“This summer I ended up getting second place for over 400K, and then another 220K score a week later. The summer was just full of scores… When you put yourself first in an unselfish manner, you’re able to give everyone else your best version. You have to give yourself permission not to feel guilty about it.”
In today’s episode, we’re joined by Farid Jattin, a professional poker player who openly shares the mindset system he used to crush the last summer in Las Vegas and rise from #27 to #6 in the world.
Key topics cover:
- How to avoid playing off tilt
- A system for dealing with high stress situations
- The 3 main tools for driven individuals to focus on what matters and shut out the rest
To connect with Farid you can go to:
https://www.faridjattinpoker.com/ or
https://www.instagram.com/farid_jattin/
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00:00:00:05 - 00:00:02:11
Itamar Marani
What does playing in Lion Mode mean to you?
00:00:02:14 - 00:00:09:04
Farid Jattin
Well, it means that when I go compete, we mostly focus on bringing the lion to play and avoiding anything that doesn't look like the lion.
00:00:09:06 - 00:00:13:06
Itamar Marani
And when you start really playing it and trying to play only lion mode over the results.
00:00:13:06 - 00:00:23:15
Farid Jattin
Second place for over 400 k. Then the following week I had another 220 K score. That was just full of scores the whole summer.
00:00:23:17 - 00:00:33:04
Itamar Marani
Welcome to today's podcast, everyone. Today I'm joined by Farid Jattin. Farid, let's get right into it. What is only playing in Lion Mode mean to you.
00:00:33:06 - 00:00:54:09
Farid Jattin
Only playing in Lion Mode? Well, it means that when I go compete, we mostly focus on bringing the lion to play, you know, and avoiding anything that doesn't look like the lion. And we have two names for the, you know, kind of like everybody has, you know, call it a best version call it a version, A version. See?
00:00:54:11 - 00:01:20:07
Farid Jattin
And me and you came up with the name while I came up with it, Right. But it was kind of like guided through you And my best version, we like to call it lion mode, right? And then my C version, the version of whatever that might look like is called Monkey Man. So what we're trying to do is mostly come out in lion mode because that's the one that gets, you know, everything going the right way and then avoid the monument.
00:01:20:09 - 00:01:31:14
Itamar Marani
Can you just quickly share from just a results perspective, what were you able to accomplish this summer? And then we'll break it down and how a monkey mode came into play or what it was like mode. There.
00:01:31:16 - 00:01:54:01
Farid Jattin
Yeah. So this summer I had an amazing summer man and had some great results. Thank you very much for working with me throughout the summer. It was an amazing experience for me and one of the biggest things for me was being able to put a system into place where it basically made it very favorable for me to show up mostly online mode and avoid that monkey man that we like to call it.
00:01:54:02 - 00:02:15:03
Farid Jattin
And we chose those two different names for my different versions that I show up to compete with. And yeah, man, it was just a great experience and everything about it. The system that we set up was was simple, but it was very powerful. And so, yeah, I think we were mostly online mode and the results kind of spoke for themselves.
00:02:15:05 - 00:02:18:08
Itamar Marani
Can you share some of those results for those listening in?
00:02:18:10 - 00:02:40:04
Farid Jattin
Yeah. So I think the second tournament that I played was a5k buying and I ended up getting second place for over 400 K, Then the following week or the week after I had another 220 K score and then yeah, it was just full of scores the whole summer, a very positive summer. And it's actually even to have a break even.
00:02:40:04 - 00:03:07:10
Farid Jattin
Summer is very tough out there in Vegas because the, the intensity is very high, the competition is very tough. And the amount of volume that you're putting in is very, very hard. So I always say that the summers are like the time of the year that most poker players are looking forward to it. But it's also the time of the year that at the end of the summer everybody's mostly disappointed because I would say that 99% of the people either lose or break even.
00:03:07:10 - 00:03:34:05
Farid Jattin
The most likely lose. And then you have that 1% that actually has a good summer. And I was lucky enough to be part of that 1%. But with the look came the preparation, which was us working together and putting those systems into place. And yeah, man, I think it was a it was great. Overall, it was amazing. The focus level was super top and yeah, I'm just very happy about how everything went.
00:03:34:07 - 00:03:37:05
Itamar Marani
Corbin Congrats on the success again.
00:03:37:06 - 00:03:39:20
Farid Jattin
So thank you very much. Macaulay, Appreciate it.
00:03:39:22 - 00:03:58:15
Itamar Marani
When you say the systems, what does that mean for you? What were the specific things you say? This is something that really helped me, and if there's somebody else kind of like me who who knows that when they're on top of their game, they do really well. Well, that's in poker business, whatever it may be. But sometimes they kind of get thrown off.
00:03:58:17 - 00:04:06:18
Itamar Marani
What were those kind of systems? What were the highlights of it or the key points that for you were really impactful that you think could also help somebody else?
00:04:06:20 - 00:04:34:07
Farid Jattin
Yeah. So a couple of the things that you could apply to anyone were, number one, very important, right? Where I had originally came into the summer with the big kind of goal, right? Like you had a money go, you had a maybe cash percentage go, you had all these things that are end up being a little counterproductive, especially with something like poker, that it's tough to predict how much you can actually make or all of these things, because in the short term there is a load factor.
00:04:34:07 - 00:04:59:08
Farid Jattin
You know, there's many things that don't depend on you, right. So one of the things about the system is really focusing on the things that you can control, right. And trying to crush those. Anything else that what's outside of that kind of like mindset or that's that that category just kind of avoids spending too much time with that because you can't really control it, right?
00:04:59:08 - 00:05:25:06
Farid Jattin
So I really like something that you said that 33% is controlled by you, right? 33% is kind of like based on your competition. And then there's 33% that has to do with chaos. God, luck factor, whatever you want to call it. Right. Whatever your philosophy tells you. But really, when you could crush that, that 33% that belongs to you that you could be a protagonist with, right.
