Gents Journey
Gents Journey
Unseen Laws of Power: The Chessboard Mentality
The Chessboard Mentality represents the apex of strategic masculine power – a philosophy that transforms how you navigate every aspect of life. Moving beyond reactive thinking and short-term gains, this approach teaches you to see the entire field, recognize patterns before they form, and position yourself for inevitable success.
What separates kings from pawns isn't intelligence or strength – it's vision. While most men live move-to-move, reacting to circumstances and chasing validation, the man who masters the chessboard mentality designs outcomes before others even realize there's a game being played. This isn't about manipulation or cold calculation; it's about conscious movement and positional dominance.
The five core principles – delay is power, play for position not pieces, sacrifice with strategy, protect your queen, and think five moves ahead – create a framework for unshakeable personal power. When you delay your response, you demonstrate that you're choosing to move rather than being forced to. When you play for position, you evaluate opportunities not just for immediate benefit but for how they position you years down the road. Strategic sacrifice means letting go of what isn't worth keeping to create what others can never take.
These principles apply across all domains of life. In conversation, you speak not to fill space or prove something, but to guide outcomes. In business, you create terms rather than accepting what's merely "good enough." In relationships, you lead with emotional integrity rather than power plays. And in your daily habits, you systematize what builds leverage while eliminating what drains your energy.
The ultimate challenge is to live this philosophy for seven days – to pause before every decision and ask what it creates five moves from now. To approach conversations by identifying the real energy beneath the surface. To protect your peace like a king guards his kingdom. When you master these principles, success stops being a question of if and becomes simply a matter of when.
"True mastery is found in the details. The way you handle the little things defines the way you handle everything."
Hello and welcome to the Gentleman's Journey podcast. My name is Anthony, your host and my goodness, we're in episode eight. Guys, we're almost there. It's amazing that these 10 episodes sometimes they happen so fast, and I'm just so happy that you're here. So what I want to do is I want to kind of just give you a recap real quick of what we've talked about and then we're going to get into the episode, okay? So, as you hear the sirens behind me, you know we're eight episodes in right. Eight pillars of power laid into the foundation of the man. You're becoming right. And now we arrive here. And this episode is the chest bird mentality, right. So let's look back at what you've built so far.
Speaker 1:You know, in episode one, you know, you mastered the law of energy. You know you learned how to control a room by controlling your inner storm. Right, you stopped reacting and you began radiating, became stillness with weight. Right. Then, in episode two, you stepped into the shadow king. You know, you influence without exposure, you began moving beneath the surface. You know shifting outcomes without having to chase control. You know, very subtle, very surgical, very sovereign right. Then, in episode three, you know, gave you the blueprint for really the empire of the king's code right, you know it was understanding. You know leverage and structure and high value positioning right, you stopped thinking like a player and you started building like a CEO. Right Then, in episode four, you know it was just ruthless evaluation or elevation, I should say.
Speaker 1:You know it was destroying weakness. It was about cutting out everything that diluted your edge. Right, you just didn't learn what to do. You learn what to burn, you know. You walked away from comfort and you walked into your power. Right Then, in episode five, it was about learning how to control perception, right, how to become a living narrative, you know. You began to shape how others see you with precision, instead of leaving it to chance. In this, you stepped out of the passenger seat of your reputation. Right Then, in episode six, we really got surgical. You learn the art of manipulation, not with ego but with ethics. Right, you learned how to shift people without compromising your integrity, not to control others but to stop being controlled by them.
Speaker 1:And in episode seven, you stepped into that strategic silence. You know. You learned how to control a room without ever raising your voice. You learned that stillness is not the absence of power, it is the power. Presence, calm, timing, those became your new weapons. And now we arrive here to the chessboard mentality. This philosophy is really going to tie everything together here for you. Okay, because what good is energy leverage, silence and strategy? I should say that again what good, honestly, is energy, leverage, silence and strategy if you don't know how to use them in sequence? This is where we move from learning techniques to learning how to see the entire game.
Speaker 1:At this point, here's something you need to understand. Most men live, move to move, they wake up, they react, they speak without thinking. They chase validation, money, approval, control, right, and they think they're playing to win. But you, you've already begun playing on another level. You're not reacting to the moment, you're predicting the momentum, because you're not just trying to win arguments, right. You're not setting traps no one else sees forming. You're not hoping to be respected right, you're positioning yourself, so respect is the only possible outcome.
