Are You Faking Progress? (Blog)

[Savage]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

Are You Faking Progress?

[Le Roi]

Well, that seemed like a gentle post compared to the harsh post I was expecting with the title.

[SnerpGoodWord]

One caveat, and I think Steve's blackjack experience touches on this, is that there are some things you shouldn't attempt "for real" until you're very very skilled.

I mean, betting $25*multiple per hand is one thing. Trying to bet 4-5 figures per hand in a team setting is another. Screw the first one up, and you'll end up barred from the blackjack pit with a funny story to tell. Screw the second one up, and you could easily end up buried in a hole in the desert. Much more likely at the hands of your "teammates" than the casino, by the way.

So it would be pretty dumb to go after the big $$$ in blackjack without a LOT of study and information up-front to minimize those risks. You don't necessarily want to try to make real progress too soon.

[Adam Elkins]

Are you happy with your current balance between learning for the sake of learning vs. learning to achieve specific results?

No.

This post is one that relates to me personally. Last September I started studying at university. All they've done is shovel information into my head! At least some of it will be useful, but I've felt strongly that my study has been pointing no-where and at times I've felt like quitting and going down the self-taught route. I think that would have been a mistake but I definitely need to make my study more results-oriented.

I think I'm going to need some help with this. Over the past year I've resisted the need to call for help; I was working under the false belief that I had to overcome my challenges myself without help from others but I only got more and more frustrated. I thought that acknowledging that I was struggling and asking for help was a sign of weakness and I projected this belief onto other people. I then got called to account for it (sorry, Steve!). I've now dumped this belief and I'm looking forward to other people helping me. I think it could be fun.

My goal for the next few months is to pass my exams. To do this I want to gain control over my habits and beliefs and gain control of my study to make it much more results-oriented. But I'm not very good at keeping track of my goals....

[Mounds]

I swear Steve started writing articles for me. I just read that little quote above me and I'm already liking it

Just polished it off. I like it. I was caught in study mode for over a year. I'm now moving into the results stage.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Le Roi

Well, that seemed like a gentle post compared to the harsh post I was expecting with the title.

My celibacy trial ended about 2 weeks ago.

[Andrew Brunelle]

I completely get this article. It's one thing to read and learn about something, but a whole other animal to actually do it and get good results. Blackjack... That would have been a great career for you, if you would have stuck with it. Imagine all the people you could have screwed out of their life savings. But you pursued a much higher path, and for that we're all grateful.

[openeyes]

Originally Posted by Adam Elkins

Over the past year I've resisted the need to call for help; I was working under the false belief that I had to overcome my challenges myself without help from others

I've experienced that myself. Looking back on college I think one of the prime lessons of it (and probably so many other things) is learning to reach out to other people/resources for assistance. It can take a certain level of strength to ask for help, and I'm still lacking in that area at times.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Andrew Brunelle

Imagine all the people you could have screwed out of their life savings.

I think you're confusing blackjack with poker. Blackjack is played only against the house, not against other players. I'd have to win a heck of a lot to screw the casinos out of their life savings, given that Vegas casinos rake in billions each year.

[VinceG]

Yo dawg, I herd you like progress, so we put a meter in yo meter so you can watch yo progress while u watchin yo progress!

[alexb5784]

The one area I have been faking progress in is my career. During my 20's and until now, I tried to embrace and reject the status-quo at the same time. I haven't been polarized. I chased phantom goals. I've dropped the goal to attend medical school, even though I was doing well.


After reading this article, I realized what the real problem was. I was using my lack of career success as a scapegoat for not doing what I really wanted. Now, I'm no longer afraid to follow my true dream which is to live outside the US permanently. I've always felt more at home in Europe than in America.

I'm packing up and leaving in 9 months, most likely for the UK. It's something I've been wanting to do for 10 years but haven't had the courage. It's silly because I lived in France for over year when I was 21 and have been to Europe 13 times.

I let fear keep me stuck in America. I was coming up with all types of excuses on why I should stay here. One excuse was school and another was the lack of a job. But all I need is a plan and the tenacity to take action. Everything else will fall into place. There are plenty of universities in the UK and I know I can create work that I'll love.

I'm tired of lying to myself.

[James81]

Originally Posted by alexb5784

The one area I have been faking progress in is my career. During my 20's and until now, I tried to embrace and reject the status-quo at the same time. I haven't been polarized. I chased phantom goals. I've dropped the goal to attend medical school, even though I was doing well.


After reading this article, I realized what the real problem was. I was using my lack of career success as a scapegoat for not doing what I really wanted. Now, I'm no longer afraid to follow my true dream which is to live outside the US permanently. I've always felt more at home in Europe than in America.

I'm packing up and leaving in 9 months, most likely for the UK. It's something I've been wanting to do for 10 years but haven't had the courage. It's silly because I lived in France for over year when I was 21 and have been to Europe 13 times.

