How do you stay motivated to keep studying go?

Subotai · Post by **Subotai** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 10:15 pm

I find myself often wanting to study go but never pushing to do it. Maybe I'll do a couple tsumego but that's about it. I wish I had that urge to be obsessed with go again. It seems to come and go.

What do you do to say focused on studying go?

EdLee · Post by **EdLee** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 10:36 pm

Subotai, that's a very deep question. Other than Go, have you had experience in another field
where you have worked to improve for some period of time (10, 20, 30 years or more, etc.) ?

Related: why do you want to study Go ? Why do you want to improve ? What is Go for you ?
( There are probably existing threads with these questions.

)

Related: Why is Go so frustrating?
A series of questions
10,000 hours

Unusedname · Post by **Unusedname** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:12 pm

I would suggest buying a tsumego book.

I think the biggest deterrent to studying is the time investment and inconvenience.

With a tsumego book you have the convenience of taking it anywhere and being able to flip through a few pages on break/between classes/on the bus is very worth it.

5 mins here and 5 mins there will add up and suddenly you're learning cool new tesuji's or seeing further into life and death problems.

I think 1000 life and death problems is 25$, remember to flip the book on it's side when going through the problem a 2nd or 3rd time and you've got 4000 puzzles to solve at the price of less the 2 cents a piece.

Boidhre · Post by **Boidhre** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:29 pm

Take breaks when it feels overwhelming or overly stressful. It's (most likely) a hobby not a career for you. My main motivation has come from the local go club, I like the people there so it encourages me to stay involved.

SoDesuNe · Post by **SoDesuNe** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:51 pm

Here my motivation comes and goes as well. I think that's only healthy for a hobby.

My main motivation is to play beautiful and strong Go, so I often get a boost in motivation when I see someone play like this. Something similar happens when I see friends becoming stronger, then I often think, I can do this, too! =D

So in a nutshell: If I enjoy myself, I don't need anything else to stay focussed on studying =)

TheBigH · Post by **TheBigH** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:57 pm

I kinda have the opposite problem. I no longer have any real desire to play games, but do still enjoy studying theory and doing tsumego.

Boidhre · Post by **Boidhre** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 12:34 am

TheBigH wrote:I kinda have the opposite problem. I no longer have any real desire to play games, but do still enjoy studying theory and doing tsumego.

Find people you generally have fun playing with. Either because of banter over a real board or over Skype during the game or because they play moves you find very interesting or whatever does it for you. I go into lulls where I don't play much, but there are certain people who I'm almost always happy to play a game with. Even if it's just a couple of quick 9x9 games.

DrStraw · Post by **DrStraw** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 5:43 am

Subotai wrote:I find myself often wanting to study go but never pushing to do it. Maybe I'll do a couple tsumego but that's about it. I wish I had that urge to be obsessed with go again. It seems to come and go.

What do you do to say focused on studying go?

This is probably not the answer you want to hear. Motivation mostly comes from within and if you don't have it then maybe it is not for you. As you said, you wish you were still obsessed but you are not. Perhaps there is a reason. Just go with the flow and if it is meant to be then you will regain your motivation.

RobertJasiek · Post by **RobertJasiek** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 7:06 am

All you need is time, goals (reaching a rank or a level of understanding), eagerness and joy (regardless of the effort). To STAY motivated means to keep having these aspects. Intermediate successes of reaching some goals at least partially can help, but are actually not needed, since the maintained joy implies absence of frustration.

Bill Spight · Post by **Bill Spight** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 7:14 am

Why do you want to want to study go?

Kirby · Post by **Kirby** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 7:42 am

DrStraw wrote:This is probably not the answer you want to hear. Motivation mostly comes from within and if you don't have it then maybe it is not for you. As you said, you wish you were still obsessed but you are not. Perhaps there is a reason. Just go with the flow and if it is meant to be then you will regain your motivation.

I disagree with the idea to "Just go with the flow". Maybe it was Socrates that said, "The unexamined life is not worth living". To just go with the flow seems to be just that - living life without examination.

On the contrary, one should examine their life and when it comes to go ask:
1.) What do I want to achieve?
2.) Do I want to study go?
3.) Why?

If the answer upon deliberate thought is, "Yes, I want to study go", then the reasons identified in this period of self-reflection can be used as motivation.

Maybe e answer, after careful thought, is "No, I do not wish to study go", but it's at least worth analyzing.

If life is lived just going with the flow, I doubt many things would be achieved that did not bring immediate benefit.

Subotai · Post by **Subotai** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 8:51 am

Well maybe I should have altered the op a little. If I had a club I liked going to with people I like playing I wouldn't be having this issue, but I have already post on this problem and don't want it rehashed here.

So in essence the main questions is how to stay motivated without having people around you to play often?

I don't know why I expect some magical answer that will solve this problem, or maybe I am just posting this to vent out my frustration of not having motivation of playing go something I enjoy doing.

oren · Post by **oren** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 8:53 am

What made you start playing Go? Focus on what made you start and continue playing.

Boidhre · Post by **Boidhre** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 8:54 am

Regular opponents don't have to be in-person ones. Skype + KGS or sever of choice works perfectly well I've found.

Bill Spight · Post by **Bill Spight** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 10:02 am

Subotai wrote:Well maybe I should have altered the op a little. If I had a club I liked going to with people I like playing I wouldn't be having this issue, but I have already post on this problem and don't want it rehashed here.

So in essence the main questions is how to stay motivated without having people around you to play often?

I don't know why I expect some magical answer that will solve this problem, or maybe I am just posting this to vent out my frustration of not having motivation of playing go something I enjoy doing.

When I was living in Olympia, Washington, back in the '70s, I put up some notices on bulletin boards offering to give go lessons. The first response I got was from a young couple who had bought a set. I helped them get started, which was all they wanted. But I also found some people who already played.

Some years later I met Chuck Bell, who lived in Odessa, Texas, and had started a group called the West Texas Go Aficionados.

Good luck!

Life In 19x19

How do you stay motivated to keep studying go?

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