Eight months and two NABCs into the year, it seems like a good time to look at the goals I set out at the beginning of the year. It’s important to reevaluate goals and update them as necessary as the year progresses, and I encourage you to do the same.
First, the weekly update. I got back into my rhythm pretty well this week. Meditating and reading every morning went great. Greg and I had a nice practice session with Nick and Ralph over the weekend and have been active on Cuebids. I’ve done a few robot tournaments, but haven’t gotten back into VuGraph study. I’m looking forward to reviewing all the hand from the Bermuda Bowl. But I still have to finish going through my hands from the Team Trials first.
OK, time for reexamining the goals and seeing how I’m doing.
Here were the goals I set out in January for the calendar year:
Read 12 bridge books
Three hours of VuGraph study per week
Make the rank of Ace on IntoBridge
Three robot tournaments per week, plus challenges and free tournaments
Round of 16 in the Spingold and/or Soloway (I’m not playing the Vanderbilt)
Day 3 in at least three of the three-day NABC+ events
Three top-ten finishes in NABC+ events
400 Platinum points
Weekly practice with Greg
Wow, those were ambitious! I am not on pace for any of them. That’s OK—I had no idea at the beginning of the year what was really going to be realistic; that’s why it’s important to reassess and update the goals.
I can break these goals into two general categories: time spent studying/practicing and results at NABCs. Let’s start with the NABCs.
We made the round of 32 of the Spingold, and almost made it to the round of 16; we might have if Greg hadn’t gotten sick. We’ve got good teammates for the Soloway and Reisinger, so this goal is still realistic.
We haven’t performed well in the big pair games; we didn’t make day 2 of either the Platinum Pairs or the Life Master Pairs. I don’t think we played particularly badly, but we weren’t good enough. These events both come at the beginning of the tournaments, and I felt like we got into more of a groove towards the middle of the week. I wonder what we can do to fix that. It makes me a little worried about the Soloway. In addition to starting on the first day of the tournament, there’s a jet lag issue: we both fly in from the East Coast on Thursday and start playing on Friday. What can we do to make sure we’re in top form from the get-go? Ideas?
No top-ten finishes—we haven’t even made the overalls of any pair games. So nowhere near 400 Platinum points.
Let’s set some new goals for the Fall NABC.
The Soloway is a tough event, and just getting out of the Swiss and making the knockout phase is an accomplishment: the top 32 teams qualify, and last year there were over 100 teams entered. That’s a steep cut! A lot of very good teams didn’t qualify. We were 47th, and had a chance in the last match. (As I recall, I bid a grand slam on a finesse that was going to basically decide which of the teams in our match qualified. The finesse didn’t work.) I’ll be pleased if we make the cut, but I’ll stick with the goal of then winning a match and making the round of 16.
If we don’t make the cut in the Soloway, we’ll play the Mitchell Board-a-Match. I’ll set a goal there for a top-ten finish.
Then it’s the Blue Ribbon Pairs and the Reisinger. The goal in both is to make day 3.
The study goals are much more in my control.
I haven’t been as good about reading as I had hoped, but with my new routine I should do a lot better. I’ve also read a bunch of books about learning and performance in addition to the bridge books. I want to bear down and get through at least five books before the Fall NABC.
I haven’t been good about my VuGraph study, but that has been one of the most useful parts of my training, so I want to get back into that habit. The original goal was three hours per week, which is eminently doable. I’ll stick with it.
I haven’t found the ranked game on IntoBridge very helpful, so that goal isn’t applicable anymore.
I can do more robot tournaments, and I’d like to set up some more challenges with friends—those are a great way to get feedback and talk about interesting hands. So I’ll set a goal of doing one of those per week and a couple of robot tournaments, plus the free weekly tournament I record.
Greg and I have made a commitment to our weekly practice, plus as many online games as we can arrange. We’ll keep up with Cuebids as well. I’m not too worried about this one, but it’s important to keep the momentum up.
So there we have it. I’m disappointed in how far I am from reaching the initial goals I set out, but I knew they were ambitious. Doing the podcast and newsletters has taken more of my time than I had expected, so I have had less time for study and practice than I had hoped. But I really want to dig in these last three months before San Francisco and see what I can do. That might mean releasing podcast episodes less frequently.
I encourage you all to look at the goals you set in January and see how you’re doing and update them as necessary. It might be that you’ve already achieved some and should adjust them up. If so, good for you! If you’re like me and need to make them more realistic, don’t beat yourself up; it’s really hard to know what’s realistic when you start a program like this, and results-based goals are often out of your control.
Have a great week!
I wouldn't worry too much about the jet lag issue because you will be traveling west, which is always easier in that regard. Just try to be well-rested and on a regular sleep pattern as much as possible in the week leading up to your trip, and be sure and stay hydrated.
The main challenge for you might be that you are used to going to bed on the early side East Coast time, so you might be dragging by the end of the second session. Maybe having a healthy snack in your bag will help you get over that hump.