Going With the Flow

I'm not one who generally likes to follow the crowd. In fact, I mostly look for reasons and excuses to go my own way. I think its genetic. But I've learned that when it comes to certain things in business and poker, going with the flow is an absolute necessary for success as well as your mental health.

In poker, one is often tempted to step out and push hands that shouldn't be pushed. Your tempted to make the "big bet" call when deep down, you know its a bad idea. This can be especially tempting when you're running bad and you are cravng a win. You want that money back that has been draining out of your bankroll, but that money is lost forever. You need to stay disciplined and develop your table image and look for that ideal bluffing situation as it manifests itself organically. You can and will make new money, but never think you going to get old money back.

So you need to stay in the flow of the game, especially in the case of tournament poker. Let things develop. Make low risk bluffs. Splash around. Have fun. Think over and over in your head - Let the tournament come to me. Let the tournament come to me. Of course i get into this in great detail in my poker courses.

In business, transactions have lives of their own. Many deadlines will be set. Very few will actually be made. That's because, the pace of the negotiation or the application or the whatever is in the hands of more than one person and each will have his or her own pace, motivations and manner of handling a deal. And then you have the lawyers. Don't get me started on this topic. These guys are motivated on a whole separate criteria. Billable hours, anal investigation and overkill contingency issues. But sometimes they surprise me and they are actually in synch with the players in the deal. But never, ever, let the lawyers take the lead in a deal. (I'll get more into this another time.)

The reason I bring this up is that the closing date for the sale of my company has come and gone. It was suppose to be December 4th. Now I could sweat and grind my teeth and make lots of phone calls and email inquiries. But I've learned over the years that all these things are counterproductive. Best to sit back and let the deal take the curvy, roundabout course it will inevitably take. In another words - go with the flow. At this point you should have done the work already - the terms have been agreed to, both sides are motivated to complete the transaction, the lawyers have incentives to move things forward, but have no say in how the deal is constructed. It'll happen. If doesn't, it's probably better that way. There was probably a flaw. It's as if your partner (or yourself) had a miscarriage. There was a flaw in development. It wasn't going to be viable. It wasn't meant to be. If its early term - let it go. However, if its very late term, such as my deal, a miscarriage would be a tough nut to swallow. Our latest hurdle, was employment contracts. It caused delays. But it has been worked out and we're heading down the stretch. Everyone wants to close before the first of the year. Who knows where the capital gains tax rate will go in the future. The only thing that we know for sure is that it will go up.

Thanks for letting me vent.