00:05:25:08 - 00:05:48:16
Farid Jattin
That has everything to you to do with what you could control. I feel like the other 66% starts working a little bit more in your favor, right? And even when it doesn't, you're okay. As long as that that that part that belonged to you, you were able to do a great job at. So that was one of the things about the system that I thought was very, very powerful.
00:05:48:18 - 00:05:51:23
Farid Jattin
And you can really apply it to anything in life.
00:05:52:01 - 00:06:10:16
Itamar Marani
So it was in a shift that you obviously still wanted to accomplish the goal, the money goals and the rankings and all that. But it was a shift from focusing less on, let's say, the achieving the goal, but just doing your best to achieve the goal. And that was a primary focus. That accurate?
00:06:10:18 - 00:06:29:03
Farid Jattin
Yeah, Yeah, 100%. I think one of the ways you put it into words were aim for the trophy, missed the target aim for the target. You get the trophy right it's like always just kind of like focus your performance on performing the best of your ability and disconnect from the rest. And yeah, that was a very big thing, man.
00:06:29:03 - 00:06:57:06
Farid Jattin
It was a big relief to kind of like disconnect from putting so much pressure on the money goals or trophies or whatever that might look like. And yeah, that would have to say that the results are definitely aligned with just focusing on that. Another thing is that that you were able to that we were able to implement. Where was the fact that you said it sometimes less is more like, like a lot of times you kind of want to be perfect in every area.
00:06:57:08 - 00:07:17:07
Farid Jattin
But so I was I was training for a marathon and I was trying to get my miles and all while eating perfect and getting these perfect sleep. And this was not realistic, right? So like when you apply that less is more even, especially in something like a two month summer camp, which was what we were calling it, and just focus on the priorities.
00:07:17:07 - 00:07:54:06
Farid Jattin
Right. And let go of everything else that could take a step back in the short term. I think is a very powerful thing, man, because a lot of times we just want to crush ten things at once. And it really, you know, it gives you a headache, man. It's too much to handle. And so to let it click, the less is more, especially in the short term, where you're working in a small project or a short term project or a summer camp that has to do with just performing and poker and given those things a little less importance, understanding that in the long term you're going to take care of them, but in the short
00:07:54:06 - 00:08:07:04
Farid Jattin
term they could take a step back. That was a big thing for me too, because it just gave me more room once again to focus on what I could control and focus at the task at hand that that was all that mattered.
00:08:07:06 - 00:08:23:04
Itamar Marani
Yeah, I remember that was our first call ever before we actually started working together. We just had a quick catch up and you were in an airport and I remember thinking, This guy has so much on his plate, like, how is he going to be able to focus in so many obligations and so many kind of desires and wills?
00:08:23:04 - 00:08:41:04
Itamar Marani
And what I found is that getting a lot of, you know, driven attempts to just be like, hey, why don't you do less? They usually don't buy into that. But if we kind of angle in a different way, say, why don't you just decide that this is your primary focus for this next upcoming season? And if we were like that, that okay, this is my primary focus.
00:08:41:04 - 00:09:02:21
Itamar Marani
So I have permission to focus less on other things and just really focus all my energy and just all my time into this thing. And for you, I'm curious, before years prior, let's call it, when you went to Vegas for these two month sprints in the summer, were you as mentally tuned in to say, This is my main thing and everything else is secondary If that?
00:09:02:22 - 00:09:06:11
Itamar Marani
Or was it like, let me just try to be a winner everywhere? Kind of.
00:09:06:12 - 00:09:40:15
Farid Jattin
I Yeah, it was more like, let me just try to be a winner everywhere type of vibe. And, and, you know, sometimes I was a winner for sure. Usually I've had, you know, good results, but it didn't feel smooth. I didn't feel correct. It felt like like a lot more than I should be doing. And also there was a lot of friction and, you know, and this way with the less is more approach, you're kind of just like living a better quality overall life where it's like you're focusing on the things like you see a lot more clear, right?
00:09:40:17 - 00:10:11:13
Farid Jattin
You're approaching life from a better place, not from a place of stress and, you know, overwhelm. And this is more like, well, let it be. Let me focus and just pick, for example, picking your tournaments, the high quality tournaments, avoiding the rest. Sleep quality should be good, but don't go too crazy. I think another amazing cause that we spoke about was the minimum effective dose or of all the important things in your life.
00:10:11:13 - 00:10:35:00
Farid Jattin
I think it's a very good one because sometimes you don't have time to like, like we're saying, ready to crush every area. But at least if you're meeting the minimum effective dose, whatever you define that to look like, you're going to feel good about it. Right. And once again, once you put the system into place, it just makes things a lot easier on those days that, like we like to talk about, right.
00:10:35:00 - 00:10:52:20
Farid Jattin
You don't wake up with that motivation. You don't wake up with that drive that you want to you don't wake up with that energy that you want. But if you meet the minimum effective dose of things that favor your performance, they favor your state that you want to show up as it goes a long way. It really, really does.
00:10:53:01 - 00:11:12:20
Farid Jattin
And then avoiding all the B.S. that is not aligned with that, you know? So, yeah, it was a big to many felt like a very mature summer. It felt like a very professional approach. And sometimes and poker is tough to do because you don't really have guidance, you know, you don't really have a team issues, you making decisions.
00:11:12:20 - 00:11:24:02
Farid Jattin
Nobody's really telling you what to do and when you could put a system into it. I really got to see the power of a good system, you know, and I really appreciate you for that. And I thank you for that.
00:11:24:04 - 00:11:40:09
Itamar Marani
Yeah, it's amazing. Then so for the audience at home, are you open to sharing some examples of what do you mean by that minimum effect of those concrete examples? This is how I approach this in this way. It was very helpful for me to perform because it didn't cause so much stress that I had to be perfect on it.
00:11:40:11 - 00:12:07:11
Farid Jattin
Yeah, So we had a we had a tracker, we had a tracker that it was like a kind of like a kind of ability tracker. And some of the categories were sleep, nutrition, cold, plunging. And then it was like, what? What does the minimum effect of those for those things look like? Right? So it was like sleep at least try to get some 6 hours of quality sleep, a cold plunging the days of competition.
