Mike Caro, The Mad Genius of Poker, speaks on a concept he calls “The Threshold of Misery.” In my words, he means that as we move in a negative direction, experiencing more and more discomfort along the way, we reach a point at which the discomfort no longer matters to us. Once we cross the threshold, we continue blindly in the same direction without regard for the additional misery we are causing ourselves.
In poker, this means once we lose a certain amount of money, the additional losses are easier to accept, and thus, we continue to lose. In life, it’s a bad relationship that we just accept or a bad business decision that we continue with in spite of additional misfortune.
We should strive to ascertain where these thresholds of misery exist in all we do and ensure that we do not cross them. If it becomes obvious that we are headed to one of these thresholds, we should turn around or at least stop.
Email me with comments and to let me know what you want me to Moan about.
Got a burning question for Manny? Send it to mannysmoans@mdpublishing.com.