To become a professional, you have to train a lot, which I did

Judit Polgar, the great master of the mind’s battlefield, once declared: “To become a professional, you have to train a lot, which I did from a very early age. Of course, it helps if your character is very competitive and you have patience and perseverance.” These words, though simple in their form, carry the weight of centuries of wisdom. For they speak of the eternal struggle between talent and toil, between fleeting desire and enduring discipline. They remind us that mastery does not descend as a gift from the heavens, but is carved into the soul through training, competition, patience, and above all, perseverance.

In ancient times, the Greek athletes who ran the races of Olympia did not arrive at glory by chance. From boyhood they rose before the dawn, their bodies hardened by labor, their spirits sharpened by contests. The crown of olive leaves upon their heads was not for the swift of foot alone, but for those whose character burned with the will to endure. So too, Polgar tells us, the path of greatness demands that the furnace of practice be entered early, that the heart be tested, and that every victory be forged in fire.

Her own life bears this truth. From childhood, she trained tirelessly under the guidance of her father, alongside her sisters, in the art of chess. While other children played with toys, she played with kings and queens on sixty-four squares. It was not luck that raised her to defeat grandmasters, even world champions, but the countless hours of training that shaped her into the strongest female chess player of her age. Her story stands as a beacon, showing that greatness bows not to gender, nor to chance, but to the hand that endures the longest struggle.

But Polgar’s words do not only exalt training; they reveal the deeper qualities that fuel it. She speaks of being competitive, for without the fire of the will, the long road of practice is abandoned too soon. Competition is the spark that drives one forward when the path is steep. Yet she also praises patience — for mastery is not gained in days or even years, but in a lifetime. And she honors perseverance, the unyielding spirit that rises again after defeat, that sees in failure not an end but a teacher.

Consider also the example of Thomas Edison, who sought to harness the power of light. He was said to have failed thousands of times before success, yet when asked about his failures, he answered: “I have not failed. I have simply found 10,000 ways that do not work.” This is perseverance, the same flame that Judit Polgar names, the same flame that has carried every artist, warrior, and thinker through the long winters of doubt until spring returned.

The lesson is thus revealed: to achieve greatness in any craft, begin early if you can, but begin earnestly above all. Embrace training as the soil in which your gift will grow. Compete not with bitterness, but with the joy of testing your strength. Cultivate patience, for the fruits of mastery ripen slowly. And cling to perseverance, for the storms will come, but those who endure shall one day see their labor bloom into triumph.

Therefore, let each listener resolve to act: rise each day with purpose, give yourself to the practice of your chosen path, and measure your progress not in days, but in seasons and years. Do not shrink from competition, for it will sharpen you. Do not despair in defeat, for it will strengthen you. And above all, do not surrender the flame of perseverance, for it alone carries you across the long night into the dawn of mastery. In Polgar’s words lies the map; in your hands lies the journey.