00:12:07:11 - 00:12:32:11
Farid Jattin
I was trying to do at least 7 minutes of cold pleasure like it's very easy doable things right And one one of the very key ones for me this summer was like being effective with your breaks. So I was to do at least a five minute meditation, which would get me right back on track on breaks because breaks are very important and poker, but people mostly use them to socialize or to complain or to eat.
00:12:32:13 - 00:13:00:13
Farid Jattin
I was being very, very trying very hard to be as productive as possible on my breaks to yes, rest a little bit, but mostly reset from all that energy and stress. And maybe, you know, you might feel a little tired, but just try to try to reset to the place where I feel like I'm ready to go perform up again and that was a really, really big one, man, because I feel like I was doing breaks better than 99%.
00:13:00:13 - 00:13:21:02
Farid Jattin
And when I would come back from Breaks, the Edge was just very big. And you know, in poker nowadays, especially at the highest levels, the edge is so small that if you could if you could get a little edge like this and that increased your focus and decrease your lack of focus. Right. You're you're you're being distracted. They really go a long way, man.
00:13:21:02 - 00:13:43:09
Farid Jattin
And yeah so it was little things like that. And then we we were also choking on mental fortitude, like, see where I was thinking. But it wasn't too much pressure. And the other categories, it was, it was, it was like you're saying really minimum effective dose and I just think is a good way to approach life. If you're a driven individual already, right?
00:13:43:10 - 00:14:01:04
Farid Jattin
If you're someone who might need a little more motivation than this, you know, it's all personal. We go we all have different approaches. But for me, doing a little less and making sure to crush the minimum effect that those those things were very important and like amazing for me to to do.
00:14:01:06 - 00:14:19:16
Itamar Marani
Yeah, I'll share it. Kind of my perspective on it, like how you're saying some people are different and some people in different approaches. So there's a concept we talked about that whole performance pressure bell curve and you're naturally that kind of person who really puts a lot of pressure on himself to excel. And it can be a very positive thing if it's channeled effectively.
00:14:19:18 - 00:14:34:08
Itamar Marani
If it's just to excel at everything, that's when it can become overwhelming and that's what a lot of times everyone does. You're like, I want to be like, I used to run marathons at the same time that I'm playing Peak Summer in Vegas. Plus, I want to be a phenomenal husband to my wife, like great brother, all these kind of things.
00:14:34:10 - 00:14:54:07
Itamar Marani
And it's the less is more approach. It's kind of hard to get people to buy into. But if you're going to say, okay, like what's your primary focus? What's the one thing we really want to accomplish? Which for you was this crushing into the summer? And then we say, okay, if we had to program, let's say a four Reed But these are the actions, I'll give you the most likelihood of success.
00:14:54:09 - 00:15:23:08
Itamar Marani
What would they be? Then all of a sudden it really clarifies a lot of things. It's like, Oh, when I'm on breaks, it's not about socializing or interacting with fans, but it's actually about really just taking my time, doing my meditations, getting my head clear and getting back into go. And we really before we started getting into the emotional fortitude body part, sorry, we just really focused on what would be the main things that would give you the highest likelihood of success just in this small field of really winning this summer.
00:15:23:10 - 00:15:39:15
Itamar Marani
And from there, just when you have that kind of frame, that kind of lends a lot of things for us to get really clear on what you should do. And also get really clear on what are the things that are not important right now. And it's a big thing right now. You can say, I'll take care of this later, come September, come October.
00:15:39:17 - 00:15:54:14
Itamar Marani
But for right now, what things aren't that important. And for you to think that was something that in the past you perhaps didn't give yourself permission to because you just wanted to excel everywhere. You know what I mean?
00:15:54:16 - 00:16:27:05
Farid Jattin
100%, man. Yeah, Somebody who likes to just do everything correct and do everything the right way. Right? And that includes being a good family member, being a good husband. But like you're saying, right, in the short term, you don't need to be Superman. You can focus on the task at hand and give yourself permission to do so. And I think, yeah, that was a big thing when not feeling any guilt around it, giving myself priority and understanding that is the best for everybody around me in the in the long term.
00:16:27:05 - 00:17:01:00
Farid Jattin
Right. So yeah, that was a big thing. And once these things click, man, they're really they're very powerful things to apply to any area of life. Like, like we're saying this is a poor example, but they really, they really extend to business competitions and anything or even relationships, right? So that's why I like the system, because not only was it a playable to this summer, but just to my life in general, when I apply these little things into subcategories.
00:17:01:01 - 00:17:15:16
Farid Jattin
It's just a nice way to to kind of break things down and also to understand where your strengths are, where your weaknesses are. And then, yeah, men take a lot of the pressure off and just trying to be, you know, like we're saying, just a Superman that crushes every area.
00:17:15:16 - 00:17:35:01
Itamar Marani
Right? So I want to ask you about that because you also mentioned a big word here, the guilt, where I know that a lot of high performers say they struggle with that sometimes, where they know what they should logically, logically, they know what they would be telling somebody else to focus on, especially if there's an outside opportunity like you had this summer.
00:17:35:03 - 00:17:53:00
Itamar Marani
But they feel guilty about not doing this or not doing that. And what was interesting is that at the beginning of your sentence, you said guilt. And then at the end you said it would be better for everyone. So what was kind of your process and going through that and recognizing, you know, this is actually okay, I can let this go, I don't have to feel guilty about just focusing on me.
00:17:53:03 - 00:18:02:12
Itamar Marani
Was it the time that there was an expiration date, that it's just for a certain amount of time during the summer? Was it something else? What was it for you?
00:18:02:14 - 00:18:28:07
Farid Jattin
I think it's something I've been, you know, trying to implement into my life in general. And that's the basically the order of priorities, right? And it's like I've came to the conclusion that when you put yourself first in an unselfish matter, right, unselfish manner, you're able to give everyone else your best version, right? If you're constantly sacrificing when you need to do or what you want to do for others.
