Keep a strong face

“It’s basically to play on to the next play."

Former Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski used to tell his players to keep “strong faces,” a strategy his successor, Gregg Popovich, now deploys as Team USA tries to claim another gold medal (would be USA’s fourth straight) tonight in Tokyo. Here’s my colleague Joe Vardon at The Athletic:

He stole something from Coach K that has proven pretty poignant for this specific group of Americans, who can’t seem to help themselves early in games, when inferior opponents hang with them and stronger teams deal them substantial deficits. Popovich, like Krzyzewski before him, tells the players to keep “strong faces.”

“It’s basically to play on to the next play,” Popovich said. “You don’t react to a teammate’s turnover, a referee’s call. Or the fact that you missed a shot. Nobody cares. You don’t have that right. You owe your team, and you’re responsible to your team to move onto the next play. He called it ‘strong faces,’ and as simplistic as that sounds, it’s really true. We’ve tried to adopt that.”

While most of us aren't performing at an Olympic level, we can still utilize the idea of keeping a “strong face.” This is useful when someone doesn’t call us back. Or when someone mocks us for how we look, how tall we are or how “successful” we appear. We have the choice not to respond or become angry. We can simply move on to the next thing and appreciate its beauty. Then we can find our inner peace.

When we get stuck in traffic, for example, we can use the extra time to meditate and focus on our breath. When a restaurant makes the wrong order, we can say how we understand the mistake. We can use the time to call a friend or loved one while we wait for our food. If we complete a sub-par assignment at work, we can keep a strong face and make the next one better. If someone cuts us off on the road, criticizes us at work, roasts us in public or flips us off on the highway, we owe it to ourselves to “move onto the next play,” or keep moving forward toward the next moment in our remarkable life journey, and simply let go of the rest. 

Be joyful and celebrate your gifts,

Matthew

P.S. — Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any suggestions/area of improvement for this newsletter.