Winners Learn from their Successes

After I posted my long write-up of one of the greatest moments in my pool life - becoming a National Champion with my Women's Open Team! - Phil Capelle called me at work to congratulate me.

"Hey Melinda, Congrats!" Phil said with sincere admiration.

"Oh, thank you, Phil.  Means a lot you called," I replied, soaking in his words.

It's so funny to me that the famous Phil Capelle would call me and congratulate me.  I mean, seriously, one of THE main reasons I play such good 8 ball and because I won is due to his books, "Play Your Best Pool," where I learn the most about playing the game of 8 ball correctly and smart.  

He said, "I just read your blog and saw the diagram of your final run, but that did it no justice - the video truly shows how tough it really was.  Great out, tough table, good run!"

"Really?" I countered.  "Oh, thank you so much!"

Then Phil does what he does best, he shared golden nuggets of info.

I wrote in that blog that I prolly was successful in the finals because of my many losses.  And as I stated in the write-up, I was told many years ago that the "second place finisher is the REAL winner," because we learn so much more.

But Phil reminded me, "Don't forget, winning does breed winning."

Phil shared something with me.... that I can learn from my WIN:

He had just recently heard the golf announcer Johnny Miller say about a recent golf winner, that he needs to "soak in everything about his well played shots, then hit enter.  It's as if you are saving a file in your memory of a successful result."

Phil added, "Melinda, let success go to your head. Winners learn from their successes. Remember what you did, how you did it - this will give you confidence when you play again."

Thank you, Phil, for continuing to add to my pool journey!