There are a few other things tied for first, but NOTHING gives me greater joy than spending 1-on-1 time with Emerson in our boys-only weekend chess adventures.
I’m typing this on a Monday morning after our most recent adventure.
It was awesome.
Fell asleep holding hands, dominated our pre-match protocol, and got some laser tag in between long breaks between games.
Emerson Won 2 and Won 3 more via some lessons learned—which is one of the few times his ratio was skewed in that direction.
As you can imagine, the better he gets the better his competitors get.
So…
His third game on Saturday started at 7pm—when he’d usually be going to bed. It ended at 10:30pm—making our bed time tied for latest ever right there with the night after we all enjoyed the Bulls game together a few weeks before.
Now…
He lost that game to a little guy who is one of the best 9-year-olds in the country.
Afterwards, he had a sweet interaction with the little boy’s mom. Apparently, she complimented him on his posture while playing (chest up, chin down!) and… she told him that her son had been working with one of the grandmasters in Austin.
So…
When I went through our post-match 1-2-3 to operationalize how we would create a win out of the learning opportunity, Emerson pleasantly surprised me with what he KNEW he needed to do to get better.
Long story shorter…
Emerson is a very intuitive chess player. He likes to move fast. His coaches have been telling him for months now that, if he wants to go to the next level, he’s going to need to slow down and calculate his moves more deliberately.
He hasn’t been a huge fan of their recommended ways to master that skill.
Until…
He lost that game.
Then…
He KNEW it was time to step up his training and master that skill so he could achieve his next big goal en route to his BIG BIG goal of becoming a Grandmaster.
We’ll chat more about his plans and our chat on the science of motivation as applied to his training in the next +1.
For now…
Spotlight on YOU.
Have you “lost” any matches in YOUR life lately?
OF COURSE YOU HAVE.
A) You’re human.
B) You’re striving to be Heroic!!
Now…
What’s ONE thing you KNOW you need to do to get better?
Got it?
Get on that.
TODAY.
Unlock this Heroic +1 (and over 1,000 more)!
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