Yorky Pud

In all walks of life it is very easy to allow yourself to get stuck in a rut, become lazy and lose focus on what you actually set out to do in the first place. It does not take a lot for me to down tools and browse the internet even just for a minute and then I start complaining about how little time I have to do things and how I feel I am not fulfilling my potential but I have started to, slowly, change this.

Whilst I was working at WPT Amneville last month Lee Davy and the blogging expert that is Marko Saric were discussing the launch of Lee's new website and this lead all three of us talking about writing in general. I said that I have bought my own domain name but at present my personal site is completely empty because I do not have enough time to write what I want to. Marko sat quietly for a short while before just saying something like “but you have time to play video games,” which is true. I do play video games and online poker so I must have some spare time. Right?

The problem with procrastinating is that it leads you to think you do not actually have any spare time because you are always putting something off until later. A friend of mine said that maybe I am just not motivated to do the things I want any more because I write so much during the days, weeks and months that writing has become a chore. At first I thought he may be correct but if I start to write on my personal site it will not be about poker which is what 99% of what I write is about every day so writing on it would actually be a welcomed break. I do not think it is that I am not motivated to write my blog or something else that I really want to get back into, reading regularly, it is just I am motivated to something else more. Instead of writing or reading the pull of Xbox or grinding a few hands of poker is more alluring, possibly easier (??) so I choose that avenue instead.

As mentioned in the first paragraph I have started to change my way of thinking and although it will take time to get used to I am sure it will benefit me in the long term. I contacted the excellent Martin Harris, known to you guys as Short-Stacked Shamus, one of the best writers I know of. It helps that he is a professor of English or something similar but he is fantastic. Everything he does is consistently great so I asked him for some advice on how to become better at writing in general and he told two things, the first was to just write about whatever I wanted to write about even if it is only a couple of paragraphs and the second was to read more. The second suggestion is my first major change.

You see, I used to read a lot when I was growing up and really enjoyed it like readers do but as I grew into my teens then early 20s my reading of books literally stopped and the only writing I feast my eyes on nowadays is poker-related on the internet or in magazines I subscribe to. Normally I make the excuse that I do not have time but like Marko said I make time for video games and poker so why not reading? Plus I travel a lot with work now and I am always hanging around bus and train stations, as well as airports so in reality I have plenty of time.

So my latest challenge is to get back into reading. I have invested in a Kindle in an attempt to kickstart me into reading on a more regular basis and I already have two books, free of course, downloaded onto it. They are Bram Stoker's Dracula and A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickins but if you have any suggestions at all then please feel free to let me know and I will gladly take them on board. No romance novels though please, I do not think I can stomach those! Hopefully, in a few weeks time I will be churning my way through books like Johnny Five on Short Circuit (need input) and as a result my own writing should start to improve too. Who knows, I may even have a book of my own to write, they do say everyone has one in them.