motivation is the key to open the door to knowledge!

3 years of motivation

When I arrived on Lichess, I didn't know much about chess, now, i must say that i'm not a master at chess. I'm just a 2000 who have fun to play ! but at least I play with confidence and pleasure and that's the most important thing.
I must say that I have always considered chess as a sport. a sport that is practiced daily with routines, training, and above all through the sharing of knowledge.

A story of Doors...

you know, motivation is an important subject, I unfortunately see too many depressed people on chess sites, people who have nothing to gain but who lose everything, because they don't have the motivation to take a step forward to look at the landscape of their mistakes on one side, and the landscape of unexplored potential on the other side
so you always have "doors" to access knowledge. mental and fictitious doors of course, but these doors can hide knowledge that you are free to take and especially to use! but often you never know what is behind these doors, and some imagine that these doors hide monsters that will destroy you. but if you don't dare, why are you here? to stop? that would be sad and unnecessary, because when you are here, your first Victory is playing chess. your second victory will be to open the jungle to access the paths of knowledge and these doors

why being motivated is important

A common description of motivation is that motivation allows you to create, to succeed, to have confidence, and to be able to win. why do you deprive yourself of such strength?

first let's tackle the subject straight away: why do you need to be motivated?
some will say, useless, they don't want to learn, or they want quick solutions. but you have to know that the motivation is in your head. motivation is due to psychological factors, trust, resignation, and the faculty of criticism that we humans have. you don't have to be strong to be motivated, motivation is a force.

being motivated is difficult, and motivated people have their routines or their methods to stay motivated, here is mine: for first, forget all the good and bad emotions.

playing a lot of games will kind of confuse you in the mass of defeats and victories, I think the tournament, especially the arenas are good for that, as the games come together quickly, you won't have the time to cry or jump for joy, but some will have anger and frustration, so to remove that feeling of anger, say focus on the next game, the previous one NEVER existed, the NEXT is your goal. I think football, basketball and ice hockey have that spirit. when you concede a goal, you go on the attack, the defenders move up the field and you are united and collective. you may not win, but you will have the motivation to try.

Today I have the impression that with online chess, people tend to forget that chess is not a solitary game. first you have your opponent, and second you have maybe spectators, teammates, a coach. because in chess: you'll never walk alone! don't always be selfish, otherwise you won't have the motivation or positive energy to get there.

method. so I recommend that you analyze your games carefully, don't rush, take your time. Does this defeat still make you suffer? Did this draw cause you to lose points? look at the critical point of the game, the tactics in short are a critical point. but chess is a complex game and you may have several critical points in the game. first stop looking at stockfish as soon as you see a mistake look at yourself, and go one move ahead. think about what you would play if you had more time or less stress

Is it necessary to work on motivation?

Yes and no. yes because you must feel good, be full of energy and you will see that your results will improve. no because in my opinion it is not a "work" but rather a feeling. it's a routine. some athletes work with professional psychologists to find and correct their weakness. but motivation is rather a feeling, you must tame it and not work on it as you will with analyzes or memorization of openings. but you should know that it is related to psychology and psychoanalysis.
several very serious psychology articles that I have consulted mention that motivation pushes you to create and move forward, motivation exists thanks to objectives and goals. For us chess players, both types of motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic) exist.

The two types of motivation

What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation?

Intrinsic motivation is the motivation that pushes you to move forward because it makes you happy, you only focus on your practice, you love what you do and you progress.

for extrinsic motivation, as its name suggests, you need a cause external to the game itself: the objective of winning a trophy, of being physically and mentally better, of trying to win money.

neither is good or bad. both are equal. some will say that intrinsic motivation is a children's story and that it does not exist, others will say that those who are extrinsically motivated are selfish. in fact it is false. the two may be related and your goals may be somewhere in between, so the difference between the two is sometimes blurred. example - the average player will say: I want to reach 2000. at first glance it is extrinsic, the number counts more than the pleasure... but, this "dream" is also the opportunity to discover new things and sometimes the learning and practice becomes a pleasure despite the objective. therefore more intrinsic motivation will arise along the way.

Sport is our motto

Is chess just a game? we absolutely must take an example from high-level athletes. I would say that in the case of athletes, both types of motivation are present. I give you the example of Lionel Messi - Messi discovered football very young, he loved this sport: (generally we will agree that it is an intrinsic motivation), he kept this love for football but problems health problems put obstacles in his way and he remained small height ( he's 5 ft 6 inches) . This could have put an end to his young career, but he also found extrinsic motivations, such as succeeding to make his family happy, having the trust of coaches, then winning trophies and the World Cup. in Messi's example, the love of football and the pleasure of being on the pitch are his main motivation. but where would he be if he didn't have the desire and motivation to win trophies? so have both motivations - love sport and dream of ranking or tournament - and you will progress

"Money is not a motivating factor. Money doesn't thrill me or make me play better because there are benefits to being wealthy. I'm just happy with a ball at my feet. My motivation comes from playing the game I love. If I wasn't paid to be a professional footballer I would willingly play for nothing." Lionel Messi

prepare yourself mentally

It's well known: there are days when you're not motivated and you're not ready. you jump in headlong and boom you lose everything. chess is not a lottery, prepare to suffer and know how to rejoice in a calm and thoughtful way. before a tournament or a series of games, ask yourself these questions - global questions: what are my objectives? Have I worked well before and am I ready? and am I confident or am I afraid? advanced questions - if I play in a tournament, what personal best can I surpass, do I want to or should I play it safe? If I'm going to have fun, to what extent can I combine utility with pleasure? When should I stop and take breaks? what is my stamina?

learn with pleasure

learning and pleasure rarely go together and otherwise it looks too much like methods for children. It shouldn't be like that in chess. learning should be an obligation but you should not turn it into a hobby but YOU must be aware that you are doing something good and that if you cannot learn, you are your own problem. I'll explain to you: learning requires you to be in a good state of mind, and you must be efficient without taking long. practice is better than theory. all theory is based on memorization and analysis of practice. you can practice without theory but you risk having gaps. but if you learn theory without practice, you will never be able to play. you must therefore spend at least equal time on practice and learning or more practice than theory. Most of you dear readers are amateurs like me, we do not make a living from the game and for many, you only care about a few ratings. so practicing will give you experience. never be afraid to open the door of practice and play, theory is a rich and well furnished room, but if you want to understand and love theory - practice! and through practice, you will become fully aware of the importance of theory

Conclusion

that’s all, dear friends! you now have some keys and explanations to give you motivation and pleasure again! share this blog and try to play while being motivated, I hope you liked it! I will be back very soon with new blogs!

see you! I found the picture on pexels, pretty nice picture, hope that you will be motivated !