Speaker 1:See, we have to understand the chess board mentality. It isn't about chess, it's about vision, it's about timing, it's about foresight, right. And most of all, it's about never being at the mercy of your next move again, because you just don't want to succeed in life. Right, you want to make success inevitable, and that's what this episode is about. It's about what separates kings from pawns. Now let's talk about what the chessboard mentality actually is, and once you see the game, you will never unsee it. So let's strip away the surface level thinking here. Right, the chessboard mentality it isn't about being clever. It isn't about being some cold strategist who treats life like a war game. It's not about constantly scheming and manipulating your way forward. It's about awakening to the fact that there's already a game being played around you and deciding to stop being a pawn in someone else's strategy.
Speaker 1:So what is chessboard mentality? It's a way of seeing, a way of being. It's the ability to zoom out, to pull back from the chaos and distractions and really see the whole field. Right, you see the patterns in people. You know the plays forming before they happen. Right, the consequences tied to every conversation, every commitment or action. Right, it's the impact of who you let in your circle or who you let stay. It's the impact of who you let in your circle or who you let stay.
Speaker 1:It's the mindset that asks if I make this move now, what ripple does this cause five moves later? Because the man who only thinks about this moment. He will always be dominated by the man who thinks five moments ahead. Right, because most men live their lives like checkers, right? Or like a game of checkers, really. You know, they jump, jump, react, win, lose, move again. But you're a king.
Speaker 1:Kings play chess. They understand the power of space. They control tempo, they recognize traps, they're willing to hold back now for control. Later they sacrifice, they delay, they watch quietly until it's time to act. Right, they just don't win battles, they dominate campaigns. Now, what it feels like when this mindset becomes normal. Let's bring this out of the abstract. Okay, out of the abstract. Okay.
Speaker 1:When you adopt the chessboard mentality, life starts to feel different. Right, what starts to happen is that you begin to move slower, but with more force. Right, you say less, but people hear you more. Right, you start to sense patterns before they even unfold. You no longer chase power because you've learned how to position for it. Right, your energy stops leaking into unnecessary reactions. You conserve it, you hold it, you place it like a grandmaster placing a queen. And what's wild about this? People feel it, even though they can't really explain it. What you'll notice is that they'll start treating you differently. They'll speak more carefully around you. They'll seek your approval, even in silence, right, they don't try to play you because they feel that you already saw the play forming. That's not paranoia or paranoia. There we go. That's positional dominance.
Speaker 1:Now let's talk about what. This is not okay, because I want to clear this up, because this part really matters. This is not about being fake, right. It's not about being cold or unfeeling, right. It's not about trying to win at the expense of your soul. This isn't about manipulation. This is conscious movement. Right. This is how you take everything you've learned so far, all the tools, all the power, and bring them together in a chessboard in motion. Right, your energy is your peace. Your silence is another peace. Your leverage, your circle, your awareness those are all pieces on this board, right, and you never move them randomly. You move them deliberately. You move them with vision, with patience, with purpose. Right, this is the moment where you stop being the man who just survives the game, where you stop being the man who just survives the game and you become the man who starts designing it.
Speaker 1:Okay, so what we're going to talk about next is five core principles of the chessboard mindset right, these are the laws that will make you untouchable without ever raising your voice. You know, if the chess board mentality is the operating system, then these five principles are your commands right, your non-negotiables, your code of movement right. And I need to tell you these are not tricks, they're not tactics. You turn on and off, right. What these are? They are laws that let you walk into life like it's already yours, because the board is moving in your favor, not against your will. So let's engrave these into your psyche, okay?
Speaker 1:Number one delay is power. Don't move just because it's your turn. This is the first test. Most men fail Because when life asks you to move, speak, act or respond, you just don't do it automatically. You wait, Not because you're weak, not because you're scared, but because power isn't found in speed. Power is found in timing. Most men, right, they act to relieve pressure, you act to increase your position and even in conversation, I should say right, stretch, let that pressure, let it build right, let the room shift into your rhythm. Okay, because delay is power, because it means you're choosing the move, not being forced to right. Remember, you're no longer the man who moves out of obligation, right, you are the man who moves when the moment is yours to own.
Speaker 1:Okay, now number two got to play for position, not pieces. Beginning, I should say beginners play for what's right in front of them. Right, they only can see what's right in front of them. Right. They want the flashy win, they want the quick result, they want the validation. Hit right, grandmasters. No, they play for position, for control of space, for leverage that keeps expanding, move after move after move, year after year after year In your life. This is what it means.
