“I don't know any, I never watch any Netflix” — was my usual response whenever someone asked me if I’d seen a good series recently.
In January 2026, one of my friends suggested watching Ted Lasso. I felt annoyed, why can't we just talk to each other instead of being glued to yet another screen? Are we really going to watch a comedy show? About two guys from the US moving to the UK to teach football? Really?????
I decided to put aside my judgements for a moment. I had just shared a video about how I am learning to become more flexible in my life, might as well put into practice what I am talking about. That one episode turned into three, and I am pretty sure I already shed my first tear by the middle of the second episode.
I was done with the first season by the end of the week. I started falling in love with the show and the characters. It was so different from everything I’ve seen before. There is barely any of the usual drama and all the characters go through a journey of deep transformation.
Most importantly, the whole show is full of powerful messages around mental health wrapped in a feel good show and tied together with clever storytelling. This article does a great job summing up all the hidden layers of the show.
Ted, the protagonist, looks like the most cheerful person in the world. Taking care of everyone, always smiling and being incredibly generous. But he is suppressing a lot of emotions, and even starts having panic attacks.
It's the perfect parallel to life. All of us are fighting battles that are not obvious from the outside, using different coping mechanisms to look sane. Sports, traveling, substances, social media, excessive positivity, pornography, eating and the list goes on. I often find escape in many of those when life feels suffocating.
I could go on and on about how incredible this show is. Some episodes left me sitting in disbelief long after they ended.
But there is another aspect of it that stayed with me. The storytelling. It doesn’t stop the story to give me a lesson on forgiveness, anger or why we suppress emotions.
Through Nathan, I could see what years of insecurity can do to someone’s self-worth. Through Jamie Tartt, how an inflated ego can hide a lack of self-love. And through Dani Rojas, what it looks like to love football and life so deeply.
All I had to do was pay attention to how the characters treated each other, what they said and what they struggled to say. I felt what they were going through in my bones.
I felt inspired, and started thinking about how I could apply the principles of Ted Lasso to my own life. What if instead of trying to push my opinions on other people, I could just live by them without any desire for people to act differently?
Even if my intention is to help, me being forceful would just produce the opposite effect. We got to a point where information is abundant, and most of us already know what the right thing would be for us.
It feels tempting to grab my imaginary megaphone, and start shouting at the top of my lungs that you should go to therapy, meditation would put an end your suffering, how you should eat at least 1.68g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight, be a hybrid athlete, journal daily.
Blah blah blah… I probably almost lost you there, but stay with me!
The problem is not lack of knowledge, but a resistance towards change when it feels forced on us. How many times did you receive unsolicited advice from someone, but your first reaction was resistance? Even before the person finished talking, you were already building up your defences. It happens to me a lot.
But there is a different group of people. They are living the Ted Lasso way. Instead of giving advice, they embody their wisdom through actions and stories. Around them I get curious. How do they have so much ambition? Where does the energy to wake up every morning and meditate for an hour come from? How can they look so peaceful when the world around us is on fire?
I feel safe to be myself around them. I can be vulnerable around them, express my deepest fears and the battles I am fighting. I know they are not going to judge me, or tell me how to live unless I ask. They trust me to be able to make my own decisions.
One of my biggest inspirations in life is my mom. She is deeply passionate about her work as a math teacher, and has a lot of love for the kids. She often goes the extra mile to help them prepare for competitions, or stays up late to create engaging exercises. Even after already working for 30+ years. She did not need to sit me down and teach me the importance of purpose and vocation. I can feel it all the time in her presence.
With people like this, I let my defences down and start asking questions. They usually talk from an “I” perspective and suddenly I can also see the battles they are fighting. I might recognise myself in some of those battles, and ask them how they are dealing with a specific problem.
Sometimes the insights and change come long after the conversation is done. Other times it's instant, and suddenly it feels like my whole life makes sense. Or their struggles open my eyes to a kind of suffering I didn’t even know existed.
Ted Lasso inspires me to use storytelling instead of preaching. To let go of my desire to change anyone, and instead be the change I feel the world needs. Some people will be open, others not, but that is okay.
I might not be able to change the whole world, but I have the power to change my own. And maybe, just maybe… As I change my world to include more kindness, compassion and love, the world around me will feel inspired to change as well.
Picking up a piece of trash without anyone looking, baking a cake for the people at my local cafe or trying to be fully present when I am around my loved ones. It does not take much.
See you next week.
With love,
Robert.
Oh yes, I almost forgot. I did also got a tattoo to remind me of this show.
