According to recent surveys, more Americans want to enter the world of business and pursue their own endeavors. Per studies from Digital.com, up to two out of five respondents want to start their own business. Similarly, Gallup polls find that 62% want to be their own bosses. However, entering business is easier said than done, with upwards of 45% failing within five years of starting. One of the primary reasons for this is a lack of proper business understanding.
Luckily, while there is no one magic map that unlocks all the mysteries of business, there are more accessible ways that people can train themselves for it. One of these is through poker, which has long been found to have overlapping principles with the business world. As explained in a previous post about corporate social responsibility, writer Abey Francis states that “business is said to be like a poker game, whereby organizations are to “play” within the set of rules of the game. Those who do not comply will not be successful in their business.”
With this in mind, here are some critical poker principles that can help prepare you for the business landscape.
Don’t compare yourself with others
Many aspiring business owners get too caught up focusing on what they don’t have compared to their competition. This is what drives some to stretch themselves too thin, with Investopedia noting premature expansions as a leading cause for business failure. Instead, learn from poker pro Chris Moneymaker, who famously embraced his own limited resources to make poker history in 2003. At the time, the pro circuit was dominated by more established players with prime connections. Rather than getting bogged down by his modest unknown status, Moneymaker used only $86 and online qualifying for the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Later in the same year, he ended up winning the $2.5 million Main Event, proving that there is much to gain by focusing on your own game plan.
Due to that unwavering focus on his own outcomes, Moneymaker is known as the “everyman” of poker for his sudden WSOP success. His win heavily inspired others to play the game, with many believing the resulting “Moneymaker effect” sparked the poker boom. In an interview, Moneymaker said, “Overall, I think many people will always relate to me, and they will think of me as a luck box that won the WSOP Main Event. They feel that if I can do it, they can do it.”
Moneymaker has even used this mindset as a basis for his own business pursuits, the most recent of which is anchored on his high-profile partnership with the top American online poker website ACR Poker. His work as its main ambassador helped him become one of the few professional poker players to launch their own tournaments. Now a global series, the aptly-called Moneymaker Tour is specifically designed to attract players of all backgrounds, with Moneymaker hoping that it will provide an opportunity like what he was able to enjoy all those years ago.
Given how far Moneymaker has come with this mindset, it’s clear that similarly dedicating your energy to your own strengths versus your competition’s prevents you from losing sight of your own organization’s goals and accidentally overlooking opportunities that may have already been there.
Sharpen your emotional intelligence
There is a misconception that business isn’t personal. In reality, though, it’s natural to get emotional over your work. After all, what happens in your professional life can very easily impact your private one, whether that be due to impacted stress levels, finances, or anything else. If you’re running your own business, the stakes can be even higher. As such, while it’s okay to accept that you can be emotional about business, what matters is how you let that affect you.
In poker, letting your emotions get to you is called acting on a tilt. When this happens, players usually end up making rash and illogical decisions that don’t account for the bigger game at play. Poker coach and WPT player David Richards shared an Instagram post where he said, “Our game is ultimately a reflection of what we feel, think, and believe within. This is why a solid foundation of emotional intelligence and self-mastery is the key to great poker.” Though it does take practice, once business leaders, like poker players, are able to think and assess beyond what their negative emotions say, it ensures that all their actions and thoughts are more level-headed than spur-of-the-moment.
Make the most of limited information
Considering that daily choices can have a heavier outcome as a business owner, NetSuite determined that around 85% of people in a leadership role have experienced decision distress. For some people, this can even cause them to fold under the pressure completely. That said, while it’s important for people in power to arm themselves with as much useful information to guide their actions, they must also know how not to be crippled when the inverse happens.
Acting under pressure with limited data is something that poker players excel in. As explained by poker pro and writer Maria Konnikova, “One of the things poker teaches you is that you need to focus on what you can control, on your decisions, on the things that you can actually take responsibility for.” Konnikova, who studied psychology and became interested in its role in poker during her early days with her mentor, industry icon Erik Seidel.
Today, the PokerStars ambassador has even made a career out of these learnings as a psychology author. Her book The Biggest Bluff, which details her own poker journey, is a New York Times bestseller with more than 5,000 five-star ratings on Goodreads. Its success further helped bolster her reputation, allowing her to publish more insights through popular titles like Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes and The Confidence Game.
In her new podcast with American company iHeartRadio, Konnikova further underscores that the poker way of thinking is valuable even in everyday decision-making. For business, in particular, being able to optimize information to make up your mind effectively can make all the difference between stagnating and moving forward.
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