“Let’s be sad now, let’s be sad again, then we can be a gosh darn goldfish. On. Forward.”
Ted Lasso is a joyful show. If you have not seen it, you should watch it.
You should watch it for many reasons, not least for the wisdom of the eponymous coach. In the quote above his team have lost but Ted taps into a deeper meaning than the result of one game.
You can play out of your skin and lose. You can be the best you can be and still not get the result. That’s sport. That’s life. But as Ted says, you drop the baggage an move forward.
Like a goldfish.
Earlier in the series Ted talks about why he is a coach. He says “success is not about the wins and losses, its about helping these young fellas being the best version of themselves. It ain’t always easy, but neither is growing up without someone believing in you.”
If that’s your motivation - your reason why - then why would the result matter?
Take a moment to accept the pain you feel at losing, then drop it, remember why you’re here in the first place and get back to work.