How to not care about rating? (For online and OTB players)

Before COVID, I used to perform comparatively well in aspect of mindset and had a lot of fun in the game, worrying not much about facing higher rated.(because I unknowingly followed the upcoming tips)

 Whereas my buddy always used to say "I am facing a higher rated for this round, so I am gonna lose this round" with a sad face and will start playing the games and end up with more losses.

 The main problem here is self-sabotage affirmation using spaced repetition, where my buddy successfully trained his subconscious mind that HIGH RATED = LOSING.

 I don't know where you are now buddy, This is for you.

Why do we need to stop caring about rating?

Result is a symptom of the application of skillsets and knowledge.

You can only control what you can control, No one can directly influence the output, one need to influence the input which in turn influence the output.

How to stop caring about rating?

1. Simply make the rating (cue) disappear from your life as much as possible.

For online players - Before clicking the play button, click the focus mode icon  (It's available under preference https://support.chess.com/en/articles/8588088-what-is-focus-mode-how-do-i-turn-it-on ). 

For OTB players - Ask for the board number you are playing from your neighbors or arbiter (Goal is not to see the rating of the opponent before the round). And not to check how the game result affect the rating in between the tournament.

2. During your conversation with yourself and others , Reduce using result oriented words like rating, winning or losing and Increase using result producing words like learn, apply, etc.

If you find this useful share to someone who might need it.

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