Last January, I went to a party at a trailer park that featured a huge bonfire, a few llamas, and a member of Public Enemy.
(I realize that sounds like the setup to a joke. Welcome to my life.)
While I was there, I met a former competitive chess player named Steve Gossett. Steve is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker who creates Princess Rap Battle videos for a YouTube channel with more than 1 million subscribers.
But that’s not why I invited Steve onto the show.
I asked him to join me on the podcast to discuss the lessons that chess taught him about money, work and life.
On this fascinating episode, Steve and I discuss:
- Opening Theory: At the start of the game, you have a limited selection of moves. Yet you can quickly lose the game if you choose the wrong moves. Don’t lose at the outset.
- Muddled Midgame: While the first few moves are (relatively) simple, even the experts don’t quite understand the complexities of the mid-game.
- Gambit: Sometimes, you need to be willing to give up a piece on the board for the sake of getting another strategic win.
- Eliminate options: You’ll fatigue yourself if you try to consider every move. Learn how to quickly eliminate options so that you can focus on choosing between a small handful of optimal moves.
- Think ahead: Don’t just think about the consequences of the next move. Think many, many moves ahead on the board. Also, realize that every move carries an opportunity cost: once you move a piece on the board, it’s not in that same position anymore — for better or for worse.
- Study/practice/knowledge can reduce time pressure: Chess is a timed game with a ticking clock. You can make smarter, faster decisions through study and practice. Knowledge is your competitive advantage.
I hope you find this conversation as fascinating as I did. Enjoy!
– Paula
Resources Mentioned:
- SteveGossett.com
- Six Thinking Hats, by Edward De Bono
- What if We Quit Setting Goals? – Afford Anything Blog
- What Professional Poker Taught Me About Running a 7-Figure Business, with Billy Murphy – Podcast Interview
- Princess Rap Battle Videos
- Steve’s Twitter
- How to Start a Blog in 5 Minutes
Have you ever thought: “Gee, I’d like to listen to the Afford Anything podcast, but I’d REALLY prefer to hear it via YouTube?”
(Wait … no? You haven’t thought that? Well, just play along.)
Announcing …. dun-dun-da-da!! …. The Afford Anything YouTube Channel!
It’s audio-only. Which kinda defeats the purpose of YouTube, but whatevs. 🙂
You can listen to full podcast interviews AND hear breakouts of specific “Ask Paula” questions. (This lets you instantly find a specific question/answer, rather than wading through a full episode.)
We even got a snazzy URL:Â https://youtube.com/affordanything
Oh yeah!
Hit the YouTube “subscribe” button at the top right to get loads of Afford Anything audio awesomeness. 🙂
Thanks to our sponsor, Freshbooks!
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Visit Freshbooks.com/paula for a free 30-day trial. Please mention this show when they ask how you heard about them.
