The NFL is an interesting picture into how life works. American football is very much a team game. The quarterback, arguably the most important player on any team, isn’t even on the field for 50% of the plays once you account for special teams.
That aspect is probably why the sport is so popular. And it’s likely also why the game can be so frustrating. Not just for the fans, but for the coaches and players.
Some teams will take on the feeling of being “front runners”. This means that when they’re winning they’re in good moods. They’re willing to speak to the media. They’re good with fans. But when they’re losing things can go sideways really quick.
Talk about a mirror into regular life…
How do you handle the days when there is disappointment at work?
Here are a few thoughts…
1. Assess Your Expectations
More things are lost than won in life. That’s typically the way it goes. Sometimes we look outside ourselves and see the wins that others are having. With others, we talk about our wins. We don’t want to talk about the struggles. Why would we?
This can make it seem that others are winning all the time and we’re losing more than our share. But the reality is that life is full of learning. We don’t know anything. Yet we encounter new things all the time. We rarely do something right the first time.
I see this often with my young daughter. She gets phased, but if she wants something she keeps doing it. Failing and failing. Disappointment all the time, but eventually she gets it.
We know this is how it works, but it seems that as we get older take the disappointment harder.
2. Assess Your Daily Processes
In football, teams often focus on their daily routines. Some of the best coaches go so far as to be deadpan after a game. Win or lose. That might be taking it a little too far. The goal is to win. In life, the goal is to succeed. But success in the result of daily routines.
If you feel that losses and disappointments have been coming your way more than normal it might be good to look at your daily routines. In sports these are the fundamentals. The little practice routines. Sometimes in sports players and coaches think they need fancy new plays or drills. But most often it’s the fundamentals that break down. The blocking and tackling in football. The free throws in basketball.
It’s the same in life. Look at your routine and see where things may have fallen off as far as the basics.
3. Consider Regular Celebration and Mourning Routines
Tiger Woods grew up with a mother than was a Buddhist. He was asked recently when he started meditating and he replied that he had been doing it since birth. Another interesting story is that when he first met his wife she had been working for another professional golfer. Tiger won a tournament and almost immediately continued his regular routine. His then girlfriend was confused. Why no party? The other player she knew threw parties for wins.
Tiger replied that he expected to win. No reason for parties.
That’s probably a little too callous. But what he focused on was the processes that led to winning. And win or lose he would get back to the basics almost immediately.
Something to take away is that it can be good to have celebrations. Think about what you’d like to do when a win or a loss occurs. Plan for how you’ll respond. This can help temper emotions in both instances. You can still enjoy wins in a controlled way. And you can also take disappointment in a controlled way.
Final Thoughts
Disappointment will happen. It’s not an enjoyable part of life, but it will happen. You don’t want to let it entirely ruin what you’re working on. You want to see if you can learn anything from it. You want to make sure it doesn’t get you down too much emotionally. The goal is to keep moving forward. Good or bad.