The business world has never been more competitive than it is now, with social media and self-help books inspiring more and more people to chase their business dreams.
Whilst anyone can register their own domain name and create a Facebook business page, not everyone can get ahead of the competition. Whilst there are a number of skills you can learn from reading business books and following online entrepreneurs, there is another surprising way that you can get ahead in the business word – poker gaming.
That’s right, poker, a favoured pastime of players all around the globe, can help to set you apart in the business world. Read on to find out about some of the key poker skills that can enhance your business performance:
Emotional Control
Having a strong emotional response and riding the wave of your feelings can be beneficial when it comes to sports, but at the poker table and in the boardroom that emotional variability will leave you at a disadvantage.
If you become a prisoner to your emotions at the poker table, you will soon find your bank balance dwindling. The best poker players know that the key to winning is to control their emotions, never getting too high when they win and never falling too low when they lose.
In doing this they ensure that they maintain rational control over their decisions and never act out of impulse.
These skills learned from the poker table can be transferred to the boardroom where having a cool and calm head will allow you to make measured and financially prudent decisions, even when you’re really feeling the heat.
(Struggling with emotional control? Watch this video on resiliency from former Navy SEAL Mark Devine.)
Flexibility
In recent years Mike Tyson has become somewhat of a sage, sharing the tough life lessons he has learned on podcasts and social media. During his fighting career Tyson was rarely described as wise but, in the build up to his clash with Evander Holyfield he came out with this incredibly thoughtful line:
“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
Whilst Tyson may have been saying that to intimidate his opponent, it’s a quote that has a real resonance both to poker and business. In both you can set out with the best of intentions and formulate a ‘winning’ plan.
How will you react though when you’re metaphorically punched in the face? Will you rigidly stick to the plan or will you adapt? Poker can teach you to do the latter, which will stand you in good stead for the challenges that the business world throws at you.
Strategy
The best poker players are not concerned with what to do in the moment, instead they are thinking two or three steps ahead. Planning what they will do if the card they are chasing doesn’t show up on the river and wondering how best to coax their opponent into betting impulsively.
If you play poker regularly and think like this, you’ll soon find yourself approaching your business decision with the same level of scrutiny. Instead of thinking about what is best for customer acquisition today, you’ll instead be thinking about your business’ long-term reputation.
(Strategy is everything when it comes to poker.)
Risk Taking
Nothing in life comes easy and in the world of business, to get the best rewards you will have to take big risks. Poker is similar. Those who play safe might find themselves sitting at the table a little longer than their opponents, but they will rarely have any winnings of note to savour.
Conversely, those who take calculated risks based on a solid strategy often enjoy the fruits of those risks. If you can practice taking calculated risks at the poker table, you’ll be better equipped to do it when the stakes are higher with your business empire.
Budgeting
The final and most important skill that you can learn from poker and bring to your business life is the power of budgeting. If you play poker regularly you’ll be more than familiar with that feeling deep inside you to wager bigger amounts and deposit more money into your online account.
If you don’t budget properly, you can easily find yourself succumbing to those urges and spending money that you really can’t afford to. Properly budget though and you’ll not only protect your bank balance but learn to say no to your impulses, which is a valuable skill to have in the business world.
