Monday Morning Match is a simple post – maybe a quote, inspirational story or idea – intended to spark some motivation inside each of you so your week gets off to a fantastic start on Monday morning.
“In life, as in chess, forethought wins.”
– Charles Buxton
Happy Birthday today to chess champion Bobby Fischer. The World Chess Champion from 1972-1975 would be 77 today. Whether you’ve played chess or not, you’ve probably heard of Bobby Fischer, often considered the greatest chess player of all time.
Chess is an easy game to understand once you learn the movements of the 6 different pieces on each player’s side of the board. There are 8 pawns, 2 Rooks (or “Castles), 2 Knights, 2 Bishops, a Queen, and a King. As easy as it may be to understand, it’s much hard to play as it has so many possibilities on every move, it is a game that only a select few ever truly master.
One of the main things that chess will teach the people who choose to sit across a board from an opponent is you must execute moves in your mind before you actually move the pieces on the board. In other words, it is critical to think more than one chess move at a time. Making a move is a tactic. Determining how your next move will impact your future moves – and the possibility of winning the game – is your strategy.
It’s really no different from our daily efforts in real estate. Every “move” we make or action taken is going to lead to some sort of result. Knowing how everything we do will impact our strategy gives us the best chance to achieve a favorable outcome.
It’s important to practice. It’s important to take actions every day that will get us closer to our goals. It’s important to understand how every action will lead to some reaction. The key is can we create the reactions we seek and then find ways to repeat them as needed?
Tactics for a successful player in today’s game might include building relationships, solving problems and having fun. Finding ways to do them in person and online is a great strategy. Practicing the tactics every day so they begin to happen without too much thought allows the player to start expecting certain moves of their customer or client or knowing what outcomes should result.
It doesn’t matter whether you are new in the business or a multi-year, accomplished Realtor. It doesn’t matter whether you’re working in a rural market or a high-density urban market. It doesn’t matter whether you are black or white. Starter homes or luxury really don’t make a difference. When the time comes, you’ve got to make the right move.
No matter how many times you may dump the pieces out of the box to set them up on your game board, remember that the goal of the game remains the same; build relationships, solve problems, and have fun.
Do that over and over and over again and start knowing and anticipating what happens next. When you become a champion of the game like Bobby Fischer, you just keep making the right moves until you win and that’s when you can sit back, smile, and say, “Checkmate!”
Cover photo courtesy of sk