Most professional poker players are intelligent. At an early age, they showed prodigious signs of intellect. Teachers and parents, thanks to the nauseating self-esteem movement, were quick to tell them, “You are so smart! You are so talented!”
These constant professions of superior acumen have actually been proven to obstruct students in their scholarly pursuits. Researchers have found that telling a child, “You are so smart!” is worse than saying, “You are such a hard worker.” Without fail, the child who was praised for their intelligence becomes afraid to apply themselves in future tasks, for fear of being revealed as not gifted. The child honored for their hard work however is much more likely to continue facing challenges; after all, a work ethic has nothing to do with talent.
In poker, many aspiring professionals eventually recoil from the hard work, for fear of trying and failing. And remember, if they want to play big money televised-tournaments, like seemingly half the world does, failure is almost a given. If they do not try, then they can always go “Well, I never really put my heart into it, so the results don’t mean anything.” Indeed, psychologists find in exams of mental ability, “not trying” is unequivocally accepted as a valid explanation for poor performance.