00:18:28:09 - 00:18:53:13
Farid Jattin
Yeah, sure, you're pleasing everyone and you're not feeling too guilty about it because you're doing kind of like what feels like must be done. But at the end you're you should feel a lot more guilty that way because you're sacrificing yourself, You're sacrificing your energy, your sacrificing your, your dreams sometimes. Right? And once that click that to show up your best version for everybody else.
00:18:53:13 - 00:19:13:05
Farid Jattin
A lot of times you got to you got to kind of put yourself first and give yourself permission and not feel any guilt about it. Right. That lifted a lot of the guilt weight off. And when I speak to people like you that are on the same page with their it just puts a stamp on the fact that I'm just thinking in the right direction.
00:19:13:06 - 00:19:32:02
Farid Jattin
I think that guilt yeah it's it's a big block man when you let it take over because even in my culture, you know from Columbia where not that many people have money, you're right. And even having a lot of money or winning a lot, there's something in Colombia big. It's all over the world. But in Columbia is a big thing.
00:19:32:02 - 00:19:55:06
Farid Jattin
And it's like a lot of people that are, you know, goodhearted or want the best for everyone but reach a certain level of success. They start having like winners guilt, you know, like look at that, people around you suffering so much and you know what? Why? Why me? Why this? But if you understand that you're doing things from the right intention, right?
00:19:55:07 - 00:20:32:06
Farid Jattin
You're doing things for the greater good, or you just want to do it for yourself and you feel like you've done everything to deserve what you have, Why would you kind of feel guilty about it? So is disconnecting from the programing that a lot of us have read, like growing up and really understanding what part of the programing is actually correct and what part of that, what part of it is just simply that programing for them, whether it's society, whether it's people around us who just don't see things the right way and and also men interacting and hanging out with people who are going to guide you in the right direction of thinking, you know,
00:20:32:06 - 00:21:08:20
Farid Jattin
because if I'm not getting that information from someone like you or from, you know, my circle is pretty strong in general. We share these views. But if you're constantly getting views from people who are thinking that you should be guilty or guilt tripping you into things is tough, it's tough to snap out of it, right? So the first thing is letting it click understanding when you give yourself priority or give the task at hand priority, you're going to be able to do a lot more good for the people that you want to that might might take a sacrifice or might take a little less energy from you in the short term.
00:21:08:22 - 00:21:29:02
Farid Jattin
And then just talking about it with people like this will let you realize that it's actually the correct approach to life. No, this is my viewpoint, right? I think that we all have freedom of views, but this is the way I feel about it. Once that click man, it was it was a lot easier for me to let go of it, you know?
00:21:29:02 - 00:21:53:06
Farid Jattin
And one of like when it clicked, I've been able to see that level of success, like the next level, and I have been able to do exactly what what I told myself that I would be able to do, which is be a lot more free, spend more time with the ones I love. But now it's more like putting them into different categories, like when I'm off.
00:21:53:06 - 00:22:15:09
Farid Jattin
Okay, sure, I have time to spend with family. I have time to do this. I have time to do that when I'm busy, when it's my time, when it's time to work or perform or whatever that might look like. Well, one of the things we did this summer, I had no phone. I was homeless for two months. I had an emergency phone just for people that, you know, my parents, my my wife.
00:22:15:11 - 00:22:31:21
Farid Jattin
But I had no phone. And that was honestly amazing. And I don't know that I could have done it in the past because I might have felt guilty about it, you know? So is little things like that mean that we all deserve to give a priority in certain times of my life and to give ourselves permission to do it?
00:22:31:21 - 00:22:39:21
Farid Jattin
Man, I think it's it's a very powerful thing that I would invite anybody listening to to please do.
00:22:39:23 - 00:23:14:04
Itamar Marani
So for that. Thank you for a sermon. That was very interesting. I want to pull a certain thread here that you spoke about. What I heard listening into you was that you're saying that you have different parts of you that you allow to come out and different times. So when you're just kind of like you called it off, whether perhaps you were back visiting Colombia, you allow that more that's called empathetic, caring and selfless part of you to really be present and to be at the forefront.
00:23:14:06 - 00:23:34:12
Itamar Marani
And then you consciously made a decision that when you're on when you're at the tables, when you're playing, when you're that season in Vegas, that part isn't what needs to come out, what needs to come out. As often, it's actually focused on helping Fareed perform at his best so that then Fareed, when he's off, can actually provide the best for those he cares about.
00:23:34:14 - 00:23:38:11
Itamar Marani
Is that how you kind of viewed it or what was your approach to that?
00:23:38:13 - 00:24:01:18
Farid Jattin
So, yeah, yeah. I mean, I think you hit it on the head. That's exactly what I meant. You know, like when it's basically, you know, focusing on what your focusing in the moment, if you're there to socialize, if you're on vacation, I call it just being president. But, you know, just like whatever is in front of you, make sure you're given that you're also if it's a vacation, you know, be a good host.
00:24:01:18 - 00:24:19:17
Farid Jattin
I love to host people, for example. So I take my family to Europe sometimes. Sometimes we go to my farm in Colombia, whatever that might look like. I just try to be an amazing host, right? I try to be an amazing family member when I'm having dinner, when I'm, you know, sharing, when I'm talking to my parents about problems or good things.
00:24:19:17 - 00:24:54:05
Farid Jattin
Right. Like, I just try to be very present. But when it's time to work, when I'm just not available, you know, and being okay with that, it took me a while. And but once I understood that it was the correct approach, I have really seen my life gone to the next level, you know? So, yeah, I mean, I know it's something that a lot of us, you know, whether entrepreneurship or high performers or athletes, you know, some of these things we're doing, it's like a lot of people can relate to it, you know?
00:24:54:05 - 00:25:33:20
Farid Jattin
So it's tough to kind of talk about or relate to, but understanding that it's okay man, and understanding that it's okay to give yourself priority. It's okay to give these things priority and that it makes you just better. Overall, I think it's it's for me, it's has been like a great approach has been it's been amazing to get over that quote unquote guilt and and yeah and because of it whenever I am, you know, playing the husband role and my way better husband but like I said, you know, like, you know this but when it's time to perform, like we said, you know, we're just maybe not available in this fight.
