Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 14
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I think you guys both have very valid points and they actually don't exclude or contradict each other as much as you might think. Thanks aok for that great post, I am 100% with you about the importance of enjoying the journey and not focussing only on the results. But I think you put it in a too black/white generalized way when you say either you're process oriented or you're results oriented and you will ultimately fail when it's the latter. That's far too generalized and simplified, reality is much more complex. Same for the athletes - there are many who have achieved greatness by being mostly results-oriented and who still lead happy & prosperous lifes. Of course there are those as well that you mentioned.
My point is the following: You can be both results- and process- oriented. You can set clear goals, achieve them, move on to the next ones and at the same time very consiously enjoy the ride, even if it is a rollercoaster one. I don't think people are successful when being ONLY results oriented or ONLY process oriented. To be successful, one needs to find a good balance of both. Goals and results are very important to as they set the direction and let you know where you stand. But they are really a two-edged sword - if you don't have an understanding that the process you go through while you try to reach them is much more important and as joyful as actually reaching them, you may ironically fail by reaching them. That process makes us evolve and the results prove how we've evolved. Evolution takes its own ways, often we reach different goals than we originally intended to because we decided to change direction on the way. Which is perfectly fine and lets us find new, challenging goals again and evolve further and enjoy the ride. One thing leads to the next one, one door closes, another one opens. Maybe we end up in a completely different destination and find out that it is even much better there than the one we were originally aiming at.
Hmmm what does this mean translated to poker? Probably something like yes, set clear goals and regularly evaluate the results, where you stand, what you can improve, etc. But don't go overboard with that, don't go crazy when you don't reach a goal as desired. Yesss aok, celebrate your achievements, your steps forward even if they seem little, instead of accusing yourself of not being as far yet as you'd like to be. Enjoy your love and passion for this game, have fun playing it and observing your own evolution. Doing this and relieving the pressure of "having" to achieve goals makes it much easier to actually achieve them on the way, while having a good laugh  It's a matter of finding the right personal balance between results- and process-oriented, it can bifferent for each one.
What a discussion we're having here...isn't poker a great mirror of life overall?
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