Phil Hellmuth is an American professional poker player who has won a record fourteen World Series of Poker bracelets. I’m not a poker player nor have any interest in poker. However, what drew me to listen to Phil’s conversation with Tim Ferriss was this quote by Phil.
“The difference between your best and your worst? The perception of others. Block out the noise and you’ll stay on track.”
Upon researching a little bit on Phil and his accomplishments, I became more interested to listen to his story, his perspective on money management and the importance of forgiveness.
In Tim’s podcast, Phil recounts a story of forgiveness. Phil had a person who had been stealing from him (about $28,000) and for whom he had also been helping the family. When Phil got the phone call that this had happened, he was shocked. One friend that Phil talked to regarding this situation was instantaneously furious and suggested him to take harsh steps against the alleged culprit. Phil took a moment and instead of losing his cool over this matter decided to go out for a nice dinner with his wife. After the dinner, Phil decided to completely forgive the guy who had been stealing from him. Here’s the funny part. Some time later, Phil got paid back in full. Also Phil had flown to Connecticut for a poker tournament and happened to see the guy who had stolen from him. Phil shook his hand and did not say much to the person. Phil had already forgave him and was not at war with the guy. Thus, Phil was able to completely focus on the poker tournament and ironically won $280,000 in that tournament (10x the amount he had “almost” lost from a person he trusted). Phil credits all of this karma to his act of forgiveness.