“I want it. I want it now.” I am sure we have all had thoughts and feelings like this. I think it’s common for people to have these feelings because when we want something, we want it right then. Unfortunately, not everything can be bought and acquired right at that moment. For example, improvement cannot be bought; it has to be earned. A person must put in the time and effort to improve.

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Wanting to improve is common, but actually improving is not. The first step of wanting to improve is easy, but it’s the next step that really gets in the way of most players’ success: the step where we put in the work to achieve our goals. I see lots of players getting the bug to improve and starting to do a couple of the things needed, but then something happens and the desire fades.

What happens to these players to make that desire fade away? Are they losing interest after a couple of bad sessions? Does life get in the way? Or is it just a lack of focus to stay on task?

I personally never had that much trouble putting in what I thought was the work, but I could have done a lot better. When I played pool, I didn’t practice a ton, but instead stayed in action non-stop and improved by always playing in competitive situations. At poker, it took me a while to figure out that the good players were doing work. For some reason, I just didn’t apply thoughts of improving to poker.

In 2010 when I finally realized it, I did everything I could to improve. I started a poker chat group, joined a training site, and took lessons. I spent quite a bit of time trying to improve and am very happy I did. When we want something, we have to put in the work and follow-through.

I also think continued improvement is very important. It seems to me that there are too many players who get a taste of success and then all they do is play. They don’t seem to be overly concerned with continuing to improve. I think talking poker is one of the easiest ways to continue to improve. My advice: build up a solid network of players to talk poker with and then make sure to get them talking. Reviewing hands and discussing lines should never get old; it’s the lifeblood of improving at poker.

This article was written by John cracker9ballReynolds, who lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma. If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information, visit Variance101.com or contact him at variance101@gmail.com.