Initially I was very drawn to the Tao Te Ching, the Taoist philosophy. It was helping me deal with the balance of these external and internal issues with my chess life. Tai chi is the martial embodiment of Taoist philosophy. Initially, I had no intention of competing in the martial arts; it was just the meditation.
Growth only really comes at the point of resistance, but that is the moment that we tend to stop. Because it hurts… pushing our limits, is a muscle that can be cultivated like any other – incrementally.
The truth is that throughout my careers in both chess and the martial arts, I often knew that my rivals were more naturally gifted than me – either with their mental machines or their bodies. But I have believed in my training, my approach to learning, and my ability to rise to the challenge under pressure.
Our minds are all different and I believe cultivating a keen introspective sensitivity is absolutely essential in discovering our potential.
Of course the sad truth is that if we are not present to the moment, our true love could come and go and we wouldn’t even notice.
In America, people focus on the end result; they focus on the star.
The moment we believe that success is determined by an ingrained level of ability as opposed to resilience and hard work, we will be brittle in the face of adversity.
Very gifted people, they win and they win, and they are told that they win because they are a winner. That seems like a positive thing to tell children, but ultimately, what that means is when they lose, it must make them a loser.
At the very core of my relationship to learning is the idea that we should be as organic as possible. We need to cultivate a deeply refined introspective sense, and build our relationship to learning around our nuance of character.
I believe an appreciation for simplicity, the everyday – the ability to dive deeply into the banal and discover life’s hidden richness – is where success, let alone happiness, emerges.
In chess you might find a good move. Then you might find a better move. But take your time. Find the best move.
We learn by pushing ourselves and finding what really lies at the outer reaches of our abilities.
