Life Balance Hero

Sometimes it seems to me that perfect people do not exist. A person who is successful in one of the areas of life is often unsuccessful in all the others. People tend to sacrifice family, vacation in favor of a career or making money. But when you meet people like Vyacheslav, you understand that some still manage to find the very balance of work and life.

So, meet: Vyacheslav Sukhomlinov, executive director of a large restaurant holding, athlete, trainer for organizing your time, family man and father of a wonderful child.

1. Health. What you are doing? What tools and techniques do you use? What conclusions did you make for yourself?

The main life hack is a quality sleep and proper rest … Go to bed not on the same day that you need to get up. But I, frankly, do not always succeed in it.

I try to adhere to a certain daily routine, get up at 6:00 or earlier, go to bed no later than 24:00.

The second life hack is constancy in sports.

Previously, I was actively involved in basketball, then I shifted my focus to running, so it began to bring me more satisfaction. For the last two years I have been actively running, after each run I do a set of push-ups (60-80 reps) and a bar. Today my personal best is 100 push-ups at a time.

By the way, it is better 1 approach every day than 1 time per week and a lot.

Running is for me work on myself and here I understand that my victory depends only on me. Recently I ran my first half marathon. Next year I want to do Half IRONMAN. I started preparing, I am actively stocking up on inventory.

A very good life hack in sports is the use of a special correct equipment, and good and high quality. When you have it, there is an additional desire to study. Buy yourself a pair of cool running shoes and you just can't help but run.

The same applies to. There is no bad weather, there are unsuitable clothes.

If you want to achieve something - set a goal, take steps to achieve it constantly and with discipline, and the result will come. And be sure to consult with more experienced people so as not to repeat mistakes and injuries.

It is also very important for me healthy eating … Information about him can now be found in many sources, but I especially liked the approaches described in the book of Slava Baransky "Doubt" and David Yan "Now I eat whatever I want!" David gave my copy to me personally, although it is distributed free of charge.

Concerning sports gadgets, then I love them very much and use them often.

I'm also a big Nike fan. For running I use the Nike + running app. I wear a Nike FuelBand every day. I bought it as soon as it arrived in the US. I will not say that this is the best device, but its functionality is enough for me. There are Nike + Basketball shoes with a sensor to measure jump height, acceleration and Nike Fuel earned.

For swimming, I have a waterproof iPod Shuffle from Waterfi.

I use a Withings scale to constantly monitor my body weight and heart rate. They sync data over wifi and can be used by members of the whole family.

Also, to measure the heart rate when waking up, I use the Heart Rate application on the iPhone.

To prepare for the half marathon, I used the adidas miCoach app along with the Speed Sensor, as well as the MioAlpha and MioLink heart rate monitors (by the way, both can be used for swimming).

Today in preparation for using the TomTom Multisport Cardio watch. They measure my runs, swims and bike rides. I use the Strava service for analysis. If you are interested in following my workouts, subscribe there.

2. Planning. How do you manage and plan your time?

Today life is very dynamic and priorities change almost every day, or even an hour. I think everyone knows a case when a to-do list for the day is written, but one call can change everything dramatically.

In my opinion, time management is impossible. You need to manage things that you can do at specific intervals. Personally, I am a longtime fan and adherent of the GTD (Getting Things Done) system. I've used a lot of tools and techniques, but this one turned out to be the most effective for me.

I have been deeply studying and using GTD for 5 years now, and I believe that I would not have achieved my career and life results without it. GTD allows me to constantly stay focused and move towards my goals. I am sure that using it as a tool helped me to become the head of a large, complex restaurant business, which employs over 1,500 people.

I also conduct seminars for my managers and give individual advice. In the spring, I attended a seminar by the author of the methodology, David Allen, in London, and on November 26 I am planning to hold the first open master class on the use of GTD by ordinary people to more effectively achieve success in life.

As for the planning tools themselves, I came to the conclusion that there should be a minimum number of them. You don't need to burden yourself with unnecessary tools and applications. Use only what is effective for you.

Effective is when you achieve goals, and do not engage in the formation of lists and plans of tasks, and then in a new way.

I personally use the OmniFocus Mac and iPhone app and calendar. I only put into tasks what I intend to do. Everything else aside. GTD allows me to do this very well.

In GTD, all tasks that require more than one action to complete are classified as a project. Their number can vary from 20 to 200, depending on how deeply you use the system in your life. I use GTD for all my work and personal tasks. I have more than 100 of them. From personal now I will single out 2 projects:

Preparation of a master class on GTD, which will be held at the end of November.
Preparing for Half Ironman, which has many sub-tasks from buying equipment to training plan.

By the way, for the preparation of this article I also had a project “Interview for a Lifehacker”.

Programs that I use constantly

On iPhone:

OmniFocus - to-do management, the best task manager ever
Drafts - for quick notes. Almost all work with text begins in this application. After that, you can send it as an SMS, letter or save it in various other applications and services.
1Password is the best password manager.
Fantastical - convenient calendar
Evernote - for storing various reference and project information,
Day One - Personal Diary
IFTTT is a very handy internet trigger
TextGrabber - for converting printed text to digital for saving notes while reading paper books
Kindle - book reader
Reeder - for tracking news on sites of interest to me
Pocket - for storing internet articles

On Mac:

LaunchBar is a very cool Mac utility without a mouse. Allows you to launch applications, quickly write letters and messages, perform a quick search in Google, work with files. A must have for all Mac breeders.
TextExpander - allows you to speed up typing using abbreviations for the most frequently used words and phrases.
Blotter - to display your calendar on your desktop.

3. How do you manage your finances? 3 main rules

For starters, I recommend reading The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clayson. It is small, but useful and effective for me and many other people. For accounting of finances, I use the Money Pro finance manager. I don’t know how to whom, but it’s important for me to understand where the money comes from and where it goes.

