This is the first in a series of articles that I will write called The 4 YARDS Series "4YS." In this series, I will draw comparisons between the game of football and the game of life. Although my days as a football player were short lived, I learned lessons on the field that I still use in my everyday life. In fact, I like to tell people that my life's philosophy is largely based on the game of football. The title "4 yards" represents a critical amount of yardage in football. Theoretically, if the offense was to get 4 yards on every down, they would be guaranteed to eventually score a touchdown. Thus, from a strategy standpoint, a coach would prefer to get four guaranteed yards on every down, instead of starting out by throwing a hail-merry on 1st down. In the game of life, we oftentimes will go after our personal and professional goals by throwing a hail-merry, instead of breaking down a long-term goal into a series of short-term "4 yard" goals. For example, if a person's long term goal is to become a medical doctor, this goal must be broken down into a series of short-term goals, such as earning a good undergraduate GPA, taking the MCAT, getting accepted into medical school, and so on. However, we often get blinded by the idea of scoring the touchdown, and forget about picking up the necessary series of 4 yards along the way. We, in essence, often attempt to obtain huge goals too fast, and don't take the time to meet the series of 4-yard goals needed to achieve the eventual touchdown. This 4 yards concept is the origin of title of this series.

With that said, my first 4YS article is based upon a little known, but vitally-important concept in the game of football. Few football fans understand the concept and importance of watching game film.
In fact, some coaches believe that there should be at least 3 hours of film watching for every 1 hour of on the field football practice. Although game film is important pre-game, during the game, and post-game, this article is focused on post-game film. That is, a team's review of their own performance after a game. Post-game film review is important for many reasons, but its importance can be summed up as follows:

• What did our team do good; what did we do bad; and what can we do better?

A team will break down every single angle of game film in order to answer the above three questions. The end result is that players can understand how mistakes were made, and how they can improve in the future. Film-watching isn't easy. In fact, there is a running joke in football that "the eye in the sky doesn't lie." If you are that corner-back who got burned, and gave up a touchdown, you will have too see that play dozens of times-- even in slow motion. Although it is not easy watching yourself make a mistake over and over, you are unlikely to make the same mistake again. Watching game-film requires you to be able to be your own worst critic; you must have thick skin.

So what does watching game film have to do with the game of life? Am I implying that we should have a camera-man recording our every move? Of course not. However, surely we can each "man-up" and be our own "camera man." Surely, you can take the time to review your performance during each of life's evolutions. By evolution, I am referring to any key event or situation you encounter in the game of life. For example, your performance during a presentation at work; the way you handle an argument with your significant other; the course of events that led to the ending of a relationship; how you chose to discipline your child; your performance during a job interview; or any other event that is significant in your life.

We tend to look at life events in a manner that favors us. For example, at the end of a relationship, we make the mistake of focusing on what the other person did wrong, and not on what we could have done better. This goes against the concept of watching game film. You CAN NOT control the actions or behavior of that bad ex. You CAN, however, review this experience (watch the film), and take note of what you can do different in your future relationships. Even if you were the perfect husband/boyfriend, at a minimum you should be scrutinizing how you went about choosing your ex, so you can recognize those same red flags in the future. In other words, instead of focusing on the external factors that you can not control, put the focus and scrutiny on yourself. Watch your life's game film.  Take this post job interview example:

What did I do right? --->; I arrived on time. I dressed appropriately and I projected a polished professional image. [pat on the back!!!]

What did I do bad? ---->; I stumbled through answering questions.

What could I have done better/different?---->; Next time I interview, I can practice and have a friend conduct a mock interview with me. I will also write down a list of common questions and practice answering them in a clear, upbeat, and articulate manner.

Now, compare the above "film-watching" that focuses on self, with the below example that focuses on external factors that you CAN NOT control.

The interviewer was on his Blackberry the whole time; I couldn't answer questions well because the interviewer was mean and asked hard questions and tried to trip me up.

I would go as far as to say that the above post-interview statements display a looser mentality. They are full of excuses and are incapable of giving you a plan of action for improving your future performance. This is as if a football team refused to watch post-game film, and instead griped over how big and fast the other players were, or the unfairness of the officials.

We should strive to scrutinize our own game film every chance we get. We should not be afraid to confront our faults and mistakes. We are only human. We can not change external factors or other people. But, we can continually improve ourselves, by watching our "game film" of life.

They Eye in the Sky Doesn't Lie!