Why We Stay in the Game

Heidegger once wrote that we are disclosed through the actions we take when no one is watching. Not the moments of recognition, but the quiet choice to remain when walking away would be easier.

This week, I watched my daughter make that choice. She’s almost 16 and plays camogie*, a sport she’s been part of since she could hold a hurl. She’s social, perceptive, and sharp and she’s right at the age where many girls begin to drift from sport. In Ireland, over 50% of girls leave by their early teens.

But she’s not thinking about quitting because she’s lost interest. She’s thinking about it because the game is getting harder. The pace has shifted. Expectations have changed. She’s not always starting. And yet she didn’t step back. She started running. Focused on her breathing. Adapted her approach.

She stayed in the game.

And it struck me how closely this mirrors my own work in consulting.

You build stamina over years. You learn to read rooms instead of drills. You create rhythm inside systems that move fast, break easily, and rarely reward consistency. Then, without warning, the game changes. New expectations. Less certainty. More noise. You wonder if you still belong.

But at VISION, we work in exactly these conditions. We navigate complexity in human systems –  rebuilding trust where it’s been eroded. We stabilise pace when the centre isn’t holding and navigate in uncertainty without waiting for permission.

My daughter reads people like others read playbooks. She builds across boundaries instinctively – age, style, position. And that’s what keeps her on the pitch it’s not just endurance or drive. It’s her ability to hold relationships, to connect, to adapt. In the same way, that’s what sustains a consulting career in systems under pressure. Not just knowledge but presence and trust.

So why stay in the game?

Because you know the shape of who you are when you’re in it and the people around you – your team, your mentors, your clients, your family – remind you. Walking off the pitch is always an option, but staying tells you something about what you’re made of.

It’s not about being picked.  It’s about choosing to show up anyway.

*Camogie is a traditional Irish team sport played by women, like hurling. It’s fast, physical, and deeply cultural.