GAME HIGHLIGHTS ILLUSION

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“This was a very exciting and close game, 4-3!”

These were the words my wife said as she watched highlights of the Champions League 1st leg encounter between Real Madrid and Manchester City.

Having watched the full game a night before, I remember thinking to myself, exciting game yes, close game-No! City should have buried this game in the 1st 30 minutes but for missed chances.

For my wife though, the 5 minutes highlights was enough to base her overall assessment of the entire game (90 minutes).

And to a large degree that is how we base our assessment of the game of life. On the final or outward appearance of things. This can be through pictures or videos presented to us on social media. 

The following are the four lessons learned through this interaction:

A.    Don’t compare your life based on a small fraction of someone’s else’s life

There is a common tendency to evaluate our lives based on the highlights of another person’s life. We compare our full lives (100%) to 5% representation of another person’s life which is mostly their best parts. When this happens, the mental evaluation scales are distorted and will not be in your favor. You end up believing you are a loser.

B.    Those who don’t win were not good enough

Sometimes even the best team loses. City were the better team in terms of possession, chances created, etc. over the two legs but they ended up on the wrong side of the scoreboard. Ecclesiastes 9:11 sums it up well. To a certain extent, luck has a role to play on the outcome. You may do your best and even perform better than others but still not make it. Time and chance.

C.    Don’t show obstacles overcome to succeed

Looking at the final scoreboard doesn’t tell us how much effort went into achieving success. Watching the first half of the game felt like Madrid would be run over by their opponents. But they were resilient despite the unsurmountable pressure from City. 

Most of the highlights we see may seem like overnight success, but it takes a lot of sacrifice, setbacks, and even years to begin to see the fruits. Highlights don’t show you the sweat.

D.    1-Dimensional view of life

Highlights give us a limited view of the match e.g., goals scored and assists. It may not show the other aspects of the game such as the critical saves by the goalkeeper or tackles by defender, the work rate of a midfielder to intercepts passes, etc. 

In life, the scoreboard maybe based on money, power, fame, work, etc. but overlook other faucets which may not be easier to measure such as happiness, inner peace, relationships, etc. 


We judge so much of our game (life) based on a tiny and visible aspects of someone’s else’s match. But highlight's don't tell the whole story and if not careful may lead us into an illusion of perfection which may not attainable.

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