The Big Question from The Queen’s Gambit
And what it can teach us about life.
(Contains no spoilers)
The Queen’s Gambit is a wildly popular Netflix show about Beth Harmon, a fictional chess prodigy. The series is very entertaining and engaging and follows the orphaned lead character who befriends the orphanage’s janitor, who teaches her to play chess. We then follow her incredible and somewhat problematic rise through the ranks of the international chess world.
But this article isn’t specifically about the show. It’s about a question that comes up in the fourth episode when Beth faces a young Russian player named Georgi. Here’s the exchange:
Georgi confidently says: “I will be world champion one day.”
”When?” Beth asks.
Without hesitating, Georgi answers: “In three years.”
”You’ll be sixteen in three years.” says Beth. “IF you win… what will you do next?”
Georgi seems puzzled and says: “I..I don’t understand.”
It’s at this point that we get the big question, as Beth asks him:
”If you’re world champion at 16… what will you do with the rest of your life?”
What will you do with the rest of your life?
In the show, young Georgi doesn’t have an answer for that question. In fact, he repeats that he doesn’t even understand the question. He’s been playing chess since he was 4 years old and is so singularly focused on becoming world champion, it seems like the only possible outcome for his life.
I love this exchange, because it highlights the downside of being overly goal-focused. Let’s stick with our fictional friend Georgi for a moment. Imagine that he succeeds and becomes world champion at the tender age of 16. Then what? What’s left for him to accomplish? Imagine how difficult it will be for him to find anything that will give his life as much meaning as having reached the top of his game at the age of 16! How do you follow that up?
Now let’s imagine the other possibility. Let’s imagine that Georgi doesn’t become world champion by the age of 16. So he keeps pushing himself. Now he’s 18, now 20, now 22 and still not world champion. Imagine how totally demoralizing that would be. Now imagine that he NEVER becomes world champion. At some point, sitting down at a chess board is going to be painful for him. Tragic, isn’t it? How do you recover from that?
The dangers of being goal-focused.
There are some very real dangers when we focus so intently on achieving a specific outcome in life, especially if we lose sight of the reason we chose the goal in the first place.
If we achieve the goal — then what? What’s next? What do you do with the the rest of your life? In his autobiography, astronaut Buzz Aldrin said that after walking on the moon, everything else in his life seemed insignificant.
And what if we don’t achieve the goal? What does that do to our self-esteem and self-worth? How difficult would it be to regain our confidence and move on to a different goal? How do we keep from being haunted by regret?
What Matters Most
So what’s the alternative?
I’m certainly not advocating that we abandon the idea of goals and try to content ourselves with accepting whatever comes our way in life. Not at all. For years now, I’ve been teaching people the importance of getting in touch with our deepest motivations. Once we uncover these, we can begin to live with much greater confidence and certainty because we know that our self-esteem and self-worth aren’t tied to a specific outcome. We allow ourselves to find meaning in, and take pleasure from, the process itself.
Let’s go back to Georgi. Obviously it’s impossible to know his motivations or deep, inner thoughts. (Especially since he’s a fictional character in a Netflix series!) However, from his incredibly serious demeanor, I think it’s safe to assume that for him, becoming world champion of chess is an absolute must. And, as I’ve already explained, the outcomes of that sort of mindset aren’t particularly appealing.
However, imagine that instead of success as imperative, his motivation for playing chess was simply the love of the game itself. He would be able to push himself and enjoy being challenged by strong players because he loves the game. Losing a match doesn’t diminish his sense of self-esteem or cause him to question his self-worth, because those aren’t even on the table. Win, lose or draw, underneath it all he would always be content because he’s playing the game he loves. That’s what happens when we move through life with a clear understanding of What Matters Most to us.
I encourage you to take a look at your life and the motivations that are driving you and ask yourself:
What will I do with the rest of my life?
