I am sending in my essay, which is about me being in the lonely conflict stage. I know I am supposed to send one example but I have several that I would like to share with you.

When I first started playing pool, I was trying to get as many books and tapes as I could so I could learn new shots to impress my friends. I did not want to go through the boring things, such as the basics and/or working on my stroke. I wanted to skip right ahead and learn the advanced shots. Well, that did not work very well and I went into a slump where I could not make balls and my stroke was way out of control.

On my quest for excellence, I met some fine players that knew about the game. They all tried to give me tips about my game. Thus by me being in the lonely conflict stage, I did not want any help nor did I want to hear their advice.

My courage was non existent when I finally entered a league on Tuesday night with some friends. I seemed to play well in my basement but when it came time for me to be at the table on Tuesday night, I could hardly make one ball! It took me awhile to get in touch with my feelings and figure out what was really holding me back. I had to get this problem out in the open so I could really work on correcting the problem. I figured out that I would get careless when shooting and just try to play the match as quickly as possible so I would not be embarrassed by being in the spotlight. It took some time to really get over the nervousness and enter the shoot one shot at a time mode.

I finally ended up going to a website that sold The Monk products and bought Point the Way and started to learn to control my feelings and thoughts. I was the kind of guy that knew how to shoot every shot in the world and when someone would tell me I should do this or that, I would just brush them off and say yeah whatever. I started reading Point the Way and the things he said in his book really made sense to me. I finally made it through Point the Way and decided to go ahead and order I Came to Win. I learned quite a bit from Point the Way so I thought I could learn even more from I Came to Win. I anxiously awaited the arrival of I Came to Win and when it finally arrived, I stayed up half of the night reading that wonderful book! This is what started to send me on the right path.

When I bought my tuition to the Monk Masters University, it was a BIG wake-up call and also a humbling experience. I never knew there was so much material to master to become a world class player. I am so grateful to The Monk and his program that it has really brought my game up. I am doing everything in my power to leave the lonely conflict stage so I can become a world class player as I stated in my statement of purpose when I first started the program! I am not going to stop until I reach the summit of the mountain! I would like to help other struggling players with the material that I learn. I know how it feels to be in the dark with no sense of direction. I am moving out of the Lonely Conflict Stage and into the Warrior Learning Stage, Champion Wisdom Stage and finally The Enlightened Stage! Once again, I would like to thank The Monk and the rest of the fellow masters in the program for the support and encouragement.

Jeremy