I know as well as anyone, that making change is extremely challenging, no matter how small it is, but when I receive a call or email about a person wanting to work with me, I used to think this meant that they are ready to make those necessary changes.
How Wrong I Was!!!
At the beginning, I feel a lot of clients fall in love with the thought of making changes, or being the person they would become once these changes are made, which keeps them connected to the plan of attack, until they realize that there is a lot of hard work and discipline needed when it comes to changing their behaviour's and thought patterns.
At the first sign of a speed hump in the road, I find a high percentage of clients will go back to their old patterns and disconnect from the path that we have created, this is when my Job becomes work.
Lucky I Love A Challenge!!!
Knowing human behaviour and the human mind so well, I feel I am able to help keep these clients connected with the path throughout the challenging period that is the re programming phase, as once these clients can get past this phase, they tend to move forward in leaps and bounds.
One client I would like to discuss briefly, is 2005 WSOP Champion, Joe Hachem. Now having a strong focus on client confidentially, I will give you a small insight into my work with Joe over the past 2 years in regards to this topic.
Joe first approached me after reading one of my articles in Bluff Magazine and thought there was a few areas that we could improve in his Mental Game. After our first few sessions, we had found a few key areas within his Mental Game that had surfaced since his 2005 WSOP Victory, with his life becoming so complex with his playing schedule and sponsorship obligations, that unconsciously he was ingraining some bad habits when it came to being prepared to play Great Poker when he sat down for either a Live or Online session.
After approximately 15 months of working with Joe and only seeing inconsistent improvements, it was time for some hard love. Joe and I had begun to form a pretty strong professional relationship where he was able to take some strong criticism if he felt it was necessary, and if I feel its necessary, I believe that some strong love is exactly what is needed to push some people in the right direction. The time for Joe to receive some strong love was in December where we sat down after the Sydney APPT to go over a few things and I said to Joe that I felt like we hadn't been able to get off first base, as he had so many obligations that he found it difficult to commit to the exercises and routines I had built for him.
He couldnt have agreed more and we decided that we needed to build an easy to implement Pre Game Routine that he could put into practise before EVERY SESSION as well as a short sharp Post Game routine that would help him to stay inspired and motivated about the game ready for his next session.
Joe began to commit to these processes in preparation for the Aussie Millions and we saw the quality of his game both on and off the felt improve instantly, and since then he has continued to commit to these processes on his trip to the US.
His first event there was the WPT Event which he went deep before busting in the 33rd place, then busted in Rnd 1 of the NBC H/U Event to Phil Galfond, but in his interviews, Joe sounded relaxed and happy with poker, which is always a good sign for me.
Joe went to Arizona for a few days to catch up with a friend and also did an interview with Apollo Poetry of SouthWest PokerNews, where he sounded relaxed and discussed the work we had been doing on these routines, as well as how long it had taken him to get to the point of committing to these routines.
Part 1- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbRx0RJbGfE
Part 2- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBl7ro9hUzQ
At the beginning of Part 2 is where Joe's talk's about his work on the Mental Game.
Joe then went onto play the NAPT at The Bicycle Casino in LA, where he continued to focus on his Pre & Post Game routines and felt like his game was getting back to the quality of 2005/2006 where he was completely focused at the tables and in control of every decision. The tournament started with 417 runners and Joe played great all 5 days to finally finish in 2nd position, running his AK into Victor Ramdin's AJ pre flop, which would have given Joe a considerable chip lead heads up, but as we say, make sure the cards beat you, not you beating yourself. I know Joe would have loved to have won another major tournament, especially on his birthday, but the best present Joe gave himself was that he played great all tournament, getting back to playing with a clear mind and stable emotional state to allow him to play his best poker. Joe being a very instinctual player, having a clear mind and stable emotional state is a must for his instincts to be on song, I believe that this event is a defining moment in Joe's career as he will now fully believe in the power of his mental game and look to fine tune in preparation for the WSOP, as well as every other event he plays from now on.
If Joe continue's to enjoy poker as much as he has been the past few months, who knows what he is capable of!!!
Joe enjoying the FT at the Big Event @ The Bicycle Casino:)
So follow the path of the 2005 WSOP Champ and take the leap and commit to making the necessary changes that are going to help you to perform at your very best, I know its hard, but its worth it!!
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