Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won't Teach You at Business School

WATCHING YOUR WAISTLINE

Being your own boss and travelling the world can seem like a very glamorous lifestyle, and in many ways it is, but take it from one who knows – it can also be very tough on body and mind.

Being an entrepreneur is hard work – the long hours, the stress – and unless you take steps to regain a work-life balance it can eventually take a toll on your health. For an entrepreneur or chief executive leading a growing company, keeping fit and taking breaks from work is not a nicety, it’s a necessity: you have to plan for personal health and fitness in the same way you plan for profits and growth. This will help you to keep a fresh perspective on any problems your company encounters and, ultimately, to make better business decisions.

As I write I have just returned from an exhausting tour in which I visited five continents in less than a month. It started with a memorable week in New Zealand, then on to Chile, Brazil, South Africa and the UK before finishing up in India. I have always travelled extensively, ever since we founded Virgin. At first, I was helping to build Virgin Records into a global music business; now, with our new business development focused on emerging markets and many of our Virgin Unite philanthropic initiatives based in Africa and Asia, it is unlikely that I will be able to slow the pace and extent of my travel. Staying alert and being effective on such gruelling trips takes preparation and lots of self-discipline.

Luckily for me, fitness has always been a hobby. At school I was a keen sportsman until a knee injury cut short my hopes of professional success. Unable to pursue my sporting dreams, I threw myself into my early business career and set up Student magazine. My passion for sport remained, and I have continued to play tennis, swim, ski (on snow and water), sail and, more recently, to kite surf.

I try to fit in at least one good workout per day, and sometimes two, if I have the opportunity. Our home on Necker Island is a great place for me to keep up my swimming. Most mornings when I am there, I head off for a swim around the island – about three miles. It is the best way to clear the head (sometimes from the excesses of the night before!) and sets one up for the day.

Set on its own at the end of the archipelago of islands, Necker is also a great place to sail and kite surf. After a long day of correspondence or calls, there is nothing better than setting off on my kite board – I soon feel invigorated and renewed.

Fitness goals aside, it is important to do something that helps you to achieve distance from the pressures of work. Many people who are faced with the increasing pressures of the modern, global and ‘always-on’ business world struggle to stop working. By focusing on something else – in my case, on sport – you gain perspective on other areas of your life, and this helps you to achieve that elusive work-life balance.

Many of my pastimes are ones that my family enjoys, too, which has helped a great deal. There is no better way to forget the stresses of a poorly performing company or the frustrations of not closing a deal than kite surfing with your kids or going snow skiing with them.

During periods of travel, you have to plan for your exercise. In April 2010, when I signed up for the London Marathon to coincide with Virgin Money’s sponsoring the race, I faced the challenge of trying to fit the intensive training regimen into an already busy speaking and travel programme. Together with a coach, I mapped out the training runs I needed to do and looked at my destinations to try to make them match up. It was great fun. As I circled the world, I found myself running in the parks of Sydney, along the beach in Barcelona, and through the bush at our Ulusaba Private Game Reserve in South Africa.

Luckily, my children Holly and Sam had also decided to run the race with a group of friends, so we often trained together on our family breaks. This helped to maintain some friendly family competition and ensured that we all remained focused on the challenge ahead. On race day, we all completed the race in good time and, along with their thirty-two team-mates, Holly and Sam set a world record for the most people (thirty-four no less!) to finish a marathon while tied together.

Occasionally things don’t go according to plan. That same year, all three of us tried to kite surf across the English Channel, but rough seas quickly foiled our attempt. In January, a skiing accident caused me to snap my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and so I was unable to run, ski or kite surf for more than six months. As a way of motivating myself to keep fit during that period, I threw myself into training for the swimming leg of the London Triathlon. Holly and Sam completed all three legs of the race, so we all had a great time.

At Virgin, I am notorious for constantly inventing challenges that will help us to push ourselves harder – and that includes physically. But making small changes can be even more helpful in the long run. Next time you settle down on a Sunday morning to answer that mountain of email, think about whether you might be better off first going for a brisk walk, run, swim or bike ride to refresh the body and the mind.

Remember, very few people have ever lain on their deathbed and thought, ‘You know, I really wish I had spent more time in the office.’