Life can be compared to a game of chess. The problem is, I don’t know how to play chess. Many of you don’t either. Chess is a game where you have to be strategic in your moves. You have to protect certain parts of your life and expose others. It can all be quite scary.
The only ingredient to success is hard work. You have to work hard to learn in school, work hard in your job, and work hard to maintain a family. It can all still be fun. You can still love your life and love to read and learn. Especially love and have fun with your family.
Growing up showing cattle I didn’t understand certain routines until I got a little older. I also discovered the more I practiced the more successful I became in showing cattle. Public speaking is the same as well as writing, photography, and any other passion you might have in life.
A farmer is not always going to have a bumper crop each year. Mother nature sometimes has a setting to say about that one. She might destroy your cotton crop while your corn fields flourish. That doesn’t mean you are going to work any less hard to be successful that year. You still want to produce as much as you can.
In chess there are pawns. These are basically parts of the game that are used to advance your king. This is part of life. We all have to do and perform tasks that we hate. Tasks and jobs that we know we will probably fail at. That is okay. We have to fail sometimes to succeed. I have never met a winner in the show ring that didn’t lose at least 20 times before that win.
Strategy is important if you want to be successful. You have to plan, set goals, achieve those goals. Most importantly you need to strive to beat your timeline on your goals. There is an expiration date on everything. We don’t always know what it is, we should always do our best before the date arrives. If you have a 5 year goal, work to make it happen in 2 years. Heck, shoot for six months.
Sacrifice is something that happens in life, war, and games. We sacrifice our pawns to keep going. We also sacrifice our time. Time is the most valuable resource we have and the clock is always ticking. If you want to win at a show this summer. You don’t start practicing a week or 2 weeks before the show. You start months ahead of time. You work every day to make improvements.
Sometimes we sacrifice personal pleasures to be successful. You might give up TV, or paid subscriptions to save money. You might move to a smaller house to save money. You might even give up drinking alcohol to focus on your goals. A little bit can go a long way. If you have $60 worth of membership and subscriptions that you don’t use a lot or get value from, cancel them and put that money towards your goal. Take that money you spend at the bar or on booze and save for your next tool you need.
Life is a game, you can either let others dictate the rules and what you will do or how successful you will be, or do it yourself. Be your own boss. Make your own rules. Don't let others dictate how you live your life and are successful. Naysayers will be everywhere.
If you have ever been in a huge showmanship ring at a national show, you have to be on point. You have to use the right animal, be prepared for questions, and pay attention. You don’t get all that experience overnight. You don’t learn to pull leg hair over a weekend. You don’t learn to feed cattle overnight. You don’t learn to play chess overnight. The point is, we all are pieces of a chess board in life. We have to maneuver, have a plan, and understand you will sometimes have to start back at the beginning. What champions do is never give up. They build from their mistakes inside and outside the show ring. Winners know they have to work to learn the game and be better than the next person. They also know that you have to compete against people better than themselves. Learn their moves, strategy, and techniques when playing the game.
At the end of the day though, you have to have fun. You have to enjoy the game you are playing. If showing cattle isn’t your game, lambs and goats might be a better choice. If you are scared of the competition in the Hereford shows, stick with another breed. You learn as you go in life, just like learning chess better, each time you play.
Enjoy what you do, love the experience, and play the best match you can play. Because at the end of the day, when the game of life is over. The king and the pawn both go back into the box.
“Daring ideas are like chessmen moving forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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