{"id":38709,"date":"2017-11-07T04:45:30","date_gmt":"2017-11-07T10:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/?p=38709"},"modified":"2017-11-07T04:45:30","modified_gmt":"2017-11-07T10:45:30","slug":"hobbies-and-effectiveness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/hobbies-and-effectiveness\/","title":{"rendered":"Hobbies of Highly Effective People"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s play a word-association game: Toss out the first several words or phrases that come to mind when you hear the name \u201cBill Gates.\u201d Don\u2019t overthink it. Just say them out loud or write them down. Ready?<\/p>\n

From an informal survey I conducted, some of the terms you might have come up with include: a) computers; b) Microsoft; c) Windows; d) Word; e) Office; f) money; g) rich; h) billionaire; i) Seattle; j) smart; k) nerd; l) coder; or m) charity.<\/p>\n

Now, how many of you said \u201ctennis\u201d? If you did, congratulations. You know a part of the Microsoft founder\u2019s life that most people missed. Last year, Gates wrote on Facebook, \u201cI\u2019ve loved tennis ever since I was a kid,\u201d and included the potentially embarrassing youthful pictures<\/a> to prove it.<\/p>\n

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In an essay<\/a> about a book on the game, Gates also admitted that he \u201cgave up tennis when I got fanatical about Microsoft.\u201d He hinted that rediscovering it had helped him to recover some sense of balance in his life. \u201cI am now back on the court at least once a week and have built a pretty solid game,\u201d he bragged.<\/p>\n

How solid? This year, he teamed up with tennis great Roger Federer to play doubles in a celebrity charity match<\/a> against pro John Isner and Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready. The four battled in Key Arena in front of sixteen thousand people. Federer and Gates carried the day, but not without some tense moments. \u201cIt is hard to describe being on the receiving end of a tennis ball going 123 mph,\u201d Gates admitted<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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While the Microsoft founder rediscovered an old method of getting some R&R, many younger CEOs better understand the need throughout their careers. Dick Costolo, who once topped the pecking order at Twitter, has a background in comedy that comes through in interviews and loves to be in the outdoors. He broke his collarbone on a ski trip and was known around the social media company\u2019s offices as an avid beekeeper.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole way the hive works and what\u2019s going on and the crazy stuff that happens as the seasons change, and the way they build and everything, is fascinating. I love just hanging out and watching them,\u201d Costolo told<\/a> Bloomberg TV. He was known for bringing honey into the office for colleagues, though he teased, \u201cThere\u2019s not an infinite supply so some people get it, and some people don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Costolo\u2019s hobbies aren\u2019t particularly perilous\u2014broken collarbone notwithstanding. But some executives push the envelope much further. Google co-founder Sergey Brin is a daredevil who enjoys roller hockey, springboard diving, gymnastics, and the high-flying trapeze. According to Business Insider<\/a>, at an annual holiday party Brin once \u201ctried to address party guests from the top of a giant red rubber ball\u201d and lost his balance.<\/p>\n

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Google Inc. co-founder Sergey Brin bicycling in Mountain View, California<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That's unlikely to happen to Warren Buffett as he pursues his great non-business obsession. The Berkshire Hathaway CEO is so invested in one card game he exaggerated<\/a> to CBS News, \u201cYou know, if I\u2019m playing bridge and a naked woman walks by, I don\u2019t even see her.\u201d Alternately, he mused, \u201cI wouldn't mind going to jail if I had the right three cell mates, so we could play bridge all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

These pursuits don\u2019t have to be either\/or. Buffett\u2019s billionaire peer Gates, for instance, is both enthusiastic about tennis and regularly plays bridge. Yet, given the relentless demands of American business culture today, leaders do have to be intentional about getting away to do just about anything, from hobbies to exercise, even sleeping.<\/p>\n\t\t