I lost five chess games in a row.
And each loss stung worse than the last.
So I did what most people do. I went straight to the next game.
Wanted to erase the feeling. Then lost more.
Then a lesson came back. The one I keep forgetting.
Review your games.
I go through periods where I am in the habit of reviewing my games and I improve. Then I stop reviewing. And I end up in tilt sessions like this one.
I replayed the last game. Analyzed the blunders. Broke the streak.
When I am at my best, I review my games.
At my worst, I skip the review and go straight to the next one.
Experience is not enough.
You can go through your day and learn nothing.
You can go through your life and learn nothing.
Not because the experience was empty. Because you never stopped to reflect.
Socrates said “the unexamined life is not worth living.”
Ray Dalio says “Pain + Reflection = Progress.”
I think it is broader than pain.
Experience + Reflection = Progress.
Reflection turns experience into insights.
This is why I review each of my days. What happened. What went well. What could I have improved. The same thing I do after a chess game, applied to a day.
Don’t go through anything for free.
♟️
What lesson is sitting in your day right now, waiting to be found?