Why CEOs Who Play Pickleball (or Any Sport) Lead Better: Staying Sharp in 60+ Hour Weeks

When you’re a CEO, it’s easy to get swallowed by the grind. Anyone who’s built something from scratch knows this truth: level 5 operators—true entrepreneurs—don’t clock 9 to 5. You sprint in seasons, hitting sometimes 80-hour weeks more often than not. Even a “light” week is 60 hours. That’s the job. That’s the privilege. That’s the cost of doing something great.

But here’s the problem. That relentless drive—the one that builds companies—can also destroy the very operator behind the wheel.

‍

The Fine Line: Performance vs. Burnout

It’s tempting to think you can outrun burnout. For a while, you can. You can run on fumes. You can “just push through.” But eventually, the returns go negative. Sleep deprivation, chronic stress, poor physical health (think tight hip flexors from endless hours hunched over laptops or stuck in airport lounges)—they all conspire to sap your optimism, erode your abundance mindset, and dull your edge.

As a CEO, you don’t have the luxury of letting betrayal, disappointment, or bad actors sour your worldview. You are the strategic key person. Your mindset is your company’s culture. If you let fatigue and bitterness creep in, it cascades.

That’s why every CEO—every founder—needs an arena. For me, it’s the pickleball court. For you, maybe it’s the squash court, the hockey rink, or shooting hoops. The sport is secondary. What matters is flow. What matters is carving out sacred time each week where body and mind align.

‍

The Reality of CEO Life Balance

Forget the fantasy of “work-life balance” as a 50/50 ideal. If you’re a real operator, that’s a lie. The gravitational pull of your business will always tilt you toward 90% work, 10% life during crunch times, which for guys like me it is always crunch time (I have a patient and understanding wife and family).

But across the broader arc, it has to average out to be a win-win for everyone: You, your family, and your fiduciary obligations. This probably works out to be 80/20 in a lot of cases, not leaving much room for You and family. So for the dedicated you time, try booking a pickleball court (if you don't already have a private one to yourself) and hit it solo with a ball machine. Not because it’s trendy or nice—but because it’s efficient. Your business needs you to be physically and mentally sharp. Your family needs you to be emotionally present. And you, the operator, need to stay healthy and keep the long game in view.

So while the seasons of 90/10 will come (and you’ll embrace them), you must engineer routines that sustain you. That’s not a luxury. That’s operational necessity (and security) for your business, your family, and you ultimately.

In the next part, I’ll walk you through my pickleball drill routine—the exact session I did this morning at Rancho Santana—and why it’s part of my version of strategic maintenance and conditioning.

Stay tuned.

‍