I let fear keep me stuck in America. I was coming up with all types of excuses on why I should stay here. One excuse was school and another was the lack of a job. But all I need is a plan and the tenacity to take action. Everything else will fall into place. There are plenty of universities in the UK and I know I can create work that I'll love.

I'm tired of lying to myself.

If it makes you feel any better, I'm facing the same kind of thing. Not in moving to another country, but making a career switch at a point in my life where most people are too afraid to do so (i.e. having kids and quitting my job anyway to live off of college loans for a year).

Given the nature of what I have to accomplish this summer, some people might look at me and tell me I'm crazy. I had a math professor at the local college tell me that there was *no way* that I'm going to be able to pass the four math classes, plus pass the Praxis, and handle the load of the program I'm in at the same time.

And I can tell you, it's scary when you branch off on your own where nobody initially believes in you. I've tried to talk myself out of this several times just this week, actually.

But I'm building momentum and I'm gonna do it.

And so can you, if moving away is what you truly want to do.

I liked this article. I feel personally like I'm about to put to test all the "skills" I feel I learned in PD over the last 4 years. This is my final exam in PD 101.

[SatvikBeri]

Originally Posted by James81

If it makes you feel any better, I'm facing the same kind of thing. Not in moving to another country, but making a career switch at a point in my life where most people are too afraid to do so (i.e. having kids and quitting my job anyway to live off of college loans for a year).

Given the nature of what I have to accomplish this summer, some people might look at me and tell me I'm crazy. I had a math professor at the local college tell me that there was *no way* that I'm going to be able to pass the four math classes, plus pass the Praxis, and handle the load of the program I'm in at the same time.

And I can tell you, it's scary when you branch off on your own where nobody initially believes in you. I've tried to talk myself out of this several times just this week, actually.

But I'm building momentum and I'm gonna do it.

And so can you, if moving away is what you truly want to do.

I liked this article. I feel personally like I'm about to put to test all the "skills" I feel I learned in PD over the last 4 years. This is my final exam in PD 101.

Only 116 more credits til you get your degree in PD

[cshwk1995]

I really like the two recent article "action bias" & "faking progress" a lot.

however, i like to comment on "faking progress" that um......sometimes it is ok to learn but keep in toolbox if u don't know where to apply it for the moment.

1) some kind of knowledge are more easily and more opportunities to be applied in real life than others.

2) steve jobs learned designing font types. And after 10 years, he applied it to designing Apple.

anyway, it is good to have "applying it" in mind when learning something so the abstract become more concrete and get better sense of what is happening, linked with a context, etc......

[alexb5784]

Originally Posted by James81

And I can tell you, it's scary when you branch off on your own where nobody initially believes in you. I've tried to talk myself out of this several times just this week, actually.

But I'm building momentum and I'm gonna do it.

And so can you, if moving away is what you truly want to do.

I liked this article. I feel personally like I'm about to put to test all the "skills" I feel I learned in PD over the last 4 years. This is my final exam in PD 101.

I commend you on your goal, do what you have to do.

You're 100% right about people not being supportive and telling others that they're crazy. I have zero support from my family. They all think I should work 2-3 miserable jobs just to pay rent and put food on the table. That's what they're doing, but I refuse. I can keep costs low by doing freelance work and surfing on people's couches. I'm leaving in 9 months regardless of what anyone says.

At this point, I'm so done with social conditioning. I tried to be "normal" but I can't. I have no desire work hard and look forward to retirement. There are better ways to live.

You mentioned Praxis, so I assume you're studying to be a teacher? Good luck with everything!!!!

[Cochonette]

Originally Posted by alexb5784

I have no desire work hard and look forward to retirement. There are better ways to live.

Hey, we're in the same club, it sounds like.

[ChrisG]

I tend to give myself too much credit for studying something, and not enough for results. This is a real eye-opener, and I hope to shift my focus more to results rather than studying.

As I type that, I can hear the imp inside me that demands instant gratification freak out, because you can read a book real quick but it takes a long while to see results.......

[alexb5784]

I've ignored my intuition for a really long time. I've always done what I thought was expected of me. But now I realize that no one cares what you do with your life, as long as you don't bother them about it.

The most important thing I've learned throughout all of this is that I have to have a plan. And it must be a plan based on a goal I really want, not what I think will impress or please others.

[SnerpGoodWord]

Originally Posted by Andrew Brunelle

I completely get this article. It's one thing to read and learn about something, but a whole other animal to actually do it and get good results. Blackjack... That would have been a great career for you, if you would have stuck with it. Imagine all the people you could have screwed out of their life savings. But you pursued a much higher path, and for that we're all grateful.