00:25:33:22 - 00:25:55:07
Farid Jattin
And letting people know how you feel, you know, letting people know that it's not personal, letting people know because some people might. It's good to have this tough conversation as men, you know, with the ones that you love so that the guilt feels a lot less, though we all say, all right, so it's good communication. And then, like you said, men is giving yourself permission.
00:25:55:09 - 00:26:15:09
Itamar Marani
Yeah, I think it's such a powerful thing because a lot of people so a lot of people first of don't know what they're focusing on. So when you don't know what your your primary focus is, you're going to be torn in a million different directions because those emotions guilt, those programs, all those kind of things, they're going to come into play.
00:26:15:11 - 00:26:44:14
Itamar Marani
And I think for you, it was when I look at it from the side of what I'm assuming and able, that in a lot of ways was that you were very clear all of a sudden on what you wanted to focus on and what and because you preemptively made those boundaries, that's called I'm very clear with yourself and you had those tough conversations with others, it enabled you to then be in a place of performance because there was no thinking during the poker, let's say during the tournament days.
00:26:44:16 - 00:26:59:14
Itamar Marani
Never in your head was like, Wait, should I now be trying to be more present for my family or this or No, no, this is what we ahead of time. We agreed. This is my focus right now so I can give myself full permission. It's not a nagging voice in the back of my head. This is all I'm focused on.
00:26:59:16 - 00:27:23:23
Itamar Marani
And then afterwards I could focus on that. And I think a lot of times just people don't perform at their best just because there's too many things going on in their head. Having simplified things enough and guilt is a really, really challenging emotion to work through. And if it's present because you haven't clarified what's okay to do and what's not okay, what you should feel guilty about what you shouldn't.
00:27:24:01 - 00:27:33:19
Itamar Marani
And it eats peoples up like it eats their energy away. The further out of that, I really appreciate you sharing that story and it makes a lot of sense when you put it in that frame.
00:27:33:21 - 00:27:53:17
Farid Jattin
Yeah, I mean, I think the best way to view it is, you know, I also have a coach coaching poker coaching business, right where I coach a lot of students. And I guess at one point, man, Slow was trying to be number one in the world at poker number one family member, number one, you know, brother number one husband, a number one poker player in the world.
00:27:53:17 - 00:28:34:05
Farid Jattin
Right. But I was trying to do all these things at once. And and I understood that by putting them into different categories, by finding specific times for each, you could actually be number one for yourself. Right? Like, let's just say your best version of every category, but you can't do it all at once, man. So it's like whatever you're doing, I mean, one of the things I like to, you know, talk about with my students and one of the things I give a lot of credit to in my success is I have tried to become a master of my attention, you know, So it's like being present and have like a have like an attention
00:28:34:05 - 00:28:57:05
Farid Jattin
process, right? So it's like, where's my attention that especially when it's like somewhere I don't want it to be. It's like, where's my attention at? Right? Especially when I'm going through a problem. I'm going through a downswing and try to do too many things at once. It's like, let's take a step back. Where's my attention at? Okay. And then I go through a process of full acceptance of my attention, right?
00:28:57:05 - 00:29:18:00
Farid Jattin
Even though it's all over the place, I'm not doing it. But then it's like, let me redirect my attention to where I wanted to be. And that always ends up being to whatever the task at hand is once again, whether it's whether it is I'm thinking about poker while on vacation. While I'm on vacation, that's already that's a bad thing.
00:29:18:02 - 00:29:39:06
Farid Jattin
Or whether it's that I'm feeling guilty about not hanging out with my family while in the tournament. So, yeah, either one. But it's like once you become a master of your attention, you just get to see a lot a lot clearer, right? And you don't let these things build up. And so, yeah, think that I will close to the guilt conversation with that with that statement.
00:29:39:08 - 00:29:57:05
Itamar Marani
Yeah I think it's you broke it down. I'll say it in a bit of a principle level. What I'm here for me is a macro and micro level to that. So on a macro level, what's my seasonal focus for two months? This is the primary thing, but also on a micro level. So just during these 12 hours where I'm playing, this is the only thing I'm focused on.
00:29:57:07 - 00:30:13:00
Itamar Marani
That's the only thing I focus on is playing right now. I don't care about the stuff that happens with the family right now. I don't care about the marathon, none of that. It's just this. And then when I'm off, I can go have dinner with the wife. I can really enjoy myself, which both on a macro level and at a micro level.
00:30:13:01 - 00:30:38:15
Itamar Marani
Now I want to kind of dive into the next thing. So we said the first thing is that we kind of a B program that's there for weed, but that will be the most effective actions that ever took. Again, the highest likelihood of success. And then what we naturally found, which is always what happens, is that there's an emotional component there as well, that sometimes we know what we should be doing, but that other part of us, like what you call them, the monkey man pops up at certain areas.
00:30:38:17 - 00:30:48:00
Itamar Marani
And before I get into a objective for you to share, what was your experience there, what you found out, what you noticed, and how you were able to kind of manage or mitigate it.
00:30:48:02 - 00:31:04:10
Farid Jattin
Yeah, So we were able to break it down and see what kind of things, you know, bring out that monkey man or that, you know, that that version that you don't want showing up but does show up once in a while and it's once once in a while shows up in a way where you can really control, right.
00:31:04:10 - 00:31:36:10
Farid Jattin
So we came up with a few examples of things that are that make it likely for Monkey Man to come out. So whether it's like playing on TV and, you know, making a big play that doesn't go your way, right, or like having an opponent get the best of you for a long time in a row. Right. And especially all these things seem to happen a lot more when it's like either at a final table, which is where the biggest pressures are and where the biggest money jumps are it or when it's a televised situation.
00:31:36:10 - 00:31:59:18
Farid Jattin
So basically we're talking about very high stakes and very tough, very tough talk. So, yeah, we're talking about very high stakes. Right. And very tough situations to deal with, though we're not really kind of like prepared to deal with them on a day to day basis. So we had to break them down to see what makes it likely for him to show up right.
