Failed Poker Career Lessons

Mark Manson shares a story about his brief poker career attempt during college and why he decided it wasn't for him.

"Early on in college I decided to sit down and take poker really seriously. I made a few thousand dollars, which when you're 19 or 20 is massive. I'm thinking 'Oh my god, I can pay rent all summer off my poker winnings.'

Then I hit my first big downswing and lost like half my bankroll in maybe 3-4 days. I was like 'Oh shit, I don't think I can pay rent this month.' I love the game, but the lifestyle that it requires - the grinding, the patience, the emotional fortitude to handle the ups and downs - after about 6 months I realized I don't think I'm built for this.

There's a lot of degenerates you end up hanging around doing it. You look around and think 'this isn't healthy.' It's like they're not smoking but there's like a secondhand smoke of their life that I don't want to be inhaling right now."