I’ve found that the toughest part is usually maintaining energy, not finding motivation. Motivation can come and go, but energy is what keeps you going through the week. When you build routines that naturally restore you — whether it’s short breaks, journaling, or simply logging how you feel — it makes a big difference. Over time, those little habits act like guardrails. Instead of pushing yourself harder, you end up working smarter because you’re aware of when you need to slow down and reset.

That’s a good point. I once followed a strategy I saw on a stream, convinced it would give me the same results. Instead, I lost faster than usual because I didn’t realize how many hours of practice the streamer had behind it. The write-up at https://markmeets.com/posts/why-following-big-winners-strategies-in-gaming-usually-backfires/ explains this really clearly — social media amplifies success stories while hiding the failures, making strategies seem way more effective than they actually are. After reading that, I became much more careful about what I pick up from online clips.