Chess Analogy

I have been wanting to write an article for Breathe featuring a chess analogy for a while. I hadn't been sure of what exactly to cite from all my chess knowledge, until now. This article will be about long term and short term goal setting. Goal setting- if done well- could easily be called planning. The difference in the two is in the likelihood that they will be accomplished, with "planning" being the more likely of the two.

There is a great chess quote, by whom I'm not sure. It states very simply "long variation wrong variation." This is to say that a player should not plan too far ahead, because there are too many variables to account for. The likelihood that you can carry out a 10 move plan is likely less than that of a 4 move plan. Your opponent will make a move you are not expecting almost every time you plan too far ahead.

Planning too far ahead, you can lose sight of the road that will take you to where you want to go. Often times it is best to anticipate what might be the next step you have to take that will bring you closer to where you want to be. This place that you want to get to might not look the way you expected it to when you set out on your journey. You may not even end up where you originally intended. As long as you keep putting one foot in front of the other you will not fail.