00:31:59:18 - 00:32:36:22
Farid Jattin
So, yeah, I really like that. And we set up a system to where once you see him show up or on the way to complete red, the monkey like you see him coming through the door, it's like, what do you do then? Right? So we set up a system where like, if I could give myself the chance to walk away, whether it's ten or 15 minutes, once again, these are do a breathing exercise, do some yoga stretching, meditation, whatever that may look like, that will favor Liam mode coming back into play.
00:32:37:00 - 00:32:56:05
Farid Jattin
We will do that, right? But there are certain times where you can't really do that. So what are you going to do when Monkey Man shows up and you can't do all this? And that's when you go in machine mode, right? So I really like that tool. So it's like having a gear where you just let kind of like in this case we're talking about progress.
00:32:56:05 - 00:33:04:22
Farid Jattin
So we just let kind of like a mathematical simple ABC approach take over because, you know, you're not seeing clearly, right. You know, your your.
00:33:04:22 - 00:33:06:12
Itamar Marani
Emotions, trust your intuition and you will.
00:33:06:13 - 00:33:45:12
Farid Jattin
Know you can really trust your intuition and your intuition is actually fucking with you because it's like it's going against anything you do. You're judging it from the wrong angles. So what's the best thing to do? Go machine model. Once again, this is also a system that you could apply to many areas of life. You know, when the emotions are so strong that you can control them in a way where, yeah, monkey mind comes out to play it right and being able to have a system in place where you kind of just go on automatic and you just take a step back and let it be till, you know, till you're over or till something
00:33:45:12 - 00:33:52:13
Farid Jattin
happens that you click back to a normal life. That was a huge thing for Usman.
00:33:52:15 - 00:34:27:12
Itamar Marani
Yeah, I'm curious because you keep going back to the system with the kind of checks and balances. I'm curious from your perspective, how impactful was it, if at all, that we kind of dove in and looked a bit in the rearview mirror just a little bit to understand why is Monkey Man so strong in certain situations? When we talked about the baseball examples and all that kind of jazz, I'm curious, how impactful was that for you, if at all that weekend, Monkey Man, did it make an impact or was it just something that for you it didn't have that big of an influence, you know?
00:34:27:12 - 00:34:46:21
Farid Jattin
Yeah, that was a very big thing. So we had a conversation about the fact that, you know, I came to the States seeking a baseball career. I was very young at the time. I was ten years old, but I came from Colombia where I was in a good situation. You know, I was in a good school, man. Just friendly school, good situation, good baseball team.
00:34:46:21 - 00:35:12:08
Farid Jattin
I had a lot of baseball talent. So I came here on summer camp. And long story short, the owner of the summer camp said, I want to build up your talent. Why don't you stay here? I see you traveling. I see you going, you know, at least day one, and let's just take it from there. It's crazy. It was ten years old, but I made the decision to stay here with my grandparents alone for a year, and that was very tough for me to do, right?
00:35:12:08 - 00:35:29:18
Farid Jattin
So I had to grow up very fast. So I go from being in the situation Colombia to now a terrible public school. I remember the first first week of school, some kid spit in my face and called me as thick as these are things I've never even dealt with in my life. And all of a sudden I got to start fighting.
00:35:29:18 - 00:35:51:00
Farid Jattin
I got to start. So I understood in this type of school setting where respect was like the number one thing for me, right? So yeah, that's a start. Kind of like fighting my way into respect, right? For a man, that's a very important thing, right? So a lot of these things were important back then, but they're nonexistent today, right?
00:35:51:00 - 00:36:14:04
Farid Jattin
Like, like it's not like I'm going to get in a fist fight in a poker game right? And if it happened in the last five sec, it's not a big deal. But exactly like, oh, I'll try to knock them out quick. Not it, but but Right. There's still a lot of trauma from that. And it's invisible a lot of the time.
00:36:14:04 - 00:36:44:09
Farid Jattin
So there are certain things that triggered that disrespect or whatever that might look like in the poker game that actually takes takes me back, you know, 20, 30 years. Well, not 30 years on 35, but yeah, 20, 25 years and is still there. Right. So it's like when that's triggered, that's when Monkey Man comes up. Right. And being able to recognize that Yes, Silence Monkey Man alone.
00:36:44:09 - 00:37:11:03
Farid Jattin
And it also makes you it gives you understanding you know, it gives you understanding that a lot of times we act a certain way, but it's really not our fault. And a lot of times that's why it's good to go going to the root of the problem, right? Rather than trying to avoid it and setting up like I don't want to set up the system to avoid the fact that monkey Man exists, It's just to deal with it in the moment.
00:37:11:05 - 00:37:34:04
Farid Jattin
But the way you make sure the monkey doesn't show up again is to go into the root and have it like like we're talking about the guilt thing. Those like having this click that we no longer need aggression to to to feel in that respect as a man. Right? We no longer need to feel threatened at the table because someone's going harder you than they should or things like that.
00:37:34:04 - 00:38:01:10
Farid Jattin
Right. And letting go that of that kind of a defense system that may show up when you when you have these traumas or these experiences triggered by a certain night that wakes up that side of you that in general is dormant. You know so to be able to talk about was relieving and also to be able to understand that it's not that big of a deal.
00:38:01:12 - 00:38:21:14
Farid Jattin
Yeah, it was able to silence that voice a lot and when I when I did see the triggers coming up, I was able to like, Hey, man, thank you for being here, but not today, you know, and boom, right back into like more ways you said than done. There's some days where, you know, it's unavoidable, but in general, at least you're seeing the problem with clarity.
00:38:21:14 - 00:38:24:22
Farid Jattin
And that was the most impactful thing about the whole thing.
00:38:25:00 - 00:38:54:10
Itamar Marani
Yeah. The way kind of sure. Kind of how I viewed it from my perspective, how you're a strong servant. So you said in a very visual way that you would sometimes see like monkey man coming through the door. Now, Monkey Man was probably somebody you developed when you were ten. As he was, he was your protector. That in order to for ten year old Fareed to feel safe, he had to get really riled up and he had to really get aggressive and fight in order to get respect.