Speaker 1:You don't just take the high-paying gig. You ask where does it lead to? You don't just take the high paying gig, you ask where does it lead to, right. You don't just accept opportunities, you ask what they cost you long-term right. And you don't just win or fight to win arguments. I should say right. You build to win loyalty, trust and clarity. You let other men I'm putting this quotation marks win in the moment, because you've already positioned yourself to own the movement right. And what will be so funny is that they'll be celebrating capturing a pawn. But what you're doing is that you're quietly lining up the king Now.
Speaker 1:Number three sacrifice with strategy. Lose now, win forever. Let this hit you, okay. The strongest men are willing to lose short-term battles to create a long-term checkmate. This means this is that you walk away from shallow attention to build a deep legacy. You let others talk while you build. You release comfort so you can step into the challenge. Right, you give someone the upper hand in the moment because you will already know they'll fold two plays later and just remind you. This isn't losing, it's letting go of what isn't worth keeping so you can create what they'll never be able to take. Right, you no longer ask how do I win this moment? What you ask instead is how do I structure this so I can't lose five years from now? Now that that's power. Now.
Speaker 1:Number four protect your queen. You got a guard. What gives you power? Now? Every man has a queen and no, not a woman, even though she could be a part of it. Right, but what I'm talking about is the most powerful piece in your personal kingdom, right. Which is this? Your peace, your focus, your energy, your routine, your mission. Your queen is whatever makes you dangerous and disciplined, whatever allows you to move freely and strike with power. Right, and once you know what that is, you guard it like. Your legacy depends on it, because it does Right. Most men trade their queen for a dopamine hit. Right, they give away their edge for cheap validation, emotional chaos or shallow comfort. But you, you protect what builds you, not out of fear, but out of respect for the empire you're creating right Now.
Speaker 1:Number five think five moves ahead. Always be positioning, always be positioning right. This is the core of the mindset. This is what separates power from force. Most men live for the next move. You live for the next five Because, before you speak, you calculate the ripple. Right Before you invest, you forecast the return. Before you react, you predict the next three responses. You're not rigid, you're not robotic. You're fluid, strategic, decisive, right. You're not guessing what might happen. You are designing what will happen. Right, what you'll notice and what people will say is, when there's chaos all around you, chaos all around you, they're going to be like how are you so calm, so unshaken, so composed? And the reason why is because you already saw the play forming before they even knew there was a game. Right, so let's lock this in now, okay.
Speaker 1:Again, the five core principles of the chessboard mindset. Number one delay is power. You move when you decide, not when the world demands. Okay, you play for position. Remember, you're leveraging over ego, strategy over impulse. Right. Then sacrifice with strategy. Let go now to own more later. Next was protect your queen right, guard your power source at all costs. And last was thinking five moves ahead. You don't just guess, you calculate. Remember, these are not just rules, they're a lifestyle. Okay, and I'm telling you, once you install them, you don't just win games, you don't just win games, you create outcomes before they even know they're playing.
Speaker 1:Now section four. This is about installing the chessboard mentality, right, and it's going to be how to integrate strategic power in every area of your life. Something you have to understand, and this kind of goes against the grain of everything. Knowledge isn't power. Installed knowledge is I'll say that again for the people in the back Knowledge is not power, installed knowledge is. And this, this is where you stop just thinking like a grandmaster and you start living like one. So let's break this down across every area of your life.
Speaker 1:One, in conversation Speak like a strategist, not a reactor, right. When you're having a conversation with a majority of people most people they'll talk to prove something right. They're going to either talk to defend, or they're going to talk to feel smart, or they're going to talk because they're uncomfortable in silence, right. So they're going to try to fill the air with whatever, right. But the man with a chessboard mindset he doesn't talk to fill, he talks to guide. And that shift right there, that shift is everything. Because in every interaction, ask yourself this what's the real pattern here? What am I seeing? What's the pattern, right, what am I seeing? What's the pattern? Then ask yourself, what are they gaining or trying to gain from this moment? And then, what don't they know? I should say that they're revealing to me. Right, you learn to absorb or observe energy before engaging with it. Right, you listen for the subtext instead of surface. Right, you let the conversation open up like a map so you know exactly where to step and where to avoid. Right, when you speak, again, it's not to be heard, it's to move the room.
