Clear Eyes, Full Hearts

Something you may not know about me is that one of my favorite pastimes is binge-watching a TV show called “Friday Night Lights.”

It’s a drama about a high school football team in Texas, but it’s about so much more than football.

It’s about the coach of the Dillon Panthers, Eric Taylor, his wife, Tami, and their growing family. It’s about Coach Taylor’s former star quarterback, Jason Street, who was paralyzed when a tackle went wrong. It’s about the often questionable decisions that teen-agers (and adults) make, a slimy booster named Buddy Garrity, his precocious daughter, Lyla, and so much more.

In the locker room before games, Coach Taylor, of course, would give some kind of rip-roaring, emotional speech. And at the end of it, he’d say what’s become one of my favorite phrases.

“Clear eyes, full hearts.”

And then the entire team would chime in with, “CAN’T LOSE!”

Goosebumps. :-)

Yeah, I’m a real sucker for this stuff.

Now, the Panthers didn’t always win … but they always kept their eyes on the prize and their hearts full of pride.

It’s a good lesson for all of us.

First, you have to be clear about your goal and focus on it with precision.

But you can’t move closer to your goal, much less achieve it, if your heart isn’t in it.

Always be clear about what it is you want and what things you need to do in order to give yourself the best chance of achieving it.

And make sure your heart is in the right place … not just beating in your chest, but swelling with motivation, ambition and pride.

If you do those two things, you quite literally can’t lose.

Coach Aaron