Strategic moves

LIFE IS A CHESS GAME

There are people who play it and other less smarter people who get played. I mentioned in an earlier post that life is a game. It is - and if we want to have a better chance of succeeding in the game of life, we can create an advantage by thinking more before acting and planning ahead. We need to have a strategy.

Stay Sharp

In order to implement our strategy well, we need to be 'switched-on'. Chances are, if you're prone to day dreaming, wrongly believe that others have your interests covered or you're just used to being reactive rather than proactive, you'll likely have a few stories where things have not gone your way. Some may say they're unlucky but I truly believe you make your own luck in life. 

We are constantly battling against outside forces to ensure the majority of our waking hours are positive & happy. There's so many things that can 'crop up' without warning to affect our day. So it makes sense to be mindful of as many potential hiccups before they happen. Some days, we know there's just going to be tough situations coming up and in order to rise above these daily challenges - we have to be alert and ready for battle. This means having good food, sleep and time to prepare ourselves to be in a focussed state of mind.

A lot of people seem to think I'm carefree, happy-go-lucky or worse, unconcerned and clueless to what's going on around me. Thing is - I'm actually a very thoughtful and 'secretly boring' person. I am very organised and efficient - to the point of obsessiveness. I use this side of my character to structure my life but I don't really want my friends to know I'm an OCD nutcase, so I keep this side hidden away from sight. 

That's why it often appears that I'm relaxed and easy-going - because I've already taken my role play situations - ie. acted out a few future moves in my mind, assessed likely outcomes, looked at the 'what if's' and predicted the end game. In this process, I've reasoned how important certain things really are to me and how they will affect other 'pieces' or people in the move/game. 

Just like a Grand Chess Master, I'll imagine different scenarios/outcomes - to remove any unforeseen surprises and any consequent emotional responses like frustration or anger from surfacing. The major benefits of thinking this way are that you've already placed allowances for damage limitation. If there's time/energy required for managing other's expectations or potential disappointments that could have arisen from those outcomes - you'll be set up because you've been smart enough to factor in some contingency plans. The result being - even if things don't go entirely as planned - there should still be a positive mind set and ultimately success in the end.