“The World Doesn’t Need Another Poker Coach”

In Episode 6 of Heads Up With Phil Galfond, Phil coaches Jason P., a mid-to-high stakes online no-limit pro, on building a coaching career around the work he actually wants to do - and confronting the fear of judgment that can make putting yourself out there feel harder than the work itself.

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What begins as a conversation about poker coaching quickly becomes a broader discussion about career design, marketing, discomfort, and choosing a path that leads somewhere you actually want to go. Phil and Jason explore the difference between avoiding work because it is misaligned and avoiding it because it feels uncomfortable, including the temptation to use technical poker coaching as an easier entry point into the kind of coaching Jason really wants to do. Along the way, Phil opens up about his own resistance to self-promotion, the fear of being judged for marketing yourself, and why simply letting your work speak for itself can hold you back. They also examine vulnerability in coaching, learning from your own struggles, and the value of asking a deceptively simple question before committing to a path: if you became wildly successful at this, would you actually want the life it creates?

Whether you're building a coaching business, considering a new career direction, or trying to separate genuine misalignment from the discomfort of putting yourself out there, this episode explores how to build toward work that fits you without letting fear quietly make the decisions.

Welcome to the Heads Up With Phil Galfond Podcast, where we listen in on a coaching call between Phil and a guest. In these episodes, Phil coaches the guest through whatever is holding them back from what they want to achieve. Whether it's this call or another, Phil and his guests explore topics including: navigating poker and life professionally, overcoming mindset blocks, improving decision-making under pressure, and building the habits needed for long-term success.

Timestamps: 00:00 Episode Start 04:00 Jason’s Poker Journey 07:15 Building a Life Beyond Poker 09:41 “The World Doesn’t Need Another Poker Coach” 13:52 Poker Improvement Is More Than Strategy 18:12 Finding the Work You Actually Want to Do 24:25 Would You Want This Path If You Succeeded? 28:28 The Brutal Reality of Creating Content 31:35 Building Without Urgency 36:37 Discomfort vs. Actually Not Wanting It 39:11 Fear of Judgment & Marketing Yourself 43:36 Are You Doing People a Disservice? 58:27 Can a Coach Admit They’re Still Struggling?

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Remember to subscribe for more podcast content like this episode, and turn on notifications so you don't miss future poker podcasts, coaching conversations, and live streams. Producer: Thomas Deming-Henes Brand Design: Dan Deming-Henes Creative Specialist: Quentin Cardinal-Juneau