Actually, there's very little money in blackjack these days. Most professional gamblers moved to poker in the 2000's due to better money, no need to team up, and no heat from the casinos. With the decline in "serious" blackjack play, the economic incentive for the casinos to spread beatable games has dropped. It's a vicious cycle. I'm not sure there's a 4-deck, hand delt, 2:1 (or better) game left in Vegas.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by SnerpGoodWord

Actually, there's very little money in blackjack these days. Most professional gamblers moved to poker in the 2000's due to better money, no need to team up, and no heat from the casinos. With the decline in "serious" blackjack play, the economic incentive for the casinos to spread beatable games has dropped. It's a vicious cycle. I'm not sure there's a 4-deck, hand delt, 2:1 (or better) game left in Vegas.

Many casinos are breaking the game in various ways. In the past few years, blackjack payouts of 6-5 instead of 3-2 have become increasingly common on the Vegas Strip, even with machine-shuffled 8-deck shoes.

Some casinos also use continuous shuffler machines, rendering card counting impossible. They also never have to pause the game to shuffle or to bring in a new deck from a machine shuffler.

Another development has been to add pole dancing women in the blackjack pits. Lots of places have that now.

[Fendaril]

Originally Posted by Savage

Another development has been to add pole dancing women in the blackjack pits. Lots of places have that now.

Imagine if you started to play blackjack again at those establishments, you wouldn't have made it past day 3 of your celibacy trial.

By the way, when is your next long post about sexuality going to come out?(jk).

[James81]

Originally Posted by Fendaril

Imagine if you started to play blackjack again at those establishments, you wouldn't have made it past day 3 of your celibacy trial.

By the way, when is your next long post about sexuality going to come out?(jk).

I'm still waiting for his next long post about waking up in the morning feeling refreshed and wonderful.

[Savage]

Methinks people are being mean to me.

[Mounds]

Originally Posted by Savage

Methinks people are being mean to me.

Next time on StevePavlina.com...

"How to Have Sex All Night and Wake Up Feeling Refreshed, Part 1/6"


*shrug* I'd read it.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Mounds

Next time on StevePavlina.com...

"How to Have Sex All Night and Wake Up Feeling Refreshed, Part 1/6"


*shrug* I'd read it.

It's easier to have polyphasic sex throughout the day. Then you can rest and recover between sessions, and it won't disrupt your sleep.

[SnerpGoodWord]

Originally Posted by Savage

Many casinos are breaking the game in various ways. In the past few years, blackjack payouts of 6-5 instead of 3-2 have become increasingly common on the Vegas Strip, even with machine-shuffled 8-deck shoes.

Some casinos also use continuous shuffler machines, rendering card counting impossible. They also never have to pause the game to shuffle or to bring in a new deck from a machine shuffler.

Another development has been to add pole dancing women in the blackjack pits. Lots of places have that now.

Yeah, blackjack pays 6:5 is simply impossible to overcome. I should have been clearer and said the 2:1 was a measure of shuffle point - 2 cards dealt for every 1 remaining.

I miss the old days when MGM had a 4-deck hand dealt game with good rules and would occasionally have weak dealers that shuffled late and/or had a weak shuffle. I took a little money out of those games, but a college friend of mine with Rain Man shuffle tracking skills made something like $20K in a week. It was hilarious to watch - when he'd hit a part of the deck where both sides of the shuffle had sequences he had tracked he could make the most bizarre plays and have them pan out. It did eventually get him banned though.

These days all the money is in the bigger poker games. I don't think I know anyone who still plays blackjack.

[waizen]

You got kicked out of one casino for winning $200 within a few minutes? After the billions they rake in a year, why would that small amount trigger them to do that, even back in the day? Don't they realize that winning that amount by luck alone (if there is a such thing as luck) is always a possibility (even by the mathematically challenged, like me)?

[Savage]

Originally Posted by waizen

You got kicked out of one casino for winning $200 within a few minutes? After the billions they rake in a year, why would that small amount trigger them to do that, even back in the day? Don't they realize that winning that amount by luck alone (if there is a such thing as luck) is always a possibility (even by the mathematically challenged, like me)?

The circumstances were unusual. The count was shifting so wildly that I'd bet $5 and lose, then bet $25 and double down and win $50, then bet $10 and lose, then bet $25 and split and double-down on one of the splits and win $75, then bet $5 and lose, etc.

I was counting cards, but in this case the shifts were mostly luck. That luck drew lots of attention because it aligned perfectly with the changes in my betting. The pit boss couldn't help but notice.

[gingerbaker]

Originally Posted by Savage

My celibacy trial ended about 2 weeks ago.

I'm actually highly curious if your celibacy trial line is a joke or was a real trial.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by gingerbaker

I'm actually highly curious if your celibacy trial line is a joke or was a real trial.

I did about 7 weeks of celibacy, so it was real in that sense. I wouldn't say I approached it like a formal trial though.

I didn't like it. It was also very distracting. It's easier not to be distracted by sexual thoughts when sex is abundant, just as it's easier not to worry about money when cash is abundant.