Weekly Nugget of Wisdom #41
You don’t win by improving your A game, you win by improving your C game
Welcome to another Nugget of Wisdom! A free post I send out once a week. These are designed to be short and sweet, a quick read to (hopefully) impart some sort of wisdom, or at the very least to get you thinking about something interesting.
This post is sponsored by Magic Eden
Magic Eden is doing some cool new things utilizing their revenue to directly reward their token holders — including direct cash/usdc rewards for holders instead of just token buybacks.
Starting February 1st, 15% of all Magic Eden revenue flows directly into the $ME token ecosystem.
That revenue is split evenly:
Read more here: https://x.com/MagicEden/status/2013267552827273689
You don’t win by improving your A game, you win by improving your C game
This is something that harkens back to my poker days. In poker, it is common to classify how well you play during any given session as playing your A/B/C/D game, as if you were giving yourself a grade in school.
Your A game is when you’re firing on all cylinders. You’re well rested, you’re focused, in the zone, and are consistently making the correct decisions. You’re not getting upset when you lose a pot, and you’re just generally playing the very best poker that you know how to.
Every other grade, you’re playing worse. Your B game isn’t too bad, you’re playing well most of the time, but perhaps you’re making some silly mistakes here and there due to laziness or boredom. Your C game is where it starts to get pretty bad. This is when you’re making lots of poor decisions, are going on tilt, and on average are going to be losing money at the table.
Lots of people will approach their poker game by trying to improve their A game. They study the most advanced game theory and statistics. They watch complex training videos. They try and get crazy reads on their opponent. There’s a time and place for all of these things, but they’re not going to move the needle nearly as much as improving your C game.
This concept applies to many domains. Golf is another example — instead of trying to maximize power and hit a driver an extra 20 yards, first work on making sure you’re not losing balls in the water or to other penalties. Work on your putting. Get the easy wins, then you can work on the harder stuff.
The exact same thing applies to trading and investing. You don’t need to find fancy plays or utilize bots or algorithmic trading or explore every new chain to find success. You do need to know the basics, but then you need to work on not playing your C game. Avoid revenge trading, avoid FOMOing in, avoid copy trading your favorite neighborhood influencer simply because they tweet about a token. Avoid making big decisions after a fight with your spouse, or when you’ve barely had any sleep, and so on.
We’re all so focused with the flashy plays and complex wins, but in reality avoiding your largest mistakes will improve your results far more than anything else.
Thanks for reading! In case you missed it, check out Monday’s post below 👇
Letter 96: Four more promising airdrops to farm
Airdrops have fallen out of the limelight lately. This always happens when the market turns choppy and bearish — but many of the greatest airdrops are born out of such market conditions.
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Disclaimer: The content covered in this newsletter is not to be considered as investment advice. I’m not a financial adviser. These are only my own opinions and ideas. You should always consult with a professional/licensed financial adviser before trading or investing in any cryptocurrency related product. Some of the links shared may be referral links.
Amen. You don't rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems. No matter A, B, or C, all rest atop your systems.