Readiness, eagerness and tenacity. Three qualities for success. Someone famous may have said this at some point, but I don't know. I'm usually too busy writing about Yahtzee to be so well read. But regardless whether I said it or Oscar Wilde, it's relevant.
If, like me, you play Yahtzee with great regularity, it can be easy to lose your way. That's not to say that you fall out of love with the game, or, dare I say, get bored of it. But sometimes, and it's happened to me, you can lose your competitive edge. This is a huge mistake. Even if you are dominating a competition, don't EVER take your eye off the ball. There is nothing to gain from being blasé while you're at the board. In fact it's downright detrimental. You need to maintain that competitive aggression, otherwise you're going to get railroaded, potentially by someone that has nowhere near the experience you do, simply because you lost your focus. Come on pal, you need to get a grip. You can't be getting beat by every Tom, Dick and Harry, merely because you have lost focus. No! You need to look back, right to the start of your Yahtzee campaign and remember when you had that fighting spirit, that killer instinct that refused to take prisoners. You need to remember what brought you to this game in the first place...
Now, I'm not the aggressive type, but I'm fully aware that games like Yahtzee require a certain amount of it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about being an insufferable twat when you play, like sinking to the level of hurling abuse when things aren't going your way. No, this is both pointless and pathetic. It would be incredibly ill advised, and certainly not an approach I would recommend. When I say "fire", I am talking about that overwhelming need to win, that almost obsessive need to conquer all in your path. There is a huge difference between total arrogance and noble ambition. You should never apologise for ambition, it's when you start getting pompous and detailing all the ways you were robbed out of a victory that it becomes a problem. The trouble is, these two (one, perfectly natural) states can easily be mistaken for each other. So those observing you could mistake you for a bit of a prick, while in reality, you're just there to do a job. But it's this "fire" or ambition that you need to keep a hold of. Ignore those that take the piss and tell you that it's only a game. Of course it's a game, but isn't all competitive sport? So ignore them. They were obviously breast fed until they were twenty two and their dad is also their brother.
So. How do you retain that competitive edge when you might not be feeling it? It happens to us all. Some times we turn up to a match, knowing we're not going to give it 110%. But you need to get that out of your head right now. You need that fire, that competitive aggression. And I'll see if I can't show you a few ways to do that.
First of all, never, EVER, think that a match is beyond you. Even if it technically is. This kind of thinking can seep into games that actually matter. I have experience of this. I have often played like a complete tool because I thought there was no way of winning a match, or even worse, a competition. It shouldn't matter how far behind you are (in either a match or competion). You need to remain focused and stoke the embers of competitive fury. Maybe you won't finish first, but who cares. Presuming you're competing against more than one person, you still have others to beat. You should make it your mission in every game to finish as high as you possibly can. If you give up mid game you are incubating a complacency that will only infect your performance beyond the game at hand. Never, EVER give up.
Secondly, ask yourself, each time you approach the Yahtzee board, "why do I play Yahtzee?". Obviously you play it because it's a good way to pass some time with family and friends. But why competitively? Well, I can only really answer for myself but I'm pretty sure it applies to many others. I play for personal glory, or pride. I don't want to be just another competitor that is there just to make up the numbers. NO, I've got something to prove, or at least try to. I'm sure you do too. So if you're playing for personal reasons, that makes the match personal too. So treat it as such. Approach every match as if it would be a personal insult if you lost. By attributing such importance to a match you are ensuring that you play with every fiber of your being, because now you're not just passing the time or making up the numbers, you're playing for a piece of yourself! If that sounds a wee bit dramatic, well, it is. But I say it only in an attempt to fire you up and keep that Yahtzee inferno blazing.
Finally, think back, all the way back to when you played your first match, more importantly, your very first competitive match. Do you remember how it felt. You didn't go into that first match thinking you were gonna lose, did you? Of course not. You went into it with the exuberant, if slightly naive optimism of a toddler thinking life was always going to be chicken nuggets, Bluey on the telly and as many trips to the park as was humanly possible. You were in it to win it and you wouldn't let anybody stand in your way. Often times, that feeling can fade over time. It's not that you don't enjoy playing, it's just that it's not as good as the first time, much like a lot of things I could mention (you know what I'm talking about, boys). But, instead of just resorting to the past being the past, reconnect with that feeling, treat every game as if it's the first game of Yahtzee you ever played. At the end of every match, you give yourself a mental factory reset and go into the next one all guns blazing. Forget the shit scores, the shoulda, coulda, woulda's, that match is over. Live for the match you're playing, not the match you've just played, it doesn't matter anymore. Go for it kiddo! You got this!
Well, there you go ladies and gentlemen, hope that was somewhat helpful. I know I probably sounded a bit like one of those Yank self help gurus. You know the kind, headset microphone, standing in a room full of desperate middle aged women, promising you that there are only three things you need to know to succeed at your job and your love life, but if you want to know what they are it'll cost you six hundred quid. That's not what I intended to sound like, but I do think what I said was at least relevant, perhaps helpful and definitely free of charge. Until next time you lovely people...
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