Mental Prep and Game Focus

So I finally thought about what it's going to take to mentally focus and prepare myself for the grind thats gonna start. Truth be said, it's what I pretty much do now. But I think over the past year, it has changed from time to time till today which I'm still dealing with. What you really need, I think, is a daily plan, like the game you crush, your bread and butter, which leads to routine. I'm not saying you should follow this for the rest of your life and you can also diverge from the routine if there are obstacles in the way or if you can improve, then by all means, change it.

So what does Mental Prep and Game Focus mean?
To me, it means preparing myself to play my A+++ game over many hands and long hours both short term and long term without stressing myself out doing this. Worrying about hours, hands, and money is the last thing I need to be think about because if I play my A+++ game, then those described will just happen.

Mental Preparation is going to be different for all people. For me, it's a 24/7 thought process. I want to make sure I wake up early without setting my alarm, going to bed at whatever time, but still be able to wake up early, putting in volume and hours without thinking about it, eating healthier without thinking about it, feeling good and staying positive even when times can be rough, planning around everything, etc. Planning your day, weeks, and months are very important. Things come up and things to do, but the thing I have to be aware of is I have to pursuit SNE. So If I have to take the day off or do something in the middle of the day away from grinding, I better have a plan to make up for lost time as a part of my mental game.

Game Focus is something I need to keep working on and is what I struggle with the most. Playing long quality hours and hands is the toughest part. Even when I put in shorter sessions, multiple sessions seem tougher to put it sometimes. Either way I look at it, it decreases my volume dramatically and cuts away from SNE. I need to get over this mountain. Not think about results, winning, losing, but really like I keep saying is play my A+++ game for long long hours over the next year. Taking breaks are good for the game, but coming back reset and ready to go is better. So if I can set myself out to A+++ game in 5 minutes or 10 minutes, I will have a chance at this. Not 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, but short breaks. Why?

Time is valuable. I don't know about you, but I want to enjoy the quality of life still and not spend all my time playing poker 18 hours of the day by playing a few hours here, few hours there, study here, etc. That's why playing quality and quantity over a long period is important. I need time to be with my family, my wife, my babies. That's where I need to balance my time and myself. It's probably something I've been working on since I first started and still to this day, working on. You need to have balance at the tables and away from it.

So my routine I follow as of now:
Wake up early between 6-7:30am
Take a shower, drink coffee, relax, maybe some light house chores
Fire up the computer, read some forums, look over some hand histories, watch a training video
Get ready to start working and fire tables up focused
Focus on poker from the time I start to about 4 or 6:30pm 5 days a week.

That's about it, of course working at home, I stray away from this sometimes. But I have to manage to replace the time missed playing weather it be I put in a session another day or later in the evening. I have to make sure I do that.

If I can improve on everything I discussed, I'll keep adding to my mental prep and game focus. Thanks if anyone reads this. If anyone has any other thoughts or advice, I would love to hear them

Good luck on the journey!!!

Jeff