I’m a huge fan. I admit it. It’s been a healthy addiction while I’ve been in desperate need of healthy distraction from crushing pain.
I discovered Ted Lasso 6 months into a significant pandemic breakdown (spiritual awakening). Ted and his crew have seen me through four very difficult years. I am forever grateful for the lessons I learned when I was most in need of validation and positive reinforcement. These basic lessons in humaning, ones that all of us should have learned in kindergarten, will follow me for the rest of my life. In fact, they will be an integral part of my next career.
By this time next year I hope to have a thriving coaching practice based on the lessons contained in Ted Lasso. Life lessons are ones that exist in all works of art. We have ignored them at our own peril. It’s time to get back to the basics:
Be kind. Be honest. Be real. Be yourself.
I don’t want to meet Ted (although I’d love to meet Jason Sudeikis or anyone else in the cast or crew). I want to BE TED so that I can connect in a real way with people like Rebecca, Roy, Keeley, Beard, Nate, Jade, Dr Sharon… those real people are out there. We just need to be more like them in order to find them.
I posted the above list on a Ted Lasso Fan Page on Facebook and got some great feedback. Here’s the list with a few fan favorites added:
- Be curious not judgmental.
- Don’t settle for “fine.”
- A well-placed swear is powerful, but there’s a time and a place (for everyone except Roy).
- The Truth will set you free but first it will piss you off.
- Give second chances to people who deserve them (like Nate).
- Don’t give third chances to people who squander their second chance (like Rupert).
- Tea is better with milk and sugar and served by Keeley.
- Biscuits made with TLC always taste good.
- Each person’s cup of tea is different — as it should be.
- Locker rooms smell like potential to some, for me it’s a freshly sharpened pencil
- Goldfish have 10 second memories.
- I don’t want to be a goldfish.
- The harder you try, the luckier you get.
- Sometimes it’s easier to speak our minds anonymously.
- Palaces (and Ivory Towers) made of crystal are very fragile.
- I’m one in a million as well as one in 7 (I’m the youngest of 7 siblings — sadly, all estranged).
- Being kind is better than being right.
- Growl (or cry) whenever my body tells me to.
- Notice when others need to growl or cry and give them space or a hug — whatever THEY need.
- Be honest and real.
- Communicate to connect, never to control.
- Be reliable, trustworthy, humble, consistent, and always CURIOUS.
Added by others:
- Find out before you flip out.
- Hire your best friend (*if you both have excellent boundaries).
- The lightning at the top of the mountain is only a good thing if you’re ready for it (my interpretation: lightening alone means death, lightning with others is MAGICAL).
I will add more as they come in, but this last lesson will always be the most important: Don’t look for your own Ted, be your own Ted so that you can be there for others who feel alone.
“There is something worse out there than being sad, and that is being alone and being sad.”
Ain’t nobody alone.
If you can’t find your own Ted, BE TED.
