Life Lessons Learned From Chess

Here's an article I need to reread again and again:

The Chess Concepts Peter Thiel Used To Become A Billionaire

One of the central ideas in this article is that a business startup is staffed by nerds and atheletes. Interesting. I've thought a lot about this concept since first learning of it.

According to the article, atheletes are willing to fight for the survival of the company whereas the nerds want the company to survive because of a better idea.

Apparently you need both. You need nerds to come up with good ideas and atheletes to go the distance to stay long enough to see those ideas implemented.

This is true of individuals as well. My little brother once asked my father if he were a genius. My brother was very well read and was very bright.

My father told him he could not be a genius if he did not have the push and drive to be one. He said that a genius is someone who is not only bright, but is also quite driven.

My brother was in 7th grade at the time. So, he still had time to develop his genius.

It's such an interesting concept to me that there is no genius if there is no desire to see things through to the end. No fair calling yourself a genius if you have nothing to show for it.

Genius is more than just an intelligence test. It is passing life's tests too.

Ed Abbott