Phil Hellmuth is an American professional poker player who has won a record fourteen World Series of Poker Titles.
I recently read his autobiography Poker Brat and listened to a podcast he did with Tim Ferriss.
Phil offered this proposition.
In poker, if you had a choice of the following two strengths, which would you choose?
A lesser capability in strategy with exceptional money management skills.
OR
Exceptional strategy with lesser money management skills.
Phil’s answer was that he would always choose to possess stronger money management skills over strategy.
And here’s his thinking.
Even the strongest strategy implemented with weak money management skills only gets you so far.
But a sound, but not strong, strategy implemented with exceptional money management skills will result in success when executed over a period of time.
Phil’s insights got me thinking about applying this to business.
Smart business owners manage their money well. They never bet the house in going ‘all in’ on one transaction or idea.
They have a series of small bets but never risk it all.
Sometimes when they believe they have a particularly strong idea, they chip up and invest a multiple of their smaller bets.
If their early play shows potential, they may reinvest more based on results.
On smaller bets, smart business owners ‘fold’ their bets on losers and return to playing their winning hands.
Having several strategies provides a diversification of risk and hedges your overall position.
But the number of strategies, or bets, needs to be managed.
Too many and you may lose the profits from your primary game.
Too few and you aren’t constantly evolving and growing.
Finding the right balance between constantly developing and growing your core-genius by trialling new strategies, coupled with strong money management skills is a cornerstone of sustainable business success.
Or Business Poker to coin a phrase.
I’d recommend you develop both sides of Phil Hellmuth’s proposition.
Be exceptional in both strategy and money management and win the game of Business Poker.
Full House you win.
To start creating sustainable success in your business and life, download a copy of my eBook 'The Success Algorithm' which details my process to work less and earn more. You can get a free copy on the Giveaways page of my website. Plus some bonus videos from my Fourth Moon video series to reach your goals sooner!
All the best,
Darren K Bourke
Connect with Darren on LinkedIN here.
