Alan Longo is a high-performance psychologist with five years of experience coaching high-stakes poker players. Passionate about sports, he educates and empowers players with the tools to build their mental foundations, professional routines, and competitive planning for consistent, high-level performance. Find out more at his website.
There is a seductive pull to January 1. It feels like a reset button — a magical date where the variance of the previous year is wiped clean, and we get to step onto the felt as a completely different player. We tell ourselves that in 2026, we will be disciplined, we will study daily, and we will crush the stakes that baffled us in 2025. We promise ourselves a 'new year, new me'.
But as a psychologist working with high-performance players, I have to be the bearer of grounded news: there is no 'new you'. Come January, you wake up with the same brain, the same nervous system, and the same default tendencies you had in December.
This isn't bad news; it is necessary news. Real growth in poker doesn't come from a magical reinvention; it comes from evolution. To build a stronger version of yourself for 2026, you don't need to burn the script. You need to review the footage.
The audit: reviewing your 2025 timeline
You cannot navigate to a new destination if you do not know your current coordinates. Before you set a single goal for 2026, you must sit down and conduct a ruthless, objective audit of 2025.
Many players skip this because it can be painful. Looking at graphs that went the wrong way or remembering tournaments where you punted your stack is uncomfortable. But we aren't looking at the past to judge it; we are looking at it to extract data.
Ask yourself:
- Did I end the year where I wanted to be?
- If not, what specifically stopped me? Was it technical skill, mental game leaks, or life circumstances?
- What were the 'attentional leaks' that drained my focus?
Differentiate between variance and choices. If you ran below EV for six months, that is math. If you stopped studying because you were frustrated by running bad, that is a mental leak.
The most valuable asset you take into 2026 is not your bankroll, but the lessons learned from the friction of 2025.
Setting a compass, not just a destination
Once you have your data, you can look forward. However, most players set goals that are rigid destinations, such as 'Win $100K' or 'Move up to $5/10'. The problem with result-oriented goals is that they are often out of your direct control.
For 2026, use your lessons learned to set a direction — a 'north star' — but focus your energy on building a process.
Instead of a fixed map, think of your year in terms of 'checkpoints'. A year is a long time in poker. The game changes, and your life changes. Set quarterly or monthly checkpoints to review your progress. If your 'north star' was to reach high stakes, but you realize your bankroll management is too aggressive, the checkpoint allows you to adjust your course without feeling like you failed the entire year.
Realism is the ultimate edge. Your goals must adjust to the reality of your performance, not the fantasy of your potential.
Habits over hype
We often treat motivation like a fuel tank that gets refilled on New Year's Day. But motivation is fleeting; habits are the engine that keeps the car moving.
The biggest mistake I see in January is 'cognitive overload'. A player decides they will meditate, exercise, study GTO for an hour, and play 2,000 hands every single day. This is a recipe for burnout. The brain resists drastic, sudden changes. When you try to install five new habits at once, you overload your system, and usually, by February, you are back to your old baseline.
The psychological key is consolidation. Pick one or two high-impact actions that move you toward your objectives. Focus on turning those actions into automatic habits. Do not add a third habit until the first two are consolidated.
Navigating the ups and downs
If you are setting real goals, you will encounter resistance. There will be weeks in 2026 where you fail to stick to your schedule. You will skip study sessions. You will tilt.
Accept this now. Perfection is not the goal; resilience is. When you fall off the wagon, avoid the 'what-the-hell effect' — the tendency to abandon the whole plan just because you slipped up once.
If you miss a week of gym or study, don't spiral into self-criticism. Acknowledge it, accept it as part of the human process, and reset at your next checkpoint. Progress is non-linear. The graph of your personal growth will look much like a poker graph: lots of ups and downs, but ideally trending upward over a large sample size.
The honesty filter: Excuse vs. reason
This brings us to the most critical skill for 2026: radical honesty.
When you reach your checkpoints and realize you aren't hitting your targets, you will need to adjust. But why are you adjusting? You must learn to distinguish between a valid reason and an excuse.
- A reason: "I broke my hand and couldn't play," or " The games have dried up at this hour, so I need to change my schedule". These are objective realities.
- An excuse: "I'm too tired to review hands," or "I don't feel like grinding today". These are emotional barriers masking themselves as logic.
Adjusting a goal because reality has changed is strategic. Adjusting a goal because you are uncomfortable with the effort is a leak. This level of self-honesty is the foundation of sustainable growth. You cannot fix a leak that you refuse to acknowledge, and accurate self-assessment is the only way to ensure your strategy remains grounded in reality.
Your evolution starts now
Don't wait for the ball to drop to start thinking about who you want to be. There is no new you waiting in the wings. There is only the current you, capable of learning, adapting, and growing.
Take the time this week to sit in silence with your 2025 performance. Be honest about what happened. Then, build a 2026 plan based on realistic habits and flexible checkpoints, not wishful thinking.
Your evolution is a process, not a resolution. Good luck at the tables.
