When career-obsessed people come home at 11 p.m. after a busy day, many of them are ready for only one exercise – unfolding the bed sheets and getting under them. Finding a balance between work and workouts has become one of the top concerns of those who know how to win in business but lag in healthy activities.
The Kyiv Post offers three examples of inspiring businesspeople, who find time in their lives to keep the head – and body – in tune.
Volodymyr Dehtyarov, a 35-year-old co-owner of Newsfront PR agency and Kyiv Running Tours service, changed his attitude to sports four years ago. Before that he worked out on a regular basis, but the gym wasn’t his first priority.
After one of his business partners suggested he should participate in a marathon, Dehtyarov took the offer seriously, dedicating time for the training every day. That changed his daily schedule drastically.
Now, Dehtyarov is a triathlete. He practices running, swimming, cycling, and freediving. He plans his week and month ahead to have at least one workout every day.
“Since sport is one of my key priorities now, I balance it first with all business matters before I take everything else into consideration,” Dehtyarov says.
To combine business and sports successfully, Dehtyarov advises to find both a personal sports trainer and a personal coach who would help find motivation. Talking publicly online about one’s sports goals also helps. It provides motivation to work out more effectively.
Andriy Onistrat, the 41-year-old head of the Supervisory Board of the National Credit Bank and vice president of the Ukraine’s Triathlon Federation, has been active in sports since he was 28. His first sport was motorcycling.
In 2006 he joined a gym and ambitiously decided to train with the professional athletes. Onistrat recalls how hard it was to adjust his schedule to the workouts at first.
“I just made sports my habit. This is the most effective way to stick to something, since it is hard to put away a habit,” Onistrat says.
To combine business and sports successfully, Onistrat advises to treat sport goals like business goals.
“For business people it is hard to set non-business goals, but if sport is perceived as a business goal, then it can be easily carried out,” Onistrat says.
It is also important to find a training partner. According to Onistrat, it sustains a healthy competition between two and competition always brings better results.
Anastasiya Steklova, 32, became head of the sales department at Euro Leasing company when she was just 23. Later she proceeded to take charge of the sales in Porsche Finance Group. This autumn she dropped it to be a kite surfer and a life coach.
She started kite surfing training four years ago, when she had already had seven years of windsurfing experience.
“When I didn’t do any sports I lacked energy for my job. I used to come home exhausted,” she says remembering her pre-sport days.
Steklova tried to use all her vacations for sports. She used to spend most of her summer weekends practicing kite surfing near Odesa. She was keeping work and sports balanced until she decided to make business out of her favorite sports and organized Kite Global sport travel agency year ago. She left her office job, but has even busier schedule now.
Steklova travels a lot for kite tours with her agency. When in Kyiv, she begins her days with 40-minute long yoga sessions on the bank of Dnipro river.
Steklova advises to start with small portions of sports activities in everyday life. Beginning with 15 minutes per day is fine. Then, she advises to gradually extend the time and add new sports. Another recommendation is to divide one’s life into eight fields – health, career, etc. – then choose which fields are the priorities for now and set goals for each field.
Kyiv Post staff writer Bozhena Sheremeta can be reached at [email protected]
