You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results.
This is a really useful concept that I picked up from a book called Atomic Habits by James Clear which I wanted to share with you.
Now imagine you’re a millionaire…but you spend more than you earn each month.
Then you’re on a bad trajectory…if your spending habits don’t change, it isn’t going to end well.
Conversely, if you’re broke, but you save a little bit every month, then you’re on the path toward financial freedom, even if you’re moving slower than you’d like.
Think about your poker trajectory for a moment.
Are you improving, learning and growing on a consistent basis?
Or have you stagnated or even started moving backwards?
The monumental effect of your daily habits can’t be underestimated.
Your outcomes are just a lagging measure of your habits.
Your net worth is a lagging measure of your financial habits.
Your weight is a lagging measure of your eating habits.
Your poker knowledge is a lagging measure of your learning habits.
You get what you repeat.
Time magnifies the margin between success and failure.
It will multiply whatever you feed it - hence good habits make time your ally and bad habits make time your enemy.
Habits are a double edged sword.
Bad habits can cut you down just as easily as good habits can build you up.
You need to know how habits work and design them to your liking.
If you want to predict where you’ll end up in life, all you have to do is follow the curve of tiny gains or tiny losses, and see how your daily choices compound ten to twenty years down the line.
Are you spending less than you earn each month?
Are you putting in the grinding hours each week?
Are you studying and learning something new each day?
Tiny battles like these are the ones that define where you’ll end up in the future.
If you are on the right trajectory right now, that’s great, be patient and keep looking for ways to fast track your progress.
If you don’t feel like you are progressing at a pace you are happy with, which one area can you focus on improving for the next few weeks?
Don’t underestimate the power of small changes and forward momentum.
Your mindset and performance coach,
Adam Carmichael