What Are You Double Downing On?
Gambling has never been my strong point. Whenever I go to a casino, I usually play it safe by hanging out with friends, watching them play craps, roulette, or going off on my own to the penny slots or quarter slots myself.
I’m positive a good chunk of change (read: I’m up about $1200 from slot machines) by knowing to not get sucked in by conventional gambling, because I have an all or nothing personality. That’s me, I know what kind of mentality I’d get into if I get into a serious game like Texas Hold’ em Poker, or Blackjack, so I choose to stay away from it. I know when to call it during slots, and it is usually after netting my first small victory that I have come away in the positives.
I’ll just relegate my gambling fantasies to movies like Ocean’s 11 or Rounders, both movies that happen to host Matt Damon.
I’m mentioning how much I don’t believe in gambling because from a strategy point of view, gambling is simply risky. I don’t like the odds, I can’t control the outcomes, and it isn’t fun when you lose.
And I’m a sore loser.
If I lose, I’m going to think I can “outwork” the system, but it isn’t possible because you can’t outwork a system that have the odds against you (or at least, that’s what I believe in).
Now, I look at gambling from this point of view. When you gamble, you place down something that you value (time, energy, money), and hope for a higher return on your investment. This makes sense, right? You earned some paycheck from your job, and then you go to the casino with some buddies.
When you play blackjack, there is a phrase called “double downing” where you receive a set amount of cards, and you have to make a decision on whether or not you’ll bet more (double to be exact), and risk losing, or risk winning more based on the outcome of the pending card.
Well let’s look at this phrase from a priority point of view, instead of just gambling.
Typically when it comes to deciding your future, the future events is relatively foggy. Doubling down on certain actions can shape what happens in your future. If you’re thirsty, you can drink some water, and be relatively sure your thirst will be quenched. If you drink a handle of Jack Daniel’s and decide to go masquerading into the city, well then you’re in for a series of unknown events, that is for sure.
So barring letting Jesus take the wheel, let’s take away the random accidents, random events, and random things that may can be considered coincidences.
I’ll ask a few simple questions:
What are you double downing on right now?
- Are you double downing on work?
- Are you double downing on family?
- Are you double downing on Happy Hour with buddies?
- Are you double downing on video games?
- Are you double downing on Netflix?
- Are you double downing on your health?
This is another version of going all in, an idiom taken from another card game – poker, that represents a cause and effect response in a better light.
Work
If you are double downing on work right now, then this means you are denying going out sometimes. You are learning a new skillset, maybe learning how to better manage your time so you can have some nights out (but not as much), or creating the back end for a new project that is in the works.
Happy Hour
If you are double downing on Happy Hour or meeting up with friends every Tuesday and Thursday for drinks, you are placing priority on your enjoyment with friends, drinks, and food. While you are out enjoying yourself, you may be missing opportunities on developing skillsets, reading to expand yourself, or improving your network (or maybe you are having drinks with new people every day in order to network, it all depends).
Whether or not you know it, you are placing your time, energy, and money on drinking with friends, sometimes without any real benefit to your immediate future.
Video Games
If you’re double downing on Call of Duty, Diablo III, and the newest video game system out there, you’re enjoying yourself, having fun with friends, or by yourself. At the same time, you are prioritizing an escapism, but what is being prioritized for your future?
Keep in mind I played tons of video games myself growing up, and I can still hang with some of the best, but I don’t play video games anymore. At all. I stopped cold turkey.
The Good And Bad
There is both a good and bad here. If you have work you need to do, then do it. I’m not judging. But you might be missing out on being with your family. You might be missing out on seeing your child’s first steps – that is something that might happen because you’re in a 16 hour work day with an hour up and hour back commute, making it an 18 hour day.
If you plan on playing video games professionally, which is certainly possible for some, then you NEED to double down on playing video games, and A LOT of them. You need to get good in order to be the best, so play more.
However, I’m not sure 8 hour marathons of Call of Duty, or watching Netflix, can be justified because you “need a break” from work for the weekend. If you’re still living at home with your parents and you’re complaining about not finding a career or passion, but you can go on multiple online dates over the course of a weekend, there is a misunderstanding between what is prioritized and what really matters to you.
Your Health
If you’re double downing on going out to the bars with your buddies, having cake, ice cream, and all desserts every weekend, what is being prioritized? You’re double downing Ben & Jerry’s, instead of double downing chicken salads, and complaining about aesthetics not being where you want them to be. Are you double downing on sleep?
- What matters to you?
- Where are your actions being visibly placed on?
Double down on your health. If you don’t have your health, you can’t prioritize anything else that you enjoy doing – Netflix, video games, drinking (in moderation) with buddies. You get the picture.
As always,
Keep it funky.
