Here is the full version of my post published on the ECF forum about the chess tax (supposedly) coming to Yorkshire, unedited by Jack Rudd who seems to think freedom of speech is ok... when he's the one doing the censoring!

Ok it wouldn't stop players joining local leagues (except those who paid the tax) but the player base for playing local leagues and Saturdays are the same. Either way it's still asking for more money for players- I'm very interested to see how the collection does.

Let's have a view from... my perspective! I played chess in leagues for 12 years (with a couple of gaps in between, but in some seasons I played 40 YCA rated matches, including congresses)... there are a number of things which made me stop playing (not being good enough at calculation, being sensitive to things like noise and Neville Pearce deliberately devouring a cheese sandwich to put me off after a long trip to York, the amount of time it took, the type of venues sometimes had to play in, my grading being messed up a lot (the ECF also did this)) but quite a big thing for me when I stopped playing was the realisation... I put all this effort and time into chess... yet I have to pay to play!

How many smart young chessplayers are going to want to play in Yorkshire in the current conditions... answer is very few long term! And the extra fee will be a deterrant to some older new players as well- teams are struggling to recruit players as it is.

To practise writing, I've been typing out lyrics from songs. Here's the one I just did...

With the same sword they knight you They gon good night you with Shit that’s only half if they like you That even a half what they might do Don’t believe me ask Michael See Martin, see Malcolm See Bigge see Pac See Success and its outcome See Jesus see Judas See Ceaser See Brutus See success is like suicide Suicide it’s a suicide If you succeed prepare to be crucified

Goal Review

Quick post here...

So far I think I'm doing OK for my goals overall for the year... but now I'm going to smash it in sales :). Put the energy in, put the hours in, and sell a lot. Ready to rake in the cash!

How to Play Texas Hold’em

How to Play Texas Hold’em

Texas Hold’em poker is the most popular form of poker in the world and this article will teach you how to play.

The game consists of two cards being dealt to each player and then five community card being dealt by the dealer and the players will use a combination of these cards to make the best five card hand. Whoever has the best hand at the end of the betting will win the pot.

Here is the list of the rank of hands, starting with the lowest.

A High card- the highest card is an Ace, followed by King, Queen... One pair is two cards of the same rank, such as two Aces. Two pair is two cards of the same rank and another two cards of the same rank, such as two Aces and two Kings. Three of a kind is three cards of the same rank such as three Aces.

A Straight is five cards of sequential rank, such as 10, Jack, Queen, King Ace. A Flush is five cards of the same suit, such as Ace of hearts, two of hearts, five of hearts, seven of hearts and eight of hearts. A Full House is thee of a kind and a pair, such as Ace, Ace Ace and King King. Four of a kind is four cards of the same rank such as Ace Ace Ace Ace. Straight Flush is a straight of entirely one suit such as Ten of diamonds Jack of diamonds Queen of Diamonds King of Diamonds Ace of Diamonds. Royal Flush An Ace-High straight of one suit.

Listening to the voice inside your head... then ACTING on it.

Are you really living an authentic life if something rushes through your head, be it an image or words, and you don't act on it?

Probably not.

Why did I say 'probably'? Well, you CERTAINLY aren't if you have programmed into your subconscious the right things you want for yourself. Even if you haven't, you probably know them anyway, they'll just be less clear in your head.

So yeah, you have to act on them. In the visualisation I've been doing today, I've been picturing myself at the end of my life, at an awards ceremony or something, saying "Yeah... I wasn't 'supposed' to have the level success I have now, this wasn't supposed to 'happen' to me. But no matter what people said to me, no matter what the situation, I've always had that self belief. People are more skilled than me in certain aeras, but very few have that same level of inner belief." (And understanding I guess.)

Anyway yeah... have to make that happen. I will though. Part of this post came out of writing an email to Stevie PUA- click on link to visit his site. I'd recommend clicking on all of the links if you haven't already.

Mark

Goal Review

Right... time for a goal review. Part of me wants to write this... well pretty much all of me does now, some of me didn't before. Taking a bit more time on it than some of my posts- I've got my goals that I set out at the start of the year in front of me and I'm reviewing it.

Wealth wise, I'm doing alright up to press. Decent offensive play in earning money, and good defensive play in saving it. Have to remember in general to keep pushing my comfort zone, trying new ways to earn and save money is fun!

Sales... I think overall so far this year I have performed fairly well. Saying that, I haven't totally smashed it. Let's be direct- pretty recently I left one of the biggest and best companies in the UK for sales. I could have stayed there longer, but I felt that the sales process wasn't ideal (aka it wasn't really workable for the product I was selling... to be honest selling any kind of product in this way in the UK is very difficult now I believe) but more importantly, I wasn't enjoying it.

I left the company on probably the best terms I've left any company and they said they'd be happy for me to work for them again. I've had quite a few other sales jobs ring me up and offer me interviews (some practically giving me the job) but I'm going to be very choosy on what job I take if I'm going to go into another sales role.

Fact is, since then I've been putting more energy into my goals than I have been before really- putting in the hours in poker, surveys and ecommerce every day. Poker has been going pretty well this year... I'm running much better than last year. Cashed in 7 of the WBCOOP events, cashing in a lot of tournaments, cashed in the recent Sunday Storm. SCOOP is coming up and I have plenty of tickets. At my cash game peak, playing very nicely... have to rememebr just to put in the time at the cash tables, the results will come. Truth is, if these things go well enough that will be enough to support me financially anyway- even if I decide to do something else I'm developing great areas to achieve money 'on the side'.

I'm glad I've got a good group of people who're supporting me. Still want to meet more, and I still want my friends to achieve their goals too.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to get in touch if you think we can help each other reach our goals I'm Mark Howitt on Facebook and @MarkHowitt on Twitter.

Breaking Free of Social Norms

You only have one life.

As I've alluded to before, up until around 3 and a half years ago, I over thought things quite a lot. That's what playing chess, writing fiction, studying philosophy does to you. There would be so many thoughts bouncing around in my brain that I wouldn't TAKE ACTION on many of them. I also subconsciously probably had a mentality that I was alright enough to be 'good' at something but not amazing.

Like most people, I was stuck in my comfort zone. Although to be fair, I did push myself more than most. The principles still apply though, I was letting overthinking and social conditioning hold me back from interesting experiences.

As long as subconsciously you know what you want, and you have the right thinking behind wanting it, you should practically always trust your instincts. The default option is to ALWAYS trust your instincts- you will either be right or wrong, and personally my instincts are right about what I want at least 90% of the time.

Malcolm Gladwell's Blink has a more detailed and analytical explanation of this if that's what you're into. I personally found the book a bit complicated and long (although good overall!) and will maybe come back with an Amazon link to it. Not going to do that now though, want to keep the flow.

When a thought forms in your brain usually it's something which should be just acted on. There is a LOT of social conditioning going on in the UK which people don't realise. A lot of it is termed 'political correctness'- in a nutshell, if you're politically correct you're basically giving into a leftist doctrine. If that's what you want, that's OK for you, but it isn't for me. Quite often going around the UK now, when I feel alright at least, I feel like I'm doing what I want, DESPITE an element of 'Big Brother' watching me. Hi CCTV... yeah I'll just do what I want anyway.

I hope you're enjoying this post... now go take ACTION!