The moment we believe that success is determined by an ingrained level of ability as opposed to resilience and hard work, we will be brittle in the face of adversity.

My coach and my parents both had this relationship to what I was doing, which was allowing me to express myself with chess. And so I could love it. I had a passion for it. I was expressing myself through chess, and I was learning about myself through chess.

Of course the sad truth is that if we are not present to the moment, our true love could come and go and we wouldn't even notice.

Growth only really comes at the point of resis­tance, but that is the moment that we tend to stop. Because it hurts... pushing our lim­its, is a mus­cle that can be cul­ti­vated like any other - incrementally.

The moment we believe that success is determined by an ingrained level of ability as opposed to resilience and hard work, we will be brittle in the face of adversity.

The truth is that throughout my careers in both chess and the martial arts, I often knew that my rivals were more naturally gifted than me - either with their mental machines or their bodies. But I have believed in my training, my approach to learning, and my ability to rise to the challenge under pressure.

I have never considered myself a prodigy. Others have used that term, but I never bought in to it.