Reflections - Project Hunger Games

I wrote recently about expectations that Katniss had going into some matches of a recent tournament for her.  If you haven't read it yet, I'll wait here while you catch up.




You back?

Okay...

What I liked best about our discussion on this topic was I did not point out to Katniss that she might have lost those two matches due to her expectations. That's what she told me.

What I love about this is she is self reflecting after her matches.

This actually brings up a really good point that I don't know if I've reiterated enough yet (lol), but if you reflect after every single match why you won or lost (heck, maybe even write down why - I know blasphemy!) it will take you to the next level so much faster than if you never evaluate yourself.

Some people just go to a tournament, wish they would have won a match or two, or maybe lost and just don't even think about it again.

But I promise you if you do some self reflection after every match and you seriously be honest with yourself why you lost or won, that right there is a huge learning experience that you will put inside your toolbox that will help you and your future matches.

I PROMISE.

Let's compare it to something fun.

It's football season so let's compare it to that.

Last weekend the Dallas Cowboys hosted the Detroit Lions.  If you didn't see the game, then you didn't see one of the Defensive coach's pissed and throwing his arms in the air mad at his guys because they missed a block and gave up a touch down for the Lions.

But was also shown was he had his clipboard and tablet and he was showing them missed plays, plays they could do when they go back in, and positions on the field that would work better for them to succeed.

There is actually A LOT of times the coaches go over plays and instructions with the players during the game.  See this video clip and check out at times 1:20, 1:40, 2:30 and 2:50:




Further, we all can picture the entire team in the locker room days after the game going over scenarios from last weeks' game, and also the upcoming game.  They do this for EVERY SINGLE game.

This is a great example of why it's important for us little ole pool players to act like a professional football player - learning from every match we play!

Why did we win?  Why did we lose?  Why did my opponent end up coming back on me and I lost the lead and the match?  How did I overcome being down 0-5 and won 7-5?  Why did I get distracted?  What could I have done different?  How did I make that tough shot under pressure?

I could list 1,000 more questions for you, but I'll stop there :)

The point is, how do we ever learn and improve if we don't self reflect?

Ironically, I wrote a blog post about reflecting for the "Danielson Series," too.

Peeps - one of the best teachers is the experience - but not if we don't think about the whys of the wins and losses!

Let me state again that we all know we learn the MOST from our losses.  However, don't forget your wins!  Those are learning lessons as well.  And each lesson we put in our toolbox for the next tournament.

I eluded to writing them down and I'm not joking.  My paper notes transitioned to paper diary to this blog because I wanted to capture what happened.  What I didn't know was, I my learning was entrenched more because I wrote down what happened in all my matches.  Reflecting turned out to be an amazing part of my learning process, but writing them down propelled the learning process.

REFLECT!