Recently, people around the globe were transfixed by the World Cup. I didn’t watch much of it, but I did watch some.

As I’ve noted many times, I love proverbs, and I have a special collection of proverbs of the professions. Proverbs from teachers, doctors, nurses, ski instructors, accountants, computer programmers, horse trainers…I’m collecting them all. For instance, some of the proverbs from poker players include: “You can’t win the hands you don’t play.” “You can win with the worst hand, and you can lose with the best hand.” “The house always wins.” “If you can’t spot the fish at the table, you’re the fish.”

So my attention was immediately caught when, during a game, an announcer observed—as if this were a truth universally acknowledged—that “the most dangerous time is right after you score a goal.”

What an interesting idea! I decided to look it up, and indeed, players and coaches widely believe that this a very vulnerable time for a team; on the team that scored, players relax, lose focus, or get caught up in celebrating, while the team that was scored on feels a surge of aggression and urgency.

I’m reminded of something I learned in my study of habits—it’s not quite the same, but it’s adjacent.

When we think of people breaking a good habit—like eating unhealthy food or taking a drink when they’re trying to quit—we often picture someone who is feeling bad. They’re depressed, lonely, anxious, or grieving, and that’s why they reach for something they’re trying to forgo.

But in fact, research shows that we also break our good habits in times of celebration. A person is at a wedding, a New Year’s Eve party, a celebration dinner for a promotion…and in that happy moment, they let down their guard, or feel that the occasion has earned them an exception.

It’s helpful to remember that if something is important to us, we need to pay attention in good times as well as bad. Danger and temptation don’t always appear when we expect.