One of my most successful coaching techniques is encouraging my chess students to set lofty goals for themselves. Together we break these goals into attainable steps and utilize achievement markers to show progress. Of course, certain levels of chess expertise are not achievable for everyone and if they were, chess would be obsolete. For instance, if everyone was a grandmaster at chess, no one would be a grandmaster at chess. That being said, there are goals which get incorrectly deemed unrealistic and are worthy of further pursuit.
Regardless if a lofty chess goal can be achieved, the belief that it can be forces students to address their assumptions of what can’t be accomplished. This realization is where I believe the most valuable chess lessons are hidden. The lessons which teach us how to overcome adversity but also learn to accept our own limitations. In fact, a Harvard Business Study found that the 3% of their MBA graduates who wrote their goals down, went on to earn ten times as much as the other 97% combined!
So I ask the Daily Chess Musings Community, which lofty chess goal can you set right now? Write it in the comments. Just by posting your goal, you will be moving closer to success!