Speaker 1:Now, number two business, now number two business. Every deal, every dollar, every move is positioning. So let's kill the idea of chasing opportunity. Opportunity means nothing if it costs. You leverage. Right, you're not the man who takes deals because they're good enough, you're the man who creates the terms, owns the direction and thinks five years ahead, not just the next five days ahead. So you have to start asking what does this position mean long-term? What does it position me at right. What does this build? Does it build momentum or does it build obligation? Right, and what does this cost me in energy, time and brand identity? Right, because I'm going to be honest with you Most people play business like a transaction, but you, you play it like war in peacetime. And again, as I'm saying this to you, I'm not saying you're combative, that's not what I'm saying at all, but because you understand, the board never sleeps.
Speaker 1:Now, number three in relationships. This is power without posturing. Right, the chessboard mentality doesn't make you cold. It makes you clear. Clear about your standards, clear about your energy, clear about your boundaries, clear about your emotional strategy. You don't pull power plays. You don't test people. You don't manipulate. Instead, you position, you lead with emotional integrity. Don't say things to get a reaction, right, you don't do that. You say things to set a tone and when someone can't meet you at your level, you don't fight them. You simply remove your presence from the board. You let other men break frame and chase chaos. Right. You protect your peace like a king guards his kingdom, because that is the kingdom. Okay.
Speaker 1:Now, number four in habits and routine. You're going to automate strategic advantage. Every day. You either build leverage or you lose it Now with the chessboard mindset, right? You don't just hope for progress, you create systems that guarantee it, right? So ask yourself what daily actions do you create the most movement in my life, right? Where is my energy leaking? That isn't earning, right? What routines make me feel clear, calm and in command? You systematize those. I can't tell you like that, right. There was such a massive game changer for me is when I started realizing what routines made me feel clear, calm and in command, because I'm going to tell you this right now, you know, before we get back into this like this, just, you know, sparked something in me, in me. There's so many of us that do routines and daily actions that drain. You really have to figure that out, right, and you have to systematize those.
Speaker 1:One of the biggest things I can tell you is that you really have to protect your mornings, right, and you really have to guard your thinking time and you really have to treat your calendar like a warm-up, not a to-do list. This is why, if you don't protect your mornings, how you start your day is usually how you end your day. If you start your day in chaos, there's a good chance you're going to end your day in chaos. You got to protect how you start, right? Nothing in the world is that important, but how you start is the most important. Okay, and guard your thinking time, like when you're doing like deep work on something. Maybe you're trying to figure out a business idea, maybe you're just trying to study for something. You know what I mean. Really work on that.
Speaker 1:And the other thing too, like we're just talking about, you know, treating your calendar like a warm-up, not a to-do list. If you are just a to-do list kind of person, what I've seen in my experience is you are a wheel spinner. You just spin your wheels over and over and over, and that's not the chessboard mindset. You're trying to think five to 10 moves ahead. So don't treat your calendar like a to-do list. Okay, because you have to understand you're not here to be busy. A lot of people are busy in their life but they're not productive, right? You're not here to be busy, you're here to build position. Do not forget that.
Speaker 1:Now, in conflict, right, I want you to start thinking like a ghost, but strike like a king. Okay, and this is referring to tension. When tension arises, I don't want you to flinch, I don't want you to rush what you're going to say, and I don't want you to over-assert yourself. Right, you do what a grandmaster does you breathe, you look around, you observe, you let the other players reveal their desperation, right, and then, only if necessary, you place the piece that ends the game. You honestly have to remember this. You don't need to win arguments, right, it's not about being right. Position yourself so clearly that the only logical outcome is your victory. That's what's important.
Speaker 1:So let's anchor this now, right, when you install this mindset right, you stop chasing, you stop proving, you stop playing checkers in a world of kings. Instead, you move with rhythm, not reaction. Right, you play outcomes, not moments. You become the presence that sets the board before anyone else sees the game. Okay, now you don't just play this game. Okay, you design it.
Speaker 1:You've been taught your whole life to move fast, to respond, to hustle, to react, right. But now you know the truth Power isn't found in the speed of your reaction. Is it found in the speed of your reaction? Power is found in the clarity of your next five moves. So let's pull this together now.
