Josh Waitzkin

And I was being urged to study the more cold-blooded, prophylactic side of chess, Petrosian, Karpov, more conservative defensive players. So I was being told, instead of saying like, what does Josh feel here? What would Karpov play here? Who's the opposite of me?

And so the combination of that public eye and then the movement away from my self-expression led to a period of obstructedness and self-consciousness. And an interesting theme we could talk about at one point is that passage from a pre-conscious to a post-conscious competitor. In many ways, I went from that freedom of pre-conscious competition into the tunnel of existential crisis.

And so the combination of that public eye and then the movement away from my self-expression led to a period of obstructedness and self-consciousness. And an interesting theme we could talk about at one point is that passage from a pre-conscious to a post-conscious competitor. In many ways, I went from that freedom of pre-conscious competition into the tunnel of existential crisis.

And so the combination of that public eye and then the movement away from my self-expression led to a period of obstructedness and self-consciousness. And an interesting theme we could talk about at one point is that passage from a pre-conscious to a post-conscious competitor. In many ways, I went from that freedom of pre-conscious competition into the tunnel of existential crisis.

And I grappled with it for a lot of years. And when I was 18, when I graduated high school, and during that grappling, I was still the top rated player in the country. I was winning national championships every year. So from the outside, it looked good. But from the inside, I was in turmoil. I was fighting with myself. I had all these demons. And then I left the US.

And I grappled with it for a lot of years. And when I was 18, when I graduated high school, and during that grappling, I was still the top rated player in the country. I was winning national championships every year. So from the outside, it looked good. But from the inside, I was in turmoil. I was fighting with myself. I had all these demons. And then I left the US.

And I grappled with it for a lot of years. And when I was 18, when I graduated high school, and during that grappling, I was still the top rated player in the country. I was winning national championships every year. So from the outside, it looked good. But from the inside, I was in turmoil. I was fighting with myself. I had all these demons. And then I left the US.

I spent a number of years after high school studying East Asian philosophy, meditating, reflecting. And then my study of chess in those years, and I was deeply in love with chess still, it became much more of an introspective process. I was competing as intensely as ever, but chess became connected to life. And then when I was 19 years old, I started training at the Human Performance Institute.

I spent a number of years after high school studying East Asian philosophy, meditating, reflecting. And then my study of chess in those years, and I was deeply in love with chess still, it became much more of an introspective process. I was competing as intensely as ever, but chess became connected to life. And then when I was 19 years old, I started training at the Human Performance Institute.

I spent a number of years after high school studying East Asian philosophy, meditating, reflecting. And then my study of chess in those years, and I was deeply in love with chess still, it became much more of an introspective process. I was competing as intensely as ever, but chess became connected to life. And then when I was 19 years old, I started training at the Human Performance Institute.

At the time, it was called LGE, Laird, Groppel, and Etcheberry. It was a performance training, cross-disciplinary performance training center that Jim Laird opened up. And then it became the HBI later on.

At the time, it was called LGE, Laird, Groppel, and Etcheberry. It was a performance training, cross-disciplinary performance training center that Jim Laird opened up. And then it became the HBI later on.

At the time, it was called LGE, Laird, Groppel, and Etcheberry. It was a performance training, cross-disciplinary performance training center that Jim Laird opened up. And then it became the HBI later on.

And I'll never forget the moment that I was working with these performance psychologists and I was at the gym and I was working with nutritionists and I was doing this intense workout and I looked next to me and there was Jim Harbaugh, who was the quarterback at the time of the Colts NFL team. And we got into this amazing dialogue about performance.

And I'll never forget the moment that I was working with these performance psychologists and I was at the gym and I was working with nutritionists and I was doing this intense workout and I looked next to me and there was Jim Harbaugh, who was the quarterback at the time of the Colts NFL team. And we got into this amazing dialogue about performance.

And I'll never forget the moment that I was working with these performance psychologists and I was at the gym and I was working with nutritionists and I was doing this intense workout and I looked next to me and there was Jim Harbaugh, who was the quarterback at the time of the Colts NFL team. And we got into this amazing dialogue about performance.

And it was a real eye-opening moment for me because I realized that we spoke the same language. I was like, holy shit, this guy's an NFL quarterback, and I'm this crazy chess player, but we're doing the same thing. And it was this crystallization moment where I realized that all of these arts are fundamentally connected at the highest levels. And what we're doing is much more similar.

And it was a real eye-opening moment for me because I realized that we spoke the same language. I was like, holy shit, this guy's an NFL quarterback, and I'm this crazy chess player, but we're doing the same thing. And it was this crystallization moment where I realized that all of these arts are fundamentally connected at the highest levels. And what we're doing is much more similar.

And it was a real eye-opening moment for me because I realized that we spoke the same language. I was like, holy shit, this guy's an NFL quarterback, and I'm this crazy chess player, but we're doing the same thing. And it was this crystallization moment where I realized that all of these arts are fundamentally connected at the highest levels. And what we're doing is much more similar.

I observe that people who are at the pinnacles of different arts are often doing things that are much more similar than people who are in the same art from them, but at lower levels. There's something in that qualitative experience. And then I began studying the principles that connected these things. And then I had this interesting experience.