This was unexpected. I ranked up again. It’s a relief but it’s given me a lot to think about. Soon, I will leave the bamboo forest and achieve the goal I set for the year, though I won’t stop there, obviously.
Honestly, I don’t feel I deserve it. I have a problem where when I feel I get to a level of competency, I overcomplicate things then build bad habits out of it. I’ll hold onto risk for too long; I’ll hold onto less valuable pieces over more flexible ones to force my hand to become a certain shape. Something like the Dunning-Kruger effect. I feel I played poorly and luck saved me. At least, I know now and can start to kick these habits.
For the lessons that comes with this, I suppose:
- Always keep yourself open to opportunities: in other words, don’t shoehorn your ideals in every circumstance.
- Know when you are ahead or behind and change your strategy accordingly: if you are ahead, you don’t have to take big risks and potentially lose it all. Keep gaining ground and keep your lead (the following only applies to the game but leave the big risk to those who have to catch up. Do not do this to actual people in real life. Especially if you run a business. I will brand you as a capitalist pig). If you are behind, also don’t take big risks all the time. Small wins matter too. Keep your wits, stay disciplined and know when to strike.
- Know when the opportunity presents itself and have a game plan for it: sometimes luck doesn’t come your way (sometimes for a long time), and you can fall into a slump. Stay strong, stay vigilant. I won’t say luck will eventually come (and if it’s the game, you can always stop and try again another day), but you’ll want to be ready to put everything on the line when it does. It could turn everything around. Wouldn’t want to fumble on the big stage, would you? Missing out on an opportunity feels worse than anything, trust me.
TL;DR: don’t be reckless, stay disciplined and know when it is your opportunity and how to maximise on it.