Josh Waitzkin

Well, good question. It's just when he said it to me, like I was in my early 20s and I'd lost my love for chess. Like it had gotten static, stale. You know, good challenge. It probably wasn't late, but I couldn't hear it. I didn't... Like I would have had to go into the cave, go away, go through an existential crisis and come back to chess.

But there were a lot of things that were moving me away from chess at that point in addition to that. I didn't want to be trapped inside of the confines of 64 squares anymore. I felt like a lion in a cage. So it was like if I had known him when I was 14, 15, it would have been a different arc for me in the chess life. But maybe it would have been much worse for my life.

But there were a lot of things that were moving me away from chess at that point in addition to that. I didn't want to be trapped inside of the confines of 64 squares anymore. I felt like a lion in a cage. So it was like if I had known him when I was 14, 15, it would have been a different arc for me in the chess life. But maybe it would have been much worse for my life.

But there were a lot of things that were moving me away from chess at that point in addition to that. I didn't want to be trapped inside of the confines of 64 squares anymore. I felt like a lion in a cage. So it was like if I had known him when I was 14, 15, it would have been a different arc for me in the chess life. But maybe it would have been much worse for my life.

If I had known him when I was 15, I might have fucking played chess for the rest of my life. And I'm so grateful I didn't.

If I had known him when I was 15, I might have fucking played chess for the rest of my life. And I'm so grateful I didn't.

If I had known him when I was 15, I might have fucking played chess for the rest of my life. And I'm so grateful I didn't.

I mean, for me, I love the life that I live. Like, I'm so grateful for the life that I've lived. And I was moved away from chess in many ways by this alienating experience that I just described and then also the dynamics of the movie and everything. But I played just for eight years after the movie. And so my results were very good.

I mean, for me, I love the life that I live. Like, I'm so grateful for the life that I've lived. And I was moved away from chess in many ways by this alienating experience that I just described and then also the dynamics of the movie and everything. But I played just for eight years after the movie. And so my results were very good.

I mean, for me, I love the life that I live. Like, I'm so grateful for the life that I've lived. And I was moved away from chess in many ways by this alienating experience that I just described and then also the dynamics of the movie and everything. But I played just for eight years after the movie. And so my results were very good.

But I was moving into this internal, I was in an existential crisis. But every catastrophic injury or heartbreaking loss or losing a world championship when you're a millimeter from winning the finals, all of those losses that were so heartbreaking to me, every big loss, I'm grateful for now. And led to the biggest wins and led to the biggest insights and transitions and everything.

But I was moving into this internal, I was in an existential crisis. But every catastrophic injury or heartbreaking loss or losing a world championship when you're a millimeter from winning the finals, all of those losses that were so heartbreaking to me, every big loss, I'm grateful for now. And led to the biggest wins and led to the biggest insights and transitions and everything.

But I was moving into this internal, I was in an existential crisis. But every catastrophic injury or heartbreaking loss or losing a world championship when you're a millimeter from winning the finals, all of those losses that were so heartbreaking to me, every big loss, I'm grateful for now. And led to the biggest wins and led to the biggest insights and transitions and everything.

And my life today, the crises that I had in many ways have armed me to help people express themselves in their arts. And a lot of the reads that I made as a competitor, to go back to your question, I invert now. So the way I would read chess players, find where their minds were stuck, find where their bias patterns were, find where their energy was stuck, find where they were static.

And my life today, the crises that I had in many ways have armed me to help people express themselves in their arts. And a lot of the reads that I made as a competitor, to go back to your question, I invert now. So the way I would read chess players, find where their minds were stuck, find where their bias patterns were, find where their energy was stuck, find where they were static.

And my life today, the crises that I had in many ways have armed me to help people express themselves in their arts. And a lot of the reads that I made as a competitor, to go back to your question, I invert now. So the way I would read chess players, find where their minds were stuck, find where their bias patterns were, find where their energy was stuck, find where they were static.

Now, then I would exploit them, right? Same thing you do in the fight game. You find where someone's pattern is static and exploit it, right? Then what I do in training people is I find those, I have a very good nose for those because I spent my life as a competitor sniffing them out, feeling my way to them. But then I work on liberating them, releasing the obstruction.

Now, then I would exploit them, right? Same thing you do in the fight game. You find where someone's pattern is static and exploit it, right? Then what I do in training people is I find those, I have a very good nose for those because I spent my life as a competitor sniffing them out, feeling my way to them. But then I work on liberating them, releasing the obstruction.

Now, then I would exploit them, right? Same thing you do in the fight game. You find where someone's pattern is static and exploit it, right? Then what I do in training people is I find those, I have a very good nose for those because I spent my life as a competitor sniffing them out, feeling my way to them. But then I work on liberating them, releasing the obstruction.

So a lot of what I do today in my work with brilliant performers is work on unleashing what I used to exploit.