Page 132 - The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin_Neat plip book

CHAPTER 16

SEARCHING FOR THE ZONE

How can I learn to enter the zone at will, make it a way of life? How can I

maintain my focus under pressure, stay serene and princi pled unde r fi e,
overcome distraction? What do I do when my emotions get out of cont rol?
In Part I, I told the story of my chess career pr edominan tly withi n the
framework of the learning process. Now I’d like to briefly reexamine the arc of

those years from the perspective of the performance ps ychologi st. Recall tha t as
a young boy, sometimes I became so deepl y immersed in a ches s position tha t
the world seemed to fall away. Nothi ng existed but me and my jungl e. Dur ing
these moments my mother says I seemed to beco me an old man, as if I kne w

this game from another life, playing for ho ur s with a focus so int ens e tha t she
thought her hand would burn if she pl aced it between my eyes and the bo ard.
Other days I would be distracted, chew bubbl e gum , look around and smile at
spectators in Washington Square Park. It was hit or miss, and my po or pa rent s

and coach had to sit and deal with whi chever Josh s ho wed up t hat da y.
In time, when I started playing tour nam ents, I had to be more cons istent
and so I started spending more effort on concentration. I sat at the board when
I wanted to walk around. When my mood was flippan t, I suck ed it up and

worked harder. I was an intense compet itor, and hav e never been one to gi ve up
on a goal. As a funny aside, my ever-pr ecocious sister started amus ing he rself
with this never-quit aspect of my per sonal ity when she was thr ee years old by
giving me coconuts to open on Bahamian beach es. I’d spen d ho ur s smashi ng

away in the sun, refusing to give up unt il she was dr inki ng and munc hi ng
away. In my scholastic chess life I was almost always abl e to put more ene rgy
into the struggle than my opponent s. I f it was a battle of wills, I won.