Reviewing Life FilmAfter a football game, there is inevitably a comment from coaches and players about watching the game film or the “tape.” I never played football or coached sports. However, I am always impressed by the approach of “reviewing tape” or “breaking down the game film.”

It takes discipline to do this, and it is done to determine ways to get better.  Breaking down game film, I believe, is a mix of being strategic and tactical while also gaining key lessons learned.

Teams – players and coaches – get better by watching and learning from game film.

Maybe, we can take another life lesson from sports.

During our life, we make choices about how to play and how to live. We don’t have the luxury of having our major life plays recorded to review later. We do have our memories and the people around us though.

Do you take the time to review the film of your life choices?

I know I am guilty of not doing this as much as I should. The benefits of reviewing our actions would be immense. Thinking through how we made certain decisions as well as what went right or wrong would only make us better for the next hurdle. Maybe the next situation would be different, but the lessons learned from the previous plays would be invaluable.

We need to incorporate the habit of reviewing our own film.

How do we do it?

What I am going to do are the following three steps:

1.  Daily Review. At the end of every work day, I am going to turn off everything on the drive home and replay the day’s events. If there are certain choices or actions which need further review, I will note them and spend time later to think.

2.  Detailed Review. For the choices or actions which require further review, I will jot down some notes on what happened and then think about other options or directions to take in the future for similar type situations. I will try to translate it into a lesson learned and work to put it into action at the next appropriate time.

3.  Monthly Review. At the end of each month, I will take at least an hour of quiet time to think about the past 30 days and answer the following questions:

  • What actions did I take which did not get the results intended?
  • What choices or decisions did I make which turned out bad? What information was missing? What consequences happened? Would doing something different change the outcome?
  • What lessons did I learn? How will I improve? How will I put this lesson into action, fold into my game plan?

It is a think-highlight-review-learn-do approach to breaking down the film of my life’s actions. The three-step method will be a good mix of reflection and learning.

Having a system to review your plays is vital, just as it is in sports. Think about what system would work for you in reviewing your choices and decisions made or your actions taken.

Breaking down your life’s game tape will only make you a better person and lead you to an enhanced life.

What would you add to the breaking down your life’s film system?

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