Something To Hang Your Hat On-Four Things

“You have to have something to do, someone to love, something to believe in and something to look forward to.” Lou Holtz  

“Four Things” 

We recently lost famed Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz. He passed away at the age of 89 in Orlando, Florida, surrounded by family.  

Holtz had a 249-132-7 record over his head coaching career with six schools, including Notre Dame, which he led to a national championship in 1988. Holtz called coaching at Notre Dame “the dream of a lifetime.” 

In the days after his passing, we heard so much about his career and the impact he had on the schools where he coached and the students he touched in significant ways.  The word significant is important here. After his death, Holtz’s son, Skip, with whom he coached at South Carolina, wrote on social media, “He was successful, but more important he was significant.” 

During his career, Holtz would come to be known for his quick wit and quotes. For instance, after clinching an Orange Bowl berth at Arkansas and being pelted with oranges, he quipped, “Thank God we didn’t get invited to the Gator Bowl.” And his thoughts on coaching...”Coaching is nothing more than eliminating mistakes before you get fired.” 

However, it was the quote about his approach to life that caught my attention when I heard it earlier this week. “You have to have something to do, someone to love, something to believe in and something to look forward to.” 

It sounds so simple. But I don’t think I’ve ever heard it put so directly. Sometimes we overcomplicate life. We clutter it up with things we think are necessary to make us happy and successful. If we just boil it down to what every living creature needs...outside of the obvious food and shelter...I think we’d fare much better.  

We all want/need a purpose in life...a reason to get out of bed every day. I.E. ‘something to do.’ Of course as humans, we all need someone to love or to be loved. That speaks for itself. The thing that keeps us going beyond that is ‘something to believe in.’ That’s up to you to choose what that is. And finally, we have to have ‘something to look forward to.’ It’s the concept of working day in and day out knowing at the end of it all you have a vacation or something planned that brings you joy. There’s gotta be something more, right?!  

We aren’t all championship coaches, but we can be champions in our own lives if we’ll just keep “Four Things” in mind. And that’s Something To Hang Your Hat On. 

Sometimes we find the most helpful rules for living in the most unexpected places. It never occurred to me that Lou Holtz would end up as inspiration for my Something To Hang Your Hat On inspirational boost. But, I'm glad I was paying attention when I heard his philosophy!

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