy.  Obviously that's far from the truth.

It's been a stressful and busy year (which is how I like it), but sometimes I can feel my body fighting against my will to be busy. Last Friday, I was sitting down to play, so badly wanting to have a good session.  I call Friday, 'Fish Friday's', because the games are just incredibly fisher than any other day of the week.  I just could not focus, and really couldn't care to. I was experiencing some form of burn out. So, I thought about what I could do to feel better, and getting a massage came to mind.  I sometimes go to a woman who practices TCM (Tradition Chinese Medicine) near by, and I had noticed she also did massage, and when I called she could get me in within an hour, so I did that.  When I got there, she also suggested acupuncture to help give me some energy. While I was laying there with the needles in me, I had a lot of time to think.  It's probably a good thing for me to do- because about the only way I can lay down and do nothing is if u stick needles in me so I can't move!  I thought about the changes I want and need to make in my daily life. 

Short term:

- for a few days, take the time to make nourishing juices, and nice meals 

- play only a few short sessions of poker for a couple days

- a trip to the Nordik Spa.  I am lucky to live fairly close to this spa which has outdoor baths of varying temperatures, 7 different saunas, and a great restaurant to name a few amenities. I love spending a night there, getting a massage, going through the saunas, steam rooms, different baths, and having a nice meal at the restaurant there. I think some pictures do it justice: