My first WCOOP event starts in a little under 2 hours. I’ve been looking forward to this series since the end of SCOOP in May, but I’ve been a little apprehensive as it approaches. Many of us know how demoralizing it can be to grind every day at a (hopefully only slightly) higher ABI than normal and just bust out over and over with only a few min-cashes along the way. I’m somewhat numb to the swings and know not to get my hopes up for any two-week stretch (at least logically), but there’s no doubt that a large part of me will be disappointed if I don’t at least make day two in a couple of tournaments.

I doubt that would make me apprehensive on its own but two other things may be weighing on my mind. I’m in a small (~100 ABI) downswing over the past two months. Nothing unusual but it inevitably plants a seed of doubt in the back of my mind when I have back-to-back losing months. More importantly, I’ve been studying new material which tends to temporarily make my in-game thought process much more complicated. I also find it more difficult when reviewing hands to notice/understand where I’m making mistakes. I’ve gone through this process many times, and although I’m quite sure it will make me a stronger player eventually, my edge is lower than normal as I learn where and how to implement the new strategies.

I had a mini-realization this morning, namely that I’ve been way more stressed than normal over the past few weeks. Before the series even begins! Mainly just putting a lot of pressure on myself, second-guessing my skills and even my lifestyle in general.

I’ve heard about gratitude rituals in the past and tried a couple of times, but never did it with any regularity. Sitting quietly for 5 minutes in the morning and focusing on the things I am grateful for. Noticing how much more important they are than what I tend to worry about. I did that this morning and I feel more energized and calmer than I’ve been in a while. I actually found a ridiculous amount of things to be grateful for and I’m currently so free of worry about the next few weeks that it’s a little unsettling.

As you can see, I tend to get overly anxious. I just started to worry about how I’m not worried… Anyway, I’ve committed to doing the gratitude ritual every morning, at least for the duration of the series if not much longer.

Has anyone else tried this or something similar? Preliminary results are encouraging but I’ve no idea what to expect from doing it every day.