From the Micros up to the Midstakes

Hi Guys,

How are you all doing?

A lot has happened since my last Post. And i think its pretty cool to have a portal to express my progress.
Having just read my first few posts on here, i think i've come a long way.

Since my last post, i started to write my Bachelor Thesis and eventually finished it. (Still waiting for the Results - altough i have a pretty good feeling!)
In January i experienced a new personal low. When i hit the bodyweightscale, i achieved a new negative record. I never been heavier before. You can imagine that this also showed in my mood and with the cold temperatures, i started to get a bit depressed.
I told myself it had to be the stress of writing my Thesis. But that was just a foolish excuse. (Writing the Thesis was stressfull, but not as stressfull as i made it out to be!)

It was one January Day (i think it was the 18th January), when i came back from my third McDonalds visit for the week. Another 20€ Purchase all for myself. Being Overweight and eating processed food isnt good, its even worse if eaten on a regular. Well after finishing my meal, i went dizzy and blacked out for a moment.
I think it was that day, where i had to make changes, if i want to see another Year.

I made myself accountable! I bought some training weights, dumbbells and a training bench. I started to lift weights. Always had the Plans to do that, and there was no better time than now! I also made changes to my Diet. It was not easy. In the beginning i was driven by Motivation. Motivation took care of my regular work outs and my daily calory counting. But someday Mid February, my Motivation dissapeared - gone, as fast as a fingersnip.. haha
Working out got harder and eating healthy also got harder. But having a picture of myelf in mind - a End Goal, or a strong "Why" - prevented me from quitting.
When i started, i couldnt even bench 60kg in January but very recently i hit a new Bench Press PR of 85kg and im on my way towards the 100kg (225lbs) by the end of the year!
- matter of facts, as im writing these lines, i just finished my daily work out... Nothing better than Tom MacDonald Music and pushing myself to the limit haha -

I lost 10kg of weight already. Not the Results that i was aiming for... Not gonna lie, but i was kinda dissapointed at how low of a number that is... But i also gained a lot of Muscles already... I mean, you can see the muscles on my Body now, slowly they are crawling past my Body Fat and muscles weigh more than fat... So i made peace with that "bad Result" + its sustainable weight lost. Not like on a Crash Diet.

I FOUND THE VALUES IN PLAIN OLD BOOKS... Imagine that Guys! Best thing that happened to me lately and it happened more or less unconscious. It was a rainy February Day and my Bachelor Thesis almost ready for submission... Killing some time and because everyone else i know either is in Uni or is working at that time of the day, i decided to go for a walk in the City. I dont know why, but i stepped foot into a Thalia Book Store and bought a Book... Just for fun and maybe because i was bored.
Who knew that reading books could be so much fun haha
For a long time my thought process was very limited. I thought that you would need to go to School / Uni to learn things and that you would need to visit language Schools to learn a language... I didnt believe one could learn important things themself.
Enlightenment came to me someday in 2019 when i realized that i was quite good with Poker. And i knew that i learned that all by myself. I never hired a Coach (broke Student, never could afford doing so) and really only studied Poker through Youtube Content and Poker Forums. - You know the scenes in a cartoon, when there is a lightbulb appearing, as soon as the Main Character has a great Idea? It was such a Situation for me. Ever since then, i developed a hunger for Knowledge. My inner Fire was burning for Poker back in the 2017- End 2019 Days. I literally couldnt think of anything else but Poker. So i started to read Poker Books... I cant remember exactly, but i think i read all the relevant poker books in 2019. I had what felt like a "never ending Hunger for more Poker Knowledge". Unfortunately that was the only thing i wanted to learn... With a very thorough Poker Knowledge and the Mental Game of a Toddler, i never achieved any relevant success in that Area.
Well i digress.. Anyways.. turns out i love to learn things. Especially things i didnt know before.. And especially things that are not Poker related.

I lived through my biggest Character Development in 2024. Imagine a tall-ish, fat guy, walking heads down in Public... Not capable of holding eye-contact.
Well thats me - rather that was me, for the majority of my Live.

If someone would have given me the advice to read some self-help books, i would have probably laughed at him and never made the effort to even bother reading "those kind of books"... But once i discovered the subcategorie of "self-help" i turned into a sponge, soaking up all that knowledge... Isnt that funny?