00:38:54:12 - 00:39:13:06
Itamar Marani
So he served him very well there. And when you were able to see what was the purpose of Monkey Man and what was the utility of it in that context, when you're sitting at a table and he comes in, you are able to say, I know why he's here. He thinks we're under threat again. But this is not the same context.
00:39:13:08 - 00:39:32:13
Itamar Marani
We don't have to fight here. This isn't, you know, third grade or whatever it may be anymore. So, you know what? I get that a part of me spikes him in, like wakes him up because we feel like somebody's trying to the better of us or someone's being very aggressive with us at the table. But actually here in this context, he's not really helpful.
00:39:32:15 - 00:39:48:00
Itamar Marani
He was helpful back then, but here he's not. And I think when you were able to have that kind of lens on it and be able to think I one employee, this monkey man right now, or do I want to go into lion mode how you called it? It made it more easy to see if not studying. Okay.
00:39:48:00 - 00:40:08:23
Itamar Marani
I feel emotional right now. Let's get emotional. But you're able to take a bit of a step back, take a breath and be like, okay Is this a valid place to let Monkey Man start running the show, so to speak? And because you had that understanding of where he came from and where he does or he did serve a purpose, you obviously you know, this isn't that is that kind of click.
00:40:09:01 - 00:40:12:15
Farid Jattin
Yeah that's exactly what.
00:40:12:17 - 00:40:34:07
Itamar Marani
And I want to say this that also everybody listening at home. I think the power of how you visualize things, it's a big deal like this is something that that whoever I've seen that's been able to do this is just have more success with it when they're not able just when they don't just say, you know what, I'm feeling emotional or I'm just getting amped.
00:40:34:09 - 00:40:51:00
Itamar Marani
But they're like, I kind of am the the master controller of my mind. And I can see that monkey man just coming in right now. So wait, who do I want to let actually steer this ship? Am I going to just let him come in and sit in the driver's seat? Or I'm going to say, you know what?
00:40:51:02 - 00:41:08:18
Itamar Marani
Stop here is actually not one of the situations that you needed. Why don't you go back over there and then I'm going to let lion man or lion mode go back into the driver's seat and the system that you keep talking about was just a way for you to notice when he's entering the door. That was kind of how we noticed, like, okay, what's your breathing pattern?
00:41:08:18 - 00:41:18:20
Itamar Marani
What happens? What are the thoughts in your head? All these kind of things we're just signals like, how can we notice when Monkey Man is starting to enter the sphere, so to speak? And I think it's really powerful that you did that.
00:41:18:20 - 00:41:42:14
Farid Jattin
Man Yeah, 100%. And then, like, one of my strengths is, you know, I'm very flexible, man. Like a lot of, a lot of people surrender to the fact that, let's just say they have the same problem that I do, the monkey man or whatever you want to call it, right. But a lot of people ask with, that's just the way I am and that's just the way I am and I'm not going to change it.
00:41:42:14 - 00:42:01:02
Farid Jattin
And that's just what I am. And you can have your giving up before the fight even started, you know, And I think that everything is reversible. You could change anything in your life, but some things are way more challenging than others because, you know, there's we all got these dark rooms. Some of them are way bigger than others.
00:42:01:02 - 00:42:20:18
Farid Jattin
And yeah, it might take a little more work, but surrender to the fact that this is who I am or this is the way I am and I can't fix it. That is that to me is unacceptable. Man. And yeah, that's one of my best friends. And to be able to crush a poker, you need to have this because otherwise you just be triggered every day.
00:42:20:18 - 00:42:47:21
Farid Jattin
I mean, poker as a, as a tool for growth man is like it's got to be the I don't know, for me it's got to be the best thing because it just tests you so hard every single day. Right? And and it's going to make you go into your dark rooms like it's not avoidable. So rather than avoiding them, it's like welcoming them and going deep into the root of the problem, no matter how painful or how tough that might look like, because that's where the magic happens.
00:42:47:21 - 00:43:14:13
Farid Jattin
That's where you reach this new version. This this is where you reach the next level. And and yeah, man, I'm always welcome in these these uncomfortable situations are conversations no matter how tough they might be, because I understand that there's magic on the other side. So I would I would encourage people to to try to do the same, because a lot of times we want to just say this is who we are because it's a very tough thing to go through.
00:43:14:13 - 00:43:28:15
Farid Jattin
But you could tell me better than I have because you work with a lot more people. But everything you can, you can make a better everything. You can work there. Everything is, you know, reversible. And yeah, it's just some things are tougher than others.
00:43:28:17 - 00:43:49:03
Itamar Marani
Yeah, It's like, first off, I want to say this working with you, I just remember how constantly impressed I was. Like how impressive it was, how willing you were able to go into those things and be like, Oh, this is what happened. That's what happened. Interesting. And you were able to just be this kind of objective observer to say, Oh, that's why Fareed is doing that.
00:43:49:07 - 00:44:09:03
Itamar Marani
Interesting. That makes sense. Yeah, I shouldn't be doing that anymore. And you were able to kind of laugh it off and it was really great to see every time that there was both a willingness to dive into something like that and the lightheartedness to not take it as like, oh well, like you said, this is the reason why I can't do things and fall into a certain victimhood.
00:44:09:05 - 00:44:25:21
Itamar Marani
And I think that's the real rare blend, being willing to dive into it and then not use it as a justification or as an excuse to be, okay, this is just something that now I think now I can see the obstacle. Now I understand what this obstacle is. Okay, let me figure out how we maneuver around it, throw it up, whatever it is.
00:44:25:23 - 00:44:40:03
Itamar Marani
And I think that was the real beauty of it, man. And I think, like, again, I want to say this, although on the podcast, it was so enjoyable to work with you because you just had no, no break about going into the stuff and working through it. And I think that's why you always win, like why you've won before me.
00:44:40:03 - 00:44:47:17
Itamar Marani
Why when? After working together, all this kind of right, you're a winner, period. And as when I said, I'm that level man, it was just so enjoyable working together.
