Poker Strategy The Ideal Poker Self URL has been copied successfully! You may not use these words, but you already know what I’m about to tell you: the real battle does not take place externally, but on the inside – between your ideal and imperfect selves. Every day these two sides engage in a vicious fight to secure control over your mind, spirit and, ultimately, the entire direction of your life.The one you’ve been listening to your entire life – the imperfect self you incorrectly call “me” – wants nothing but to keep you safe. In its own twisted and self-destructive ways, it does its best to keep you from pain and danger, of both the physical and emotional varieties, that it thinks you won’t be able to take – the pain of failure and rejection and feeling unloved. It accomplishes this by prioritizing survival over fulfillment, security over connection, and self-protection over self-love.But – if you will only listen closely – beyond the loud voice of the false self, lives another. It is small, it is still, and it is always focused squarely on presence, healing and growth. This is the ideal Self, the true Self, the higher Self. It is the soul, it is the Atman, it is God energy encapsulated. Unlike the emotional imperfect self, the ideal Self speaks in simple, declarative statements.You should not be playing right now.You need to study more.Call back your friends.The battle rages constantly, taking a thousand different forms in far fewer days.Should I review hand histories, or watch another episode?If I skip the run I can play one more Sit & Go.Should I jump up in limits and try to make it all back in a day?Like a poker game of the highest stakes, back and forth we battle between wholeness and self-inflicted annihilation. Fortunately, the war between the selves is similar to poker in that victory is earned through a near-infinite collection of battles. This is the great gift of life for it allows wisdom, insight and excellence, the opportunity to develop. It leaves the imperfect self plenty of room to overcome early mistakes.And the truth, whether you are ready to admit it or not, is that you have accumulated a wealth of knowledge over the course of your life. Experiences, insights and perspectives – unique to you and literally no one else – have combined inside you, in the exact perfect way, and the true self, your True Self, is only waiting on your permission to shape them into the magic of who you are meant to be.And so as the daily battle rages between the most ideal and imperfect versions of you, first select the fighter whose corner you’d like to put yourself in – the one you trust to guide you most – and then do everything in your power to tip the scales in their favor as often as you possibly can.Begin small, by reaching for all the low-hanging fruit you can find.I’ll watch one more episode, but first, I’ll review 3 hands.I’ll go for a run now, but make the time later for not just one, but 3 more Sit & Gos.Whatever form the battle takes, I’ll purposefully infuse it with even the most minuscule measure of goodness, slowly but surely tipping myself towards wholeness, and fulfillment, and my most joyous ideal Self.Because if there’s one thing the great game of poker has taught me, it’s that it doesn’t matter how many hands – nor battles – I lose today, so long as I stay playing long enough to give work and fate the necessary space to exact their edge.