Hello Pokerstrategists.
I've been really struggling with motivation lately. I've put in ALOT of hands (150k and counting) at NL10 and i've JUST become a profitable player there; just.
I hardly make anything while playing, i feel so demotivated to put in the work because it feels like so much for so little. Has any serious grinders got any words of wisdom, videos or any sort of advice on dealing with this aspect of poker?
Thanks alot
What works for me is to do theory. I dont know why but it just gains hell of a motivation.
You say you play a lot of hands, but how many hours do you study, reflect and learn new things. The grind can we very difficult. Are you fulltime playing ? If yes, finds some stuff to do outdoors, like a gym, swimming pool, running ,cycling. Its so easy to burn out.
Also its seems you have some mental leaks, what is that you really want from poker ?
imo the best way to improve and maintain motivation is by having a long-term goal and setting smaller goals that help towards achieving that ultimate goal. Maybe you want to play NL25 and have a nice little side income besides your day job, or perhaps you want to be a full-time grinder playing NL200 for a living. Or maybe you want to open as many chests at pokerstars while dicking around at NL5. Doesn't really matter what it is, but it's important that you know what you want to achieve. Doesn't even apply just to poker, but basically anything in life (business, studying, poker, sports, you name it).
Once you know that, you can set yourself smaller goals - maybe even call them challenges if that helps boost your motivation more. Can be as simple as playing a specific number of hands in a month, but you can make these goals as complicated as you want. Setting goals gives you something to work towards and by setting smaller goals that help you get to your ultimate goal, you will slowly but surely be able to reach the top of that mountain you're trying to climb. Setting out a path for yourself like that helps a lot to stay focused and motivated.
I also very strongly agree with what was said above about other things to do. Helps a lot to take your mind off of poker, especially if poker is your main focus atm.
Hi DecMate,
Sorry to read your having motivational issue. Have you read 5-point plan: From break-even grinder to winning player?
You might also find The Quick Guide to Skyrocketing Your Poker and Life Productivity helpful. Schnitzelfisch has also done a few videos on the mental game which I have found helpful when in the doldrums with poker.
Have you thought about starting a blog? By documenting your progress and career you will increase both your motivation and endurance, You will work on your game automatically by discussing tricky spots with other members and During a downswing you will profit from psychological support and encouragement. And if you feel like it have a look at https://forums.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?threadid=325001
Hope your luck turns and look forward to reading how you get on. 
Regards
Matt
Originally posted by DecMate
Hello Pokerstrategists.
I've been really struggling with motivation lately. I've put in ALOT of hands (150k and counting) at NL10 and i've JUST become a profitable player there; just.I hardly make anything while playing, i feel so demotivated to put in the work because it feels like so much for so little. Has any serious grinders got any words of wisdom, videos or any sort of advice on dealing with this aspect of poker?
Thanks alot
Hi,
First thing that hit me , u now became a profitable player and u lose motivation? if you look at your last 30k or 50k hands then i assume you will see a progress in your game compared to earlier hands? but maybe you was more motivated by showing yourself you can win at this limit ? i agree with TJ that its important to know your why.
Things you maybe can do to stay motivated
You can start a blog
Share your stats and i am sure people on here can help you find something to improve on
join a study group , discussing and learning with other players can speed up the progress
Good advice by Matt above to read the 5-point plan
Mental game
Focus on your decisions and not results , over time with right decisions your results will be better and better
maybe read the book the mental game by Jared Tandler
This is just some ideas, thoughts and i hope it can help you somehow
Good Luck 
Heavily cut down on tables. Focus more on spots. By grinding this many hands you'll let ALOT of leaks get in your autopilot game. This will only make it harder to unlearn them and consequently make moving up harder. Plus you'll be missing all the small spots you now think are 'unimportant' but add up BIGTIME after these sample sizes. For example: missing a +EV steal every 500hands = 150.000/500 = 300 times in total, 300x1,5bb = 4,5 BI
This is only 1 example, i'd bet you miss alot of other 'easy' spots aswell.
Focus on becoming a better player first then make volume. Focus on certain aspects of the game 1 at a time.
Here's a graph of me clicking 2 tables zoom10 when i was 'bored' in a hotelroom. 2 tables is less than i normally play so i could focus better, even while fooling around because i normally play nl50/100.
I've actually changed my whiteboard from weekly to daily and it works wonders so far.
Every day has a new fun theme at the top labeled "My intent today:"
(My Coach has identified that I have some large gaps in 3Bet Pots. So I broke that down and on monday I wrote "become the Call 3B End Boss" as the theme of the day. Only saved hands where I called a 3Bet, ran sims on those only etc. And I actually made a whole series idea out of it . Shameless plug: https://forums.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?threadid=419068&goto=firstnew)
It can be a thing you're working on that will elevate your game (Like 3bets for me that day. Or adding more NL100 tables for today than usual ("NL100 In Da house!")
Taking a shot at higher limit
Or anything else that gets me excited and make it a theme of the day
I then get a section for steps 1-11, action by action ideally set them night before so I get to think about them overnight. Worst case in the morning.
And before a 2hour session I always hschedule "Prep" that usually is short hypnosis tape followed by a fast walk uphill etc. where I relax or think about what I want to do that sesh.
Schedule studying (more fun with hands you played on that day)
breaks etc.
And then have a section where I note down hours I put in, always fill in a box for when I do to have a sense of achievement (and save those in a spreadsheet at the end of the day so I can monitor my habits)
And than lastly there's a section for mindset thoughts like
"Expect to win with hard work"
"Enough boom-bust, steady, awesome sustainable style, Enjoy the moment"
And basically just focus on each day starting fresh, is unique and you make count the hell of it.
EDIT: Oh and forgot to add the "Shit goes wrong" section in my plan.
basically it's next to to-do list. and is there in case everything goes wrong, Iose a bunch of buy ins or really hit a wall.
Idea is that you throw away your plan and do this instead of total waste oftime. Like play Snowie, call people I neglected, or just have plain fun at micros
Hi jembet & nyonyamanto,
Welcome to PokerStrategy.com!
There is no quick and easy answer to this question. Some of the links provided by metalmonkey80 above can help with this issue also.
For myself, I used a book called "The Mental Game of Poker" by Jared Tendler.
Search for the book title or author's name in the forum to find some posts that might help.
The biggest factor here is experience. As time goes on, the coolers and bad beats matter less and less as your overall winnings increase.
All the best,
VS
