Episode 82 - The Price of Admission How to Achieve Results You Are Truly Proud Of
===

[00:00:00] Hey, and welcome back to Next Level Chess podcast. I'm Grandmaster Noël Studer, your host, and today I want to talk about an extremely important topic and kind of a shift in direction for my podcast, my YouTube channel, my newsletter, kind of my whole chess business. And if you really want to improve your chess, if you're ready to do what it takes, this is super exciting news.

So let's dive right in.

I have always been honest with you. Chess improvement is hard. There are no shortcuts. But, uh, recently I realized I was making a critical mistake in how I spent my energy. [00:01:00] I was spending 80% of my time trying to save the people who weren't doing the work, answering the same basic doubts, sting their frustrations, and trying to pull them along.

And by spending so much time on them, I didn't have time and energy to create even better content tools and courses for those who are ready to do what it takes to improve. Now I'm shifting my focus entirely to you.

From now on, I'm going to assume that you are here because you want to get better and you accept what it takes. Here are three things I will simply expect from you if you're reading my emails or taking my courses, we agree on this.

Number one, you accept that it will be hard. Chess improvement is not easy. Solving difficult positions, calculating lines and facing stronger opponents is tough work. I assume you know this and are ready for the challenge.

Point number two, you accept that it won't [00:02:00] always be fun. You don't have to love every second of training. You just have to do it. Just like brushing your teeth. Some parts of chess improvement are just work. I assume you're mature enough to do it even when you don't feel like it.

Point number three, you accept that you will struggle. There will be plateaus, there will be painful losses. There will be days where you want to quit. I assume you understand that this is part of the process, not a reason to panic.

I wanna be clear. There is absolutely nothing wrong with playing chess just for fun. There is nothing wrong with having periods in your life where you don't have the energy to train hard. If you just wanna relax, play some blitz and watch streams, do it. Enjoy the game. But if that is your approach, you cannot expect meaningful improvement. You cannot expect to break through plateaus if you aren't willing to push through the discomfort.

My mission is simple. I wanna help you improve your [00:03:00] chess in a way that builds your character and helps you achieve results you can be proud of. Real pride doesn't come from a quick rating gain you got from a trick opening.

It comes from knowing you did the hard work, the calculation, the analysis of your worst games. The deep focus in a highly distracted world, and seeing it pay off. That kind of improvement simply requires the three prerequisites above. There is no way around them.

So here is the new deal I suggest you guys. My job versus your job. Because I assume that you have the basics covered, we can work together much better. My job consists of four main things. The plan, I show you exactly what to train so you don't waste time guessing.

The Simplified chess improvement system will remain the complete map to training the right way. The focus, I help you filter out the [00:04:00] 95% of things that don't matter, so you can focus on the five that do. When you get stuck, I help you find the root cause, whether it's a tactical weakness or a mindset issue.

The main aim of my work is to help you self diagnose always better. Maybe at some point you don't need me anymore. Last but not least, simplicity. Especially through YouTube and new tools, I wanna explain difficult concepts in a simple, actionable way.

And here is your job, the one doing the work. You trust the process. You don't waste time doubting the plan every week. You stick to it. Be honest. You don't lie to yourself about why you lost. You admit when you lost focus or got lazy. It's okay. Everybody makes mistakes. It's important to be honest about it.

And you show up. You accept that hard is not a sign that something is wrong. It is a sign that you are training the right way.

Let me be very clear on who I want to serve even [00:05:00] more going forward. I don't care if you're rated 700 or 2,200. I care about your attitude. I'm serving the adult improver with limited time. You have a job, maybe a family and other responsibilities. You might only have 45 minutes a day. That means you cannot afford to waste time on things that don't work.

If you are successful in your career or other areas of your life, you know that results come from consistency, not magic pills. You don't need a cheerleader. You need a clear plan. If you are a 1200 rated player who says, I don't know much about chess yet, but I'm ready to do the hard work, you are my ideal student.

So what is coming next? By spending less time trying to convince the world that improvement requires effort, I can spend more time building tools for those who already know it. I'm incredibly excited about new tools I'm building. I will have more time to go deeper and create resources [00:06:00] that help you push yourself further.

Everything I'm working on currently has one thing in common. It will help ambitious players improve their chess even more. One major edition will be a membership designed for solving difficult positions, personally chosen by myself. When done properly, it'll be the most powerful training you do on a weekly basis. But, if it hasn't been clear already, here is the price of admission to my training, to my membership, to kind of real chess improvement. This is how I would call it.

All of these tools are not for people who want to feel smart. They are for people who are willing to feel stupid.

Improvement requires the willingness to lose games, to make mistakes, and to sit with the discomfort of not knowing the answer. If you're looking for a coach to tell you it's going to be easy, I'm not your guy. But if you're ready to struggle because you know that's where the growth is, then [00:07:00] we are going to do amazing things together.

I'm so excited to start this new chapter. And if you have any tools and courses you miss in the chess world and you have them in mind that they are for the real chess improver, then let me know. Find my email online. Let me know, and maybe I'll even build it in the future.

Here is to chess improvement that builds your character and that you can be truly proud of.

Hey guys, just two quick things before you take off. If you enjoyed this episode and want more structured chess improvement tips from myself, check out my newsletter at nextlevelchess.com/newsletter. It's totally free. It'll always remain free, and it goes out every single Friday with the best latest chess improvement tips that I have.

Most of the podcast episodes that I [00:08:00] record are based on a previous newsletter. So getting the newsletter, you'll get the advice earlier and you'll get it directly into your inbox every single Friday. It's totally free, as I mentioned, and you can unsubscribe any time. So go to nextlevelchess.com/newsletter to sign up.

And one last thing. If you enjoyed this episode and if it helped you, then please take a few seconds and review this podcast. This helps a ton. It helps other people see, oh yeah, many, many people profit from the advice given in this podcast. Let's give this podcast a try, and if you can, if you know anyone in the chess world that would profit from this episode or any other episode.

Make sure to share it with your friends, with your people online. That's super helpful. Podcast growth is really just working through mouth by mouth [00:09:00] recommendations, so thank you. Thank you so much for listening, and thank you for spreading the word about the Next Level Chess podcast. Now, that's all from me.

Thank you for listening and see you next time.