Harvard says success requires more than just hard work: Billionaires Satya Nadella, Warren Buffett and Richard Branson reveal the one habit that keeps them on top of the game

What do Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Virgin Group co-founder Richard Branson and investor Warren Buffett have in common? Well, aside from being fabulously wealthy, all of them have one habit that unites them – they have hobbies. All of them have a favourite sport.

Cricket Taught Microsoft CEO Basics Of Leadership

According to an Inc.com report, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is a cricket aficionado. He revealed that the sport – a favourite in South Asia – taught him invaluable lessons on leadership and teamwork. Nadella, who hails from Hyderabad, played cricket as a part of the Hyderabad Public School team. He stated that he learned the basics of putting your team first and building up team morale and bringing out the best in other people from the game.

Physical Exercise Can Make You Not Just Fit, But Productive

In a 2022 chat with Inc., Branson revealed that he dedicates a portion of his time – three to four hours – to various sports such as tennis. biking, kite surfing, etc. He also spends time at the gym. These activities keep him not just fit but also enhance productivity.

Not Just An Old People Game

In an interview with the Washington Post, Warren Buffett explained how playing bridges was the “best exercise for the brain", as each turn makes the player adopt strategies to adapt to new information and circumstances.

According to the Bridge Champ website, this game, which is mostly dismissed by youngsters as it is considered an “old people’s game", can actually do wonders for cognitive skills, unlike card games.

Bridge requires exceptional memory skills due to its complexity. Players need to keep in mind:

Playing cards

Sequences of bidding

Potential hand strengths of a partner

intricate strategic patterns

Seniors are able to preserve and possibly even enhance their memory function because of these ongoing mental tricks. Complex cognitive tasks like bridge have been shown by neurologists to halt cognitive decline and possibly lower the risk of dementia.

Hobbies & Sports Are Not Just Meaningless Distractions

According to a 15-year study of over 5,000 entrepreneurs published in the Academy of Management Journal, firms run by individuals who continued their day jobs had a 33 percent lower failure rate than those that fully committed.

Nobel Prize-winning scientists were almost three times more likely than their counterparts who did not win the prize to have extracurricular interests, such as acting, singing, writing creatively, and painting, according to a study published in the Creativity Research Journal.

Longevity Matters

Success is not just dependent on one major breakthrough but also consistency of quality output. Professional success is not just one where you win many accolades and promotions, but one where you can see yourself not thriving for the long haul and remain happy, stable and productive. The medals and milestones matter, but so does staying power. If you burn out, you are bound to fail. This is where hobbies can help.

A fruitful hobby can train the mind to take unconventional strategies for solutions, persist against setbacks and remain determined in the midst of difficulties.

Harvard Also Agrees

According to Harvard Business Review, pursuing hobbies can actually make employees be better performers. Marketing professional Gaetano DiNardi explained in the article It can be challenging to come up with a completely original idea when your mind is full of deadlines, goals, and measurements. You can escape all of that with a creative pastime. Different brain regions are involved in emotions and logical cognition, according to neuroscientists. Both are necessary for the creative floodgates to open. It can also boost self-esteem.

Hobby Shouldn’t Become An Obsession Or Side Hustle

However, ideally, your hobby should not be too similar to what you do for a livelihood and should not be so serious that your identity is tied to your hobby. A hobby should give you something creative to occupy yourself with and provide an emotional respite from work. So, if you are an engineer who creates video games for fun and then decides to need your game to win an award or become famous among gaming enthusiasts, that may not be a healthy hobby for you anymore.