The Poker Life Podcast – Discussing Self Improvement with Ed Latimore

Key Takeaways

• Who is Ed Latimore? – A former boxer, an author, speaker, and content creator
  • Follow him on Twitter – You won’t regret it
  • Check out his blog
  • Check out his book – Not Caring What Other People Think Is A Superpower: Insights From a Heavyweight Boxer 
• “I take what I learn the hard way and I break it down, so you can learn it the easy way.”
• “The difficulty of something is irrelevant, if it’s vital to your success.”
  • Push yourself to the limit, so that you can become an example for others

Boxing is Tough

• Ed grew up focused on being a pro boxer, a profession in which injuries are very common
• Poker Legend Doyle Brunson: “Poker is a hard way to make an easy living. Boxing is a hard way to make a hard living.”
  • Most people in boxing are not making money
• Ed was 13-1 in his carer, and barely got by
• “In any other sport, you get penalized for what we do for entertainment.”
  • If you kill a man in the ring they will cheer for you, but if you kill a man in the street they will put you in jail.
  • Every fighter must sign a contract, known as a “death warrant”
• “An honest coach helped my decision to leave boxing after yet another injury” (described below – a grade 2 concussion)
• “Despite his own vested interest that I stay a boxer, he advocated I do something else and I listened”
• Ed began to slowly embrace content creation

Having to Change for the Better

• Boxing changed Ed’s life for the better, but he left it so that he can have an even better one.
• It is extremely challenging to step back from the spotlight once you’ve become used to it.
  • Ed had a grade 2 concussion and several broken ribs – forcing him to leave the sport. Years ago, he wouldn’t have considered that an issue, but with a different perspective, it became much more important. He got out prior to any permanent damage.
• A sign of maturity: To be able to walk away from a situation that everyone thinks is best for you, but to you, you know it isn’t.

Creating Content

• “People read my work because of my transparency.”
• ” I’ve learned to lean on the content that has stuck to my readers.” –  Quality > Quantity.
• Put your knowledge and experience out rather than your credentials.
  • You shouldn’t have to tell your audience you have a Ph.D., let your results speak for you.
• People respond best, to pieces of content that change how they feel
  • Ed’s most popular article – One about “10 observations from 2 years of not drinking“

Alcohol

• People drink because they don’t know how to feel awkward
  • People use alcohol as an emotional suppressant – to suppress sadness, depression, anxiety, awkwardness.
  • Learning to calibrate negative and positive emotions without alcohol, drastically improves your quality of life by amplifying your reward system.

Overcoming Comfort

• You must force yourself to start that positive habit, the status quo does not want to be disrupted.
  • Train your brain to react differently to different stimuli.
• Negative feedback: I am out of shape, so I must go to the gym. (This mindset will make it hard to overcome comfort)
• Getting in control of your life is difficult, asking for help can make it easier.
  • For example, in a relationship, it’s uncomfortable to deal with necessary issues – it’s more comfortable to run away when life gets tough
• Once your habits have become comfortable, something like going on vacations will become uncomfortable because you are used to the grind.
• Everything worth having has a shitty side; waking up early, going out for exercise, reading books, etc. You need to ask yourself – “How bad do I want the benefit?”

Goals

• Chasing something makes it worthwhile
• With continuous pushing, you begin to naturally realize the benefits of the grind.
• You must enjoy what you’re chasing and love seeing the results.
• Start the journey in solving a problem.
  • Interact and communicate with people who have the same goals and interests.
  • Develop future goals from older goals; starting a successful podcast and then build additional platforms from that

Focus (Correlation =/ Causation)

• Mike Tyson’s sabbatical from sex did not allow him to perform better in the ring. It got him to focus more on his tasks at hand – It cleared up mental space.
• Alcohol can be an example of something that can take away focus and mental space.
• Constant distraction is everywhere today, but you need to stay focused to produce quality content.
  • Don’t let social media navigate your focus.
• Physical exercise can stimulate brain activity.
• Moments of peace and focus occur during, or around, bedtime
  • Keep a notebook to capture those rare moments

Indulging in Success

• “I mixed business with pleasure and ended up losing $700,000″
  • If you indulge in your success’s inappropriately, it may be your downfall.
  • As one gets closer to enlightenment, they get more powers. Should you indulge in them – you get sent back to step one.
• How can you forgive yourself for your mistakes?
  • Guilt is wanting to change the past – But what is done, is done. To forgive yourself is to remove the guilt.
    •  Guilt can be a good thing by motivating you to become better.
  • You can’t change the feeling, but you can let it drive you!
• Making up for bad actions
  • You took from the world, you have to find a way to give back.
  • You have to care about yourself to stop destructive behavior.
  • Make the world a better place by preventing someone else from making make the same mistake.

Getting to the Next Level

• If you want to get to the next level, you must be honest about where you are, and where you want to go.
• Don’t be afraid of losing your old world
  • Lose the fear of being an outcast.
• Improvements can be held back by the fear of losing your current self.

How can you figure out you’re good at something?

• You can’t try everything, you might have a natural inclination towards something.
  • Run towards it and try to be as good as you can be.
• Make an actionable step and isolate yourself from negative influences.
  • Make a commitment to something and starting building towards it.
• When it gets difficult – that will demonstrate that you’re making progress.
  • After 6 -12 months you will have an idea if you really love what you’ve chosen.