There is a phrase: "It is better not to save, but to earn more." I only agree with the second part. You need to save wisely.

My three main rules for dealing with money:

Pay yourself first. Save from each income or invest in other projects that will increase it (income) in the future. Don't start spending until you pay yourself. I try to save as much as possible. There is no specific amount per month. But not less than 10%. I recommend storing in dollars. At least for now.
Control your needs and desires. When planning a purchase ask yourself: "Why do I need this and how important is it for me to have it?" Don't go into shopping loans. In this case, credit is optimism that has reached the point of absurdity.
Do not spare money for quality items. They serve more reliably and are cheaper to operate. Plus, they are more enjoyable to use. This is especially true for devices.

Also, I recommend buying software that you really need, and not “pirate” it. More often, the time spent on dancing with tambourines by activating broken versions is more expensive than buying, which would have taken 2 minutes. And we also need to thank the developers for further inspiration. I bought all the paid applications above.

I have the same attitude to discounts. If the search for a low price is not comparable to the time spent on it, I prefer to buy and enjoy life.

It is not money that brings joy, but the ability to exchange it for the things you need.

In my opinion, the “buying person” is happy 2 times: when he buys something and then sells it.

4. Relationships. What are your secrets of communicating with your other half?

Here the word life hack is somehow not applicable. Feelings are important.

Love and patience

It has long been no secret that we are different: men and women. This must be reckoned with. It is important for a woman to be listened to and heard, more often it is simply important for her to speak out. And it is important for a man to solve the gaps and give advice. He is the "leader". So these tips for women are practically irrelevant.

It is precisely the understanding that men and women are different, and the willingness to live with this is a life hack that must be possessed.

I am very grateful to my wife. She supports me in everything, makes me more self-confident and more successful. Likes to prepare pleasant surprises for me on holidays and not only.

We always celebrate our wedding anniversary, there is a little ritual every year to light our wedding candle. Also, in my calendar I have recorded other significant dates for us: the day we met, the day we confessed our love. On these dates, it's nice to make small surprises for each other.

I can also advise you to combine work trips with family trips in order to spend more time with your family, if, of course, this is possible.

And a great life hack is to use your grandmother when you need to spend time together.

5. Raising a son. Your personal life hacks?

It is difficult to call them - these are life hacks in their understanding. There is no simple and unambiguous approach here.

The most important thing is attention to him, making time for him.

For me, the main principle in education is fewer prohibitions. Listen more to his desires. Encourage his freedom to try everything. More often to praise than to condemn, because in human nature there is a desire to be what others see him as.

Instill in him the courage to make decisions himself, to be independent of the opinions of others, but at the same time to be able to hear and not completely ignore him.

I think the most effective way of upbringing is my own example. Especially in sports right from childhood. Watching how I do push-ups, he tries to copy and can even do push-ups almost fully once or twice.

It's fun to see a 2 year old child who is already trying to do push-ups from the floor and winds circles in the kindergarten, shouting "I'm running a marathon." Next spring, it will probably run its first race for children at the Kiev half marathon.

At 2.5 years old, he is already a small basketball fan. Knows who Michael Jordan is, easily recognizes his corporate logo. Since we always travel with the whole family, he has already attended the NBA games and the World Basketball Championship, where the Ukrainian national team played for the first time. At home he has his own basketball hoop and a lot of balls.

He also constantly begs to sit on my bike, although he still can't reach the handlebars from the saddle.

6. Career. What helps you to be successful?

You cannot be an expert in everything and do everything yourself. I try to find trusted consultants in various fields of activity. I delegate most of the tasks. I am guided by the principle: Anything that can be delegated must be delegated.

I control it with OmniFocus. To do this, I have a separate "Expecting" context, which reflects all the tasks that I expect others to complete.

I consider the main tasks of a manager to be: decision-making, planning, control and management of relationships. It is decision making that is the only difference between a manager and a subordinate. If you want to grow, take responsibility and take the initiative.

In order to be successful, you need to constantly work on yourself and be honest with yourself. Don't lie to your reflection in the mirror. We can always find an explanation why something is not working out for us, feel sorry for ourselves. But it is important to be able to honestly tell yourself where you did not finish, admit a mistake, take a step back if necessary and go towards your goal. It is important to constantly develop both in work and outside, to hear yourself and others.

Understand what tasks are facing the business, what shareholders want.

Be able to negotiate, negotiate. Choose the right team and develop subordinates.

It is impossible to make a step in a career without raising a successor.

My advice to those who are worried about what their boss thinks of them. It's very simple: 90% of your opinion of yourself corresponds to your boss's assessment of you.

Be warm with yourself. The only person whom you will never be able to deceive is yourself.

7. Rest. What interesting things do you do when organizing, planning and spending your vacation?

I like to relax actively, passive rest can only be justified by reading books. Usually I don't plan my vacation in detail. There are just places that I want to visit. I love to travel with my family. On all trips I take my son, right from birth. Recently, I began to plan trips in order to squeeze the maximum effect and pleasure out of them. On travel and business trips, I always take my running clothes.

8. Your home. What interesting can you tell about him?

The house is special for the dear people who live in it.

My wife and I came up with the design of their apartment ourselves; they organized the renovation and relocation in a short time. And although there were some minor flaws, in general the apartment turned out to be atmospheric and comfortable.

For my 33rd birthday, my wife made an impromptu gym, on the walls of which she posted motivational quotes about sports, photos of athletes I sympathize with, as well as my competition photos and diplomas.

Surrounded by all this, my exercise bike is now standing. I am sure this will allow you not to lose motivation during long winter training sessions on the bike rack.

9. Development. How are you developing? Where and