Be Perfect: Inspiration from “Friday Night Lights”
This is a random post especially for a tech business focused blog and especially for a guy who does not really care much about football or any sports outside those of the martial arts and military kind. I’ve long been a fan of both the cult tv series and movie “Friday Night Lights”. Probably one of the showcases of Americana at the height of our cultural dominance. It’s an inspiring drama that shows the competitive and yet kind nature of Americans that now seems almost quaint.
The story focuses around a character named coach Taylor and the football team of the small Texan town of Odessa, where the game of football is literally everything & the entire town shows up to cheer them on.
I love the inspirational speeches that still help get you focused on the moment, about doing your best whatever the circumstances, having a code and being there for your team. There is one awesome speech in the movie during halftime about “Being Perfect”:
Being perfect is not about that scoreboard out there. It's not about winning. It's about you and your relationship with yourself, your family and your friends. Being perfect is about being able to look your friends in the eye and know that you didn’t let them down because you told them the truth. And that truth is that you did everything that you could.
Can you live in that moment, as best you can, with clear eyes and love in your heart? With joy in your heart? If you can do that gentlemen, then you’re perfect.
Source: Friday Night Lights (9/10) Movie CLIP - Coach Gaines on Being Perfect (2004) HD
No surprise so many American business people use sports analogies for motivation and to illustrate a key point. Another great halftime talk coach Taylor says: "Every man at some point in his life is gonna lose a battle. He's gonna fight and he's gonna lose. But what makes him a man is that in the midst of the battle, he does not lose himself. This Game is not over. This battle is not over."
Source: Coach Taylor's Half-Time Team Talk "This Game is Not Over." | Friday Night Lights
The game of football is about playing your best and taking the lessons you learn from the game into your life after. We can learn so much from this. I usually end up watching these speeches when I am especially feeling down or just need a reminder of all the good out there. It’s another great tool especially in times of uncertainty and challenges these pandemic days.
I’ve tried to live by the idiom that coach Taylor in the television series repeats to his players. “Clear Eyes, Full heart. Can’t Lose”
For me: it’s a reminder for everything that I do in life. Am I looking at the situation honestly and realistically? Am I doing my best and giving it my full effort?
If I am, then it’s all good. For all of us then, paraphrasing, if we put in the work, Win or Lose, we come out ahead and with no regret.