Ted Lasso found his way into millions of hearts as the inspirational coach of the British Soccer Club AFC Richmond on Apple TV, but I suspect he was secretly coaching all of us, especially parents of teens and tweens.
Here are some of our favorite Ted Lasso quotes.
Inspirational Ted Lasso Quotes
1. “For me, success is not about the wins and losses. It’s about helping these young fellas be the best versions of themselves on and off the field. And it ain’t always easy … but neither is growing up without someone believing in you.”
Ted is talking about his team, but we’re taking his words of wisdom with us on our parenting journey. How often do we get caught up in the little things, like whether our kid gets an A on the chemistry test or wins a swimming meet? Lasso would tell us to step back, take a breath, and remember to look at the bigger picture. Parenting is about believing in our kids and helping them to become their best selves. That’s how we define success.
2. “You know what the happiest animal on Earth is? It’s a goldfish. Y’know why? It’s got a 10-second memory. Be a goldfish.”
Lasso’s advice is not to hold on to mistakes and failures and just move on. If your kid messes up, try not to remind them of their mistakes. By teaching your kids that their mistakes are opportunities for growth and learning, you’ll help build their resilience. And when you teach them to let go, they’ll learn it’s okay and even rewarding to move on.
3. “Believe.”
Ted Lasso posted this hand-painted sign above his office door in the team locker room. It’s the central theme of the show, and the guiding principle for how he coaches his team and how he interacts with pretty much everyone important to him. He taps the sign to remind his team and himself that believing in something and someone is a conscious choice, and faith can carry you through some pretty dark places. Consider putting a sign like this on your fridge or screensaver as a reminder to believe in your teen.
4. “Guys have underestimated me my entire life. And for years, I never understood why — it used to really bother me. But then one day, I was driving my little boy to school, and I saw this quote by Walt Whitman, and it was painted on the wall there. It said, ‘Be curious, not judgmental.’ I like that.” (Ted throws a dart.)
What if we led with curiosity instead of judgment? Can you imagine how that might invite more open and vulnerable conversations? The next time your teenager does something questionable, if your gut reaction is to scold them, try shifting to curiosity instead. Ask questions and let your teens provide answers. It might surprise you how much your teenager has thought something through.
5. “I do love a locker room. It smells like potential.”
Try to remember this one when you enter your teen’s bedroom or sort through their piles of dirty laundry! Too hard? Okay, here’s a clothespin for your nose.
6. “You know how they say youth is wasted on the young? I say don’t let the wisdom of age be wasted on you.”
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the pressure of adulting? You’re not alone. Lasso would tell you to be kind to yourself and recognize how far you’ve come. Parenting is hard and you’re doing awesome!
7. “I gotta say, man, sometimes you remind me of my grandma with the channel hopper. You just push all the wrong buttons.”
Yes, your teenager knows how to push your buttons. But what would happen if you took the batteries out of their channel hopper? Maybe surprise them with no reaction, or with curiosity (see above) instead of your usual reaction.
Or you can switch to a home improvement channel and suggest these handy tips to your tweens and teens: Pick up your wet towels from the bathroom floor. Put dishes into the dishwasher. Empty the garbage before it spills into the next room. (You might have to turn on the subtitles here.)
8. “I think one of the neatest things about being a coach is the connection you get to make with your players. That’s a loss that hits me a lot harder and is gonna stay with me a lot longer than anything that happens while playing a game on a patch of grass.”
Lasso has a huge breakthrough with his star player, but then the star player is traded to another team. When the media asks Lasso for his reaction, he answers with the quote above. The person and their shared relationship were much more important than the player’s standalone accomplishments.
We think the same about parenting. We believe building long-term connections with our kids is more important than fixating on short-term issues.
9. “You beating yourself up is like Woody Allen playing the clarinet. I don’t wanna hear it. All right?”
Our kids can be so hard on themselves; and we parents can be hard on ourselves, too. If someone in your family is treating themselves unkindly, try helping them see themself from another perspective. As we say in our house when our teen is angry because she got too many questions wrong on a test, “Don’t talk like this to my kid!”
10. “I think that if you care about someone, and you got a little love in your heart, there ain’t nothing you can’t get through together.”
Lean on love. Lean on each other. You don’t need to go through your hard times alone.
11. “This is a sad moment right here. For all of us. And there ain’t nothing I can say, standing in front of you right now, that can take that away. But please do me this favor, will you? Lift your heads up and look around this locker room. Yeah? Look at everybody else in here. And I want you to be grateful that you’re going through this sad moment with all these other folks. Because I promise you, there is something worse out there than being sad, and that is being alone and being sad. Ain’t nobody in this room alone. Let’s be sad now. Let’s be sad together. And then we can be a gosh-darn goldfish. Onward. Forward.”
Is your kid going through a tough time? Remember, what they need most is you, by their side. They might not always talk or even acknowledge you, but being there for them and with them does make it better. And you don’t have to do it alone, either. Call your mom or a friend when you’re struggling. It’s easier to shoulder burdens together.
12. “There’s two buttons I never like to hit, alright? And that’s ‘panic’ and ‘snooze.'”
Panic and snooze won’t serve you well if you need to deal with something important or urgent. Take a breath and focus. Then teach your teens to do the same.
13. “It’s funny to think about the things in your life that can make you cry just knowing that they existed, can then become the same things that make you cry knowing that they’re now gone. I think those things come into our lives … to help us get from one place to a better one.”
We’ve all lived through moments with our kids that were stressful; but now looking back, those same moments make us laugh. “Remember that time I burned the cookies, the house filled with smoke, the smoke detector went off, and the fire department showed up?” You’ll treasure those memories when you’re packing up the car for your kid heading off to college.
14. “Doing the right thing is never the wrong thing.”
Even when doing the right thing is difficult, hard work pays off in the long run!
15. “Boy, I love meeting people’s moms. It’s like reading an instruction manual as to why they’re nuts.”
No comment.
16. “You say impossible, but all I hear is, ‘I’m possible.'”
Practice optimism with your teens, even when it’s hard. Believe in them. Let them know you’re here to cheer them on!
What are your favorite Lasso-isms? Tag us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter and let us know!
