How can you be a better version of yourself? That’s a question I’m sure you’ve asked yourself countless times.
If you didn’t, you probably wouldn’t be checking out a personal development website. The truth is people from all walks of life want to be better. You might work in big business and want to squeeze more from your working day, you might be an artist wishing to produce more work, or you might just need a jolt to get up off the couch and crack on with something.
Examples of how to improve your life are everywhere if you look hard enough. You might turn to Hollywood stars for advice, understanding what makes them work as hard as they do. You might look to self-help experts who have studied productivity for their career, or you might take inspiration from other outlets, such as poker.
The links between personal development and poker players are not completely obvious. Still, if you want an example of personal development, there is plenty to learn from understanding how a poker player approaches a game. These are a few simple lessons from the world of poker that will help stimulate your personal development.
Learn Every Day
Being a better version of yourself isn’t something that comes for free. You have to work at it and learn different habits and techniques that adapt your current lifestyle and change your mindset. You have to understand how to adapt, when to make changes and keep focused on what you’re doing. Poker is precisely the same; you learn from opponents moves, pick up tips from experts and even have to understand different variants before you can truly master the game.
Make the Best of What You Have
There is a saying which applies to life that comes directly from card games: play the hand you are dealt. You might hear it from famous people who were born into challenging lives and were able to rise to the top of their profession. Whatever cards you are dealt in life, make use of them. Some people become better by using adversity as a weapon, not as a place to hide, which is perhaps what the saying alludes to. Omaha is a variant of poker in which you are dealt four cards. They can be good or bad, but how you play them is essential. Even if the cards don’t look favourable, your approach can make them the best hand around the table. You never know what will appear as a community card either, so your bad hand might suddenly become one of the best.
Learn From Mistakes
Everyone makes mistakes in life. You might find an error in this article, you might see colleagues making them, or you might suddenly realise you’ve made one yourself at some point today. Mistakes are inevitable. They happen, but how you react to them is critical. There is another life saying you might often hear: there is no such thing as a mistake, only lessons. If you mess up, use that as an example of what not to do, file it away and make sure the same doesn’t happen again. The same goes for poker. Gus Hansen, a top poker player, once said, “The best players are able to learn from their own mistakes; this is what makes them the best.” The same applies to life. Making a mistake once is inevitable, but learn from it and don’t make it again for your personal development.
Believe in Yourself
Another poker player, Phil Hellmuth, once said of the game: “If there weren’t luck involved, I would win every time.” Would he? Probably not, but the fact remains he believes in himself. That means that those around him are likely to believe in him, which is an excellent lesson for personal development. If you think you can’t do something, then the likelihood is, you won’t. However, if you believe that you can, you will stand a much better chance of achieving whatever it is and moving forward as a person.