Speaker 1:Okay, you understand that delay is not hesitation, it's calculation. Right? You no longer chase shiny winds, you position yourself for legacy. Right, you're willing to let go of the immediate control to control the inevitable. To control the inevitable. Right, you guard the things that build you, because your empire starts with your energy. I'm going to tell you that's probably one of the most important things Is to guard the things that build you. Okay, and you think in arcs, not impulses, in campaigns and not conversations. Okay, you've stopped being a responder and you've become a constructor, and now you no longer need the board to be in your favor, because you are now the one who sets the board.
Speaker 1:And this is your final challenge for this episode. Right, I want you to play life like chess for the next seven days. Okay, I want you to live the full strategic presence no more reacting, no more rushing, no more doing something just because I feel in control. Here's what you do. Okay, before every decision, pause and ask yourself what does this create? Five moves from now. Before every conversation, ask this what's the real energy here and what's the long game? Your queen, daily 20 minutes of stillness, no unnecessary distractions. No, giving your energy to chaos. Do not do that for sure. Do not do that and stop explaining yourself to people who don't get it. That'll be one of the best things you can ever do for yourself. Okay, now number four At the end of each day, review your board, right?
Speaker 1:What move did you make that increased your power? What did you delay that protected your position? Right? Where did you make that increased your power? What did you delay that protected your position? Right? Where did you react? And what will you adjust tomorrow?
Speaker 1:And I need you guys to understand this, as I'm saying this to you Don't try to be perfect. You won't be perfect in the beginning of this. I'm telling you this right now. If you're chasing perfection, that's a fool's errand. Right, just be deliberate, because the truth is this Most men, they will never play the long game, but you, you'll live in a way that makes you win feel inevitable. It'll make your win feel inevitable before it even happens. It'll make your wind feel inevitable before it even happens. And that is how kings move Not fast, not loud, but strategic, silent, sovereign.
Speaker 1:Because you have to remember now You're not just thinking like a grandmaster, now you are living like one Woo, guys, guys, guys, guys, guys, guys. You know, I know I say this on every episode, but it's just true. I can't tell you how much. I enjoy this one, right? Because a lot of times people think that when you're thinking five moves ahead and when you're using silence and you're watching posture and you're watching these things, that it makes you psycho or a psychopath or it makes you egotistical or pompous.
Speaker 1:But you have to remember, if you look at our life, the life that we live right now, it's constant chaos, right? The only times that you ever get time to yourself really is probably right before you go to bed and you close your eyes, and probably when you're on the toilet. That's it. And what those two things have in common is that your phone's in both hands or is in your hands at both times, I should say. But when you start doing this and just like in the last episode, silence is your friend.
Speaker 1:So many people are so scared of silence because it forces them to start looking inward, and I really hope that, as you go through these series, that you realize that they all have one thing in common that it's pulling stuff out of you, not installing stuff. You already know all this, right, it's just getting back to what you know, and the thing about it is is, when you know silence and you're not scared of silence, the whole world opens up for you. It just does right. And when you start to read more than you are on your phone and you start to do self-improvement, like you're doing now listening to this podcast, the world's your oyster it really is. And when you can be strategic about, like, how you move and position yourself and the things you do in your life, and how they all go to one goal, you're already, once you start thinking this way, you're going to be far ahead of like 99% of people out there, because people are reactionary and they can't see ahead. They can only see what's in front of them. And the fact that you're thinking 5 to 10 moves ahead you're going to be a power player and by you doing this it's inevitable. It's not an if, it's a when, and that's what I want you to understand about this you apply these principles, success is almost guaranteed.
Speaker 1:So I want to thank you guys so very much for listening today and again. I know I say this in every episode too, but just the feedback I get. I can't. I'm so humbled and grateful for your guys' feedback. So thank you so much for that.
Speaker 1:And if you want to give me feedback or you want to have a conversation about this episode or this series or any series episode that I have here on Jen's Journey, don't hesitate to reach out to me. There's three ways. First way is going to be through the chat feature on here. We'll say let's talk or let's chat. I think it is be in the description. You click on that you and I can have a conversation about this episode or this series or whatever episode or series you want to talk about, right and the gentleman's journey or gents journey catalog.
Speaker 1:Second would be my email. My email is Anthony at gents journey dot com. Second would be my email. My email is anthonyatgentsjourneycom. Feel free to email me there. And, last but not least, you can also reach out to my Instagram. My Instagram handle is mygentsjourney, so feel free to reach out to me there too. And, like I said, there's going to be a big announcement coming up here in the next couple of weeks, so please stay tuned. And, guys, I want to thank you so very much for listening today and remember this you create your reality, take care. Bye.