Daily Insight Video

When the New England Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl last year, I swore to my family that I would not watch football for a year. I just couldn’t take it!

I grew up in Pittsburgh and am a dedicated Steelers fan, but I have been around a lot of Patriot fans also. However, I just really wanted them to lose. After they won, I decided to take a break for an entire year, until the Super Bowl in 2016.

Even though I am not watching it for a year, that doesn’t mean that I can’t still follow football. I am fascinated by the psychology behind sports, and I have learned a lot by following sports and different sports psychologists over the years. Michael Gervais, who works with the Seattle Seahawks, is one of my favorite sport psychologists. The work that he does with some of the athletes is incredible and so fascinating to learn about.

I also love listening to the coaches after games, and I learn a lot when they speak. Three of my favorite, or most respected, coaches lost during the opening week last week, and I was really bummed. However, I was so excited to hear what the coaches had to say after the games.

After losing during this first week, all of the coaches talked about how it really isn’t so bad. In reality, it is the fans who are more disappointed. The coaches always emphasized the positive, and talked about how they can learn from what happened on the field for next time. Even in the loss, the coaches were very optimistic about the future.

This seems like it simply is the human condition, that we are all primed to look optimistic when a loss happens. However, all of these coaches are very successful, and part of that success comes from their ability to be optimistic. Optimism is an important trait for people to be successful. Even in a loss, we have to be able to see how much effort we put forth, how things could have gone a different way, and how this particular loss does not define us.

This is the mindset we need to be successful.