Even the pros can have fun! 3 lessons we can learn from the World Cup

SALT LAKE CITY — We are all still coming off the high that was the World Cup! In between the high and lows, wins and losses were some valuable life lessons that can teach us something on and off the field.

Sports Psychologist Dr. Tom Golightly shared three lessons we can all bring home.

No Replacement for Hard Work

Golightly believes one of the reasons the World Cup resonated with people is the nature of the game itself. Soccer often requires players to push through long stretches of physical and mental strain while staying focused and composed.

"There's just a lot of suffering in soccer," he explained. "You really have to kinda keep going and still perform really, really well in really difficult circumstances."

Golightly emphasized that there is no replacement for hard work. Every athlete on the world's biggest stage experienced pressure, uncertainty and emotional highs and lows.

"They were feeling pressure. They were feeling doubt. They were feeling fear. They were feeling confidence," Golightly explained. "Confidence and fear never did anything on a soccer pitch."

What matters is action. Regardless of how players felt physically or emotionally late in a match, they still had to perform.

"You really have to take committed action," Golightly noted.

Golightly said elite athletes have an ability to keep going when things get hard.

"When we're tired, we gotta know how we show up," he explained. "There's no replacement for just making that commitment to hard work."

That's true whether you're competing in a World Cup match or getting through your everyday responsibilities. Success comes from consistency, not motivation. The athletes who stood out weren't necessarily the ones who felt the most confident. They were the ones who continued showing up and doing the work.

Poise Matters

Another lesson Golightly noticed throughout the tournament was the importance of emotional control. There were many examples of athletes facing disappointment and pressure. Some handled those moments well, others didn't.

"We saw people handle adversity, difficulty with grace," Golightly noted. "And we saw people handle adversity very poorly."

Those moments show that talent alone isn't enough when things get uncomfortable. Golightly believes poise isn't about avoiding difficult emotions. It's about managing them in the right way.

"It's gonna be uncomfortable. There's gonna be tough things happen," he explained. "Can we sit with those feelings of discomfort? Can we still kinda manage our stuff, do what we're coached to do, do what we've asked ourselves to do?"

Golightly also sees poise as an important lesson for kids.

"Can we, in our frustration, show, 'Yeah, I can manage this. I can sit with this,'" he said.

Children learn a lot from watching how adults respond to stress and setbacks. Instead of getting overwhelmed or reactive, Golightly said to model calmness and self-control.

"Let's be calm. Let's manage the situation," he emphasized.

Those moments may seem small, but they build resilience over time.

There is room for fun at every level of competition

For all the pressure surrounding the World Cup, Golightly was impressed with how many athletes still found ways to enjoy the experience.

"We're so caught up in the result or we're so caught up in doing well that we lose sight of this is actually a fun thing," he said. "They're still finding ways to incorporate smiles and laughter and enjoy themselves."

Golightly believes performance improves when we maintain a sense of enjoyment. That perspective is something many people lose in everyday life.

"There's time, yes, to lock in when you work, but there's also a time that it should be fun," he explained.

Whether it's sports, work or personal goals, only focusing on the outcome takes the joy out of the experience. Golightly said that's one of the most important lessons to take away from the tournament. Success isn't only about winning. It's about learning to appreciate the process.

"We've really gotta lock into that," he said. "Sometimes that's an intentional decision."

This story was adapted from a TV broadcast script using artificial intelligence. Every story, including those adapted with AI, is reviewed by a human editor before publication to ensure that KSL's editorial standards are upheld.