Cue, Routine, and Reward

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Got a call from my poker coach last week and plan to have lunch with him and a focus group tomorrow regarding online poker. It was a timely call because on Friday I was really missing my days of grinding MTTs. Man, those were the days.

I don't know what will come of the focus group, but I don't really care because it will be nice to see Jeff again, as well as talk poker with some grinders who were doing it for a living. I haven't played the game, much less talked about it, in forever, and I really miss it.

In thinking about my "grinding days" (oh so frustrating, because I'd just gotten really serious, organized, scheduled - all the stuff I should've been from the start, but wasn't), I was struck (yes, still, even after all these months) by the void the loss of the ability to engage in the habit created.

Since the first of the year, I've been thinking about "habit" a lot. Probably just an off-shoot of still coming to grips of with the loss of the ability to play, which is sad when I think about it because from April to January, that's nine months of limbo. But it is what it is. I may be the Speed Racer of driving, but not of living, it seems.

Still, I have been trying to implement some new and different habits into my days as of the first of the year. This month marks the beginning of the end of 2012's first quarter and what I've been sticking to regularly is my daily trail walks, reading, and writing. Everything else...well, I'm a work in progress, I guess.

Anyway, one of my regular reads pointed me to this interesting video about habits and I thought I'd share it:

I like the way he breaks down habit into an analysis of Cue, Routine, and Reward.

Gives me something (else) to think about as I continue wrestling with this thing I get to call my life. Who knows, maybe this time next year (or the following), I'll have it figured out.

Or not.

How about you?

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