00:44:47:18 - 00:45:07:17
Farid Jattin
Appreciate them. And that was super enjoyable for me. And yeah, I just think we're on the same page, but we like to we like to kind of go into the deep things that really matter and avoid the obvious. But yeah, man, I mean, I can't, I can't emphasize it enough how powerful it is to do the work, to do this work right.
00:45:07:17 - 00:45:25:19
Farid Jattin
And there's always solutions. But as long as you're surrounding yourself with the right people or seeking advice in the right places, I think this is one of the things I'm most picky about is I love to seek advice, but it is so tough for me to seek advice at the same time because I'm so picky where to seek it.
00:45:25:19 - 00:45:48:10
Farid Jattin
So you always want to be having these conversations with open minded people, with people leading you in the right direction because of you were a different way. You might lead me deeper into Monkey Man rather than trying to get me out of it, right? So it's like it is that strong, it is that important with who you're having these conversations with.
00:45:48:12 - 00:46:01:03
Farid Jattin
But please don't avoid them just because they're uncomfortable or tough, you know, and and don't ever surrender. And no matter what happened to you, to the fact that you're this way and there's no way to fix that. No, that's that's just not how it is.
00:46:01:05 - 00:46:22:18
Itamar Marani
Yeah. So I want to say thank you very much for coming on and sharing so openly. I would love to hear. So if someone's listening it by now, they kind of know if they see themselves in you or not, whether this kind of very A-type individual, they're trying to achieve a lot that some of them say too much onto their plate, but also very willing to do the work for you.
00:46:22:19 - 00:46:37:20
Itamar Marani
What do you think we're let's say, the three main needle movers as far as the things that you did, you talk if you see yourself kind of like me, these are the three main things that I recommend you look into or do in order to make a difference for yourself.
00:46:37:22 - 00:46:40:12
Farid Jattin
You talk about the summer or in general.
00:46:40:14 - 00:46:45:14
Itamar Marani
In general as well in the summer and the general.
00:46:45:16 - 00:47:09:09
Farid Jattin
I mean, the three main things that we spoke about were, you know, less is more was a very important one. Right. And defining what that looks like, I think it's very good to be very specific. We actually had a sheet, me and you write where it was like everything put into categories, but it was very specific. So less is more is a very important thing.
00:47:09:11 - 00:47:47:05
Farid Jattin
The minimum effective those concept I think is an amazing one, using that for every category relief and separating it from the short term goals. So you're doing or short term missions that you're on and your long term just philosophy of life, both having clarity of of what the minimum effective those looks like is amazing. And then the last thing is like I'm saying, man is, is is being present and becoming a mass of your attention because your attention guides where your thoughts are and your thoughts just guide your life.
00:47:47:05 - 00:48:06:13
Farid Jattin
Right. And being able to snap out of cloudy moments that we all get into all the time because your mind wants to fuck with the over and over and over having the system to get out of it. So I call it being the master of your attention where like I said, I repeat it again because I think is powerful.
00:48:06:15 - 00:48:29:21
Farid Jattin
When I'm in a bad state or in a bad zone, where's my attention? It okay, perfect. Then you go through full acceptance of this moment or this thought or whatever you're going through. But then you read directed to where you want it to go, right? And if you're constantly doing this by nature, you're going to be more in a good state than in the best that you read.
00:48:29:21 - 00:48:56:00
Farid Jattin
And when you're in the better state, it favors your lion mode version to come out, right? And yeah, when you're constantly doing this, having these conversations and once again disconnected from the guilt to being able to give whatever the task at hand priority no matter what, no matter who's getting hurt, understanding that it's the best for everyone at the end with a combination of those three things, man, I think yeah, think life.
00:48:56:02 - 00:49:01:02
Farid Jattin
It will improve your life in a in a good way for sure, man.
00:49:01:04 - 00:49:19:06
Itamar Marani
Yeah. Go about. So I want to thank you again for coming on, man. It was a pleasure working this summer. It was a pleasure seeing you go. And it's also like making a new friend and enjoying working together. Brother. So as a thank you again for coming on the pod. Appreciate it. Any last words you want to say to those listening?
00:49:19:06 - 00:49:19:18
Itamar Marani
It?
00:49:19:20 - 00:49:38:18
Farid Jattin
You know, I just want to say thank you to you, man. You're a beast. It was amazing working with you. It's amazing that like I said, man, I mean, I think the last words will be try to surround yourself with people who speak the same language, you know, who are aligned with the vision, align with the goals. Otherwise is better.
00:49:38:18 - 00:50:03:08
Farid Jattin
A lot of times to be a lone wolf, you know, because if you're if you're not having conversations, taking you to where you want to go, then it's taking you in the other direction. You know, there's always people align with you, no matter how unique or weird or how crazy your idea might be is like surround them with people who support that dream idea, goal, whatever that might look like.
00:50:03:10 - 00:50:20:00
Farid Jattin
It just goes so long as so, yeah. I mean, it's amazing that I found you, that you speak my same language and that we were able to come up with the system that even though if you if you go back into this podcast and you break it down to simple system but is so powerful when you apply it, right.
00:50:20:00 - 00:50:29:10
Farid Jattin
So the biggest things in life are a bit simple but very powerful, and being able to be consistent is just the key to, to just crushing it.
00:50:29:10 - 00:50:49:13
Itamar Marani
Man Yeah, so I'll say this, guys. The system that Fareed is talking about is what we do with everybody that goes with our arena program. So if this podcast resonate with you and you feel like you could be achieving a lot, sometimes you get in your way, whether it's overwhelmed with the lack of focus on what the main thing is, you're setting yourself to thin, or just then get in your own way.
00:50:49:17 - 00:51:01:00
Itamar Marani
Your version of Monkey Man comes into play. You're welcome to the play, to the arena. We'll see if it's a fit for you and we'll take it from there and help you really win big. Fareed, thank you again for coming on, brother. Appreciate it.
00:51:01:02 - 00:51:02:03
Farid Jattin
Thank you very much, my brother.