One of the interesting features of this World Cup has been seeing smaller nations competing better against the traditional powerhouses.

The hydration breaks, around 20–25 minutes into each half, effectively turn a 90-minute game into four shorter periods of play. There is a powerful lesson in there for us all.

Teams and individuals can sustain effort and concentration when they know there will soon be opportunities to pause, recover, reflect, and adjust. The target becomes getting through the next phase, not carrying the weight of the entire challenge all at once.

Whether leading teams through change or facing our own difficult times in life, breaking big campaigns or projects into smaller, manageable stages can help us maintain belief, energy, and momentum.

Resilience is often built one small step at a time.