Within two months of time passed and about 50 books read (some i read twice) i feel like im not the same Person anymore.
Just last weekend i was playing some Live Cash Games at the Kings Casino in Rozvadov - not my best Session, esp. since i havent played Live Poker for like 2 years and the stakes were a bit high for my Bankroll (2€/4€😉 - but imagine that, i was sitting at a table with 7 Guys (6 of them clearly older than me) and i was staring them down haha i was looking in their eyes.. And the funny part was, that almost all of them couldnt hold the stare for long or were constantly looking at the table or somewhere else. Huge Motivation Boost for the Fat German Guy lol

Anyways, here are a few recommendations if you want to start reading:
- All Dale Carnegie Books - honestly this Guy was ahead of his time!!! Absolutely Golden. Especially his book "How to stop worrying and start living!"
- David Goggins - Cant hurt me - i dont know why i didnt read this book earlier! I actually bought that book back in 2019 already but never made the hussle to read it. Regret to have waited so long
- Atomic Habits - James Clear - another Book which i have bought years back, but because it wasnt poker related, i didnt read it... Currently reading it... Also making intense Notes on that Book. I feel like that will be a Game Changer!
- Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill
- Thinking Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman

Lets talk about Poker and my Future Plans:

When i started playing Poker in 2016-2017 i had that dream of playing those high Stakes Cash Games... I watched High Stakes Poker and Poker Night in America... I was dreaming of one day winning a Pot, that equals a years salary haha
The flame was burning inside me.. Like 6 metres high...
I can remember creating my PS account and depositing 50€ - 1 Tableing 1Cent/2Cent Zoom... it was a huge success for me to open up a 2nd Zoom Table a few days later.
That was the time... I never experienced so much fun in my Life before haha
With time passing, i got better technically but the flame got smaller. But it was still burning.
With Corona, i bought my first Solver and got familiar with GTO. I bought 3 different "Masterclasses" for Cash Game Poker that year. And i was note-taking like crazy. On a physical Notebook... I made like 100 full pages of Notes. very in depth and detailed notes.
It felt like i was pouring water into the fire, the more i studied. But the fire was still burning. A bit water isnt extinguishing a fire that burns like 3 metres, but its damaging the fire.
Unfortunately all that Knowledge is worthless, if you cant convert it into Quality playing Sessions. And in retrospective i wasted countless hours on the tables.
My problems were manifolded... But all linked to the Mental Game of Poker. It just didnt occur to me that i would need that. Boy was i wrong.
I could concentrate for like 5 Minutes before my mind went wandering. No Focus at all and i, myself am probably the most impatient human being that ever set foot on this earth haha and then there were my Mental Game Problems... Boy o Boy. I had zero Control over my Emotions but for that i had an Ego that was bigger than the Eiffel Tower haha

Im so lucky to have discovered Poker! And im so lucky that i gathered all that Knowledge about myself for quite a cheap price (i lost like 5k€ on the Tables in 2020).
I mean honestly, how will you ever develop as a human being, if you are not even aware of your faults?
Im pretty sure you can make career with those flaws undetected but you will never make it to the Top in any Business. Theres a reason Companies pay thousands of Dollars to "Coaches" that train their Leaders in overpriced "Management Seminars". (Matter of fact, i know that firsthand as i actually got the chance to visit such a "Leadership" Seminar last year).

Life is all about motion. If you stand-still you loose. We are given so much time - besides work and family-time (obviously) - to spend for useful things. Why do we waste this precious time then on TikTok and YouTube, doing nothing than watching pointless Videos from People we dont even know, nor care about??

The Inner-Fire i had with Poker, went out somewhere between my 2nd and 3rd Semester. Life got in the way. Met new People and my former Girlfriend... And all those Exams i had to study for... There was no time for Poker anymore. - better sayed: i didnt want to make time for Poker.
Every here and then i tried to come back to Poker (this thread was supposed to be a motivating "thing" to get me back/commited to Poker) but it didnt feel like before.

Sunk-costs is an investment already made, that cant be recovered. A long time i thought about Poker about being my sunk-costs. "All this time wasted!".
But i know better now. Poker never been Sunk-costs in my life! Through Poker i learned to learn, especially to learn "smart". I learned to handle my emotions better (i spend quite some time on my Mental Game in 2022-2023) and i learned the destructive power of a big Ego... All things that can be very costly to learn in Business.

Why am i even writing this "book-like" Blog Update?
- Well, i was reading Napoleon's Hill Bestseller "Think and Grow Rich", "Outwitting the Devil" and currently reading "Masterkey to Riches". Can't help myself. I love his way of writing + his message. And even though Napoleon is already 54 years dead, his Philosophie remains timeless.
He writes about a "Definate purpose". A burning desire for a task. And i can relate to that. I had that burning desire for Poker back a few years ago.
I thought a lot about his Words and how do i continue with my life. And eventually reached the Conclusion, that Poker is not the way to go.
Im also convinced that i will find my "definate purpose" on my way forward. I just have to create new Options & get in touch with successful people and one day something will pop up that gives me a new burning desire.

Also the "Master Mind Principle" is something that i heard a lot in context with Poker / Mindset. Where one Guy on his own can never be as succesful as a group of dedicated People.
So to you the reader: If you are succesful in some part of life - and you want to learn of Poker Strategy or Knowledge i have gathered throughout my years - maybe we should connect?
I mean honestly, it takes a few more braincells than the average man to actively learn about Poker and even more to visit a Poker Strategy Forum, so its safe for me to assume that this Post will gather the attention of a few Successful Human beings. If you feel that way too, my Discord User is: z0ck3r.

Hope i could kept you guys entertained for a couple of minutes.

Have a great one, See y'all!