A comment about "running bad"

I honestly feel like everyone who takes and plays poker seriously should suffer a 20-40 bi below ev stretch sometime relatively early in their career. The reason I say this, is due to my last ~200k hands I have ran around ~40 buyins below ev. During this time, I have wanted to quit, destroyed things, loved poker but managed to look at myself very introspectively as a person and what I really wanted out of life. I have questioned taking the plunge into poker as a career for the time being and realized, last month while still "running bad", that I truly love poker. Maybe I am semi-masochistic, maybe I am chasing the next loss/run-bad stretch? I doubt it because I hate losing and am not an avid shot taker, hence being fairly risk averse.

I always knew I liked poker better than other jobs I have had prior but even during this rough patch, I still have the desire to play and get better. It's the getting better part and wanting to work harder part that has been a huge benefit to "running bad" for me. I have been very fortunate to have a great coach, roommate and other poker friends throughout to help keep me sane and inspire me in different ways. It's the desire to get up and grind and get better that makes me appreciate and want to make the most out of my poker opportunity. I had an idea that I felt like this before but the past couple of months have truly solidified and reinforced my passion and appreciation to be able to do something for a living that a am passionate about.

I also read and hear every single day about someone who is "running bad" or running 6 buyins below ev, etc and most people really do not have a clue to be honest. I'm not trying to be mean or say I am better than others I am just being honest and a realist. I think far too often people convince themselves that they are just running bad or blame their bad play on variance and getting sucked out on when in fact you are just playing bad to begin with and it snowballs into "running bad". The reason I can say this is because I have gone through a couple periods like this. Periods where I thought I was better than the competition and had just convinced myself that my account was rigged. Don't get me wrong, thinking you are better than the competition is a good thing but I think we sometimes play improperly vs someone whom we view as inferior which can then snowball to playing other hands poorly etc etc...

All that aside I'm off to a good start this month and running above ev! I have a lot of stuff going on currently such as moving within the next month, then moving again a month or so after that, then moving again a few months later. I have a pretty busy year as far as moving around but I am ok with it all. It should help me really focus on poker and taking things to the next level. Cheers to March and F February!!!