Back in 2023, my wife and I watched the Apple TV+ comedy series Ted Lasso.
It’s a show about an American football coach (Ted Lasso) who gets a job coaching a mid-ranking soccer team in London. Ted is artfully brought to life by Jason Sudeikis, who also wrote and directed many of the episodes.
Ted manages people and situations with an unusual, yet common-sense style of everyday practicality and humble psychology. One of Ted’s lessons talks about the wisdom of goldfish, and that they:
are not as dumb as they seem; they’re actually quite intelligent.
have a very short-term memory. This means that they can't dwell on mistakes or bad experiences, which means they always have a fresh start.
are adaptable and can live in a variety of different environments.
are social creatures: they enjoy the company of other goldfish and other animals.
are playful: they love to swim and explore their environment.
Here’s why this matters:
when we sit down and take the time to apply goldfish thinking to our lives and to whatever situation we find ourselves in, life becomes much simpler.
If we can learn to be more like goldfish, we can be happier and more successful.
Here’s how:
We need to stop sweating the small stuff. We all of us spend a lot of time obsessing about how we’ve screwed up and how we could have done better. Goldfish don't dwell on mistakes or bad experiences. They learn from them and move on. We should do the same.
We need to spend more time focusing on the present moment. Goldfish live in the moment. They don't worry about the future or the past. They swim round and round, all day long, and at every turn, they find something new about the world. We should try to do the same.
We need to become more adaptable. Change is inevitable. And change is scary. Goldfish are adaptable creatures. They can adapt to new environments and new situations. We should try to be the same.
We need to be more social. By their nature, goldfish are social creatures. They enjoy the company of other goldfish and other animals. We should try to be more social as well.
We need to have more fun. Goldfish are playful creatures. They love to swim and explore their environment—even when all they’re doing is swimming round and round. We should try to have more fun in life as well.
Yes. I know, this is all pretty simple stuff—all pretty basic—so it ought to be obvious, right? And yet, for many of us, as we regularly overcomplicating life by creating angst and drama where none needs to exist, it’s far from simple, it’s way too basic, so we invent reasons to jazz things up when really, our lives can be so much simpler.
So in the weeks ahead, give goldfish thinking a try.
The results might surprise you.
As always, thanks for reading.
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P.S. Next time on Shaking the Tree … It’s OK to be weird …