Everyone makes choices.
The problem is we go about them hit-or-miss. Could be our only daily activity where we figure out it’s worth only after the fact – ‘I did A but B happened which wasn’t so nice, so I’ll not choose A again.’ However, there are a curious few who recognize that it’s the process of getting to the part of ‘I did A’ that can be learned and intentionally practiced. (And, incidentally, are also people who are mad that they weren’t taught that process in school.) Wouldn’t it be great if your decisions had more predictable outcomes than a throw of the dice at a Vegas casino?
All decisions – the good, the bad, and the ugly – involve the 3 C’s which are: Character, Cognitive skills, and Communicating. These, in turn, are built upon 10 features. When learned and practiced, these 10 features improve opportunities for the successful outcomes you want.
So what are they?
1. HUMILITY… You cannot think you know everything or can’t learn anything new.
2. CURIOSITY... Learning things that are new and different and deeper geeks you out!
3. WILLINGNESS / INTENTION... You’re motivated to pick the best choices.
4. PATIENCE / PERSEVERANCE... You stick things out no matter how long it takes to choose the best.
5. OBSERVE... You’re always looking out for whatever helps you decide the right thing.
6. INTROSPECT... You think about why you want the thing you want and how it will be a good or a bad thing.
7. ANALYZE... You study all kinds of stuff about the matter at hand so you can know it better.
8. EVALUATE... You figure out how much it’s worth to you or others and how important it is to pick.
9. INSIGHT... You always want to really know and be sure of the things you have found out about.
10. SERVE… You want to make good use of your choice and show it in a way so others can smile about it too.
Now simply knowing these 10 features is only half the victory – they must be practiced and applied to be a real victory. And that, as Hamlet would say, is the rub.
Is there a way – such as a tool that provides a setting – to make these features personally hands-on and ‘sticky’? A tool that encourages competence and even mastery by putting the features into real world actions without side effects and possible dangerous outcomes? Thankfully there is… life-building chess is the perfect and excellent tool for doing just that! It provides the framework for developing decision skills in an exciting, social, and fun way.
Next, we’ll talk about how life-building chess develops these key decision skills features.
