I am fascinated with the game of chess and have been playing since I was a little kid. I remember one day in 4th grade; my mom signed me up for Chess Masters. It was an afterschool chess program that teaches the kid how to play chess. At first, I thought it was a bit of a joke, but everything changed for me once I learned the game. I was good at it and won first prize at the Chess Masters tournament (my parents still have the trophy at their house). I didn’t fully appreciate how natural the game to me and how happy I was when playing it.

In 2019, one of my main goals was to revisit the activities and hobbies that made me happy as a kid. Of course, chess was one of those activities. I downloaded the Chess.com app and started playing games for fun. Next, I did something a little scarier. 

I joined a local chess club and a tournament. It was one of the best decisions I made. I enjoyed playing chess with a bunch of talented people and learning the game at an intimate level. I remember asking myself, “why didn’t I do this earlier?”

I could have been excellent if I kept at it and continued to learn more about the game’s nuances.

The real secret in life is identifying something that ignites joy, curiosity, and desire to be the best at an early age. Then double down on it. 

This was chess for me.

I don’t blame myself or my parents for not double downing on my chess skills, and in fact, it’s a fantastic lesson that I will share with my kids when they are young and help guide them to find that intersection of joy and natural skill for themselves.

It’s not easy to identify your joy, curiosity, and desire to be the best at an early age as there are so many forces that may blind you, such as your community, friends, parents, and more. It’s also never too late to explore what those are activities or subjects are for you.

Take a pen and paper and make a chart with three columns. 

One for Joy, curiosity, and thirst to grow.

Joy – identify an activity/subject that you can do without being asked. This activity/subject doesn’t have to be profound; it can be silly, like playing video games.

Curiosity – what activity/subject do you enjoying diving deeper into. What are the rabbit holes that you love falling into?

Desire to be the best – what activity/subject do you desire to be the best? What ignites and gives you this energy to become the very best at this activity/subject. Some people define this as an obsession. 

Identify the activity that falls under all three categories. 

Then double down on it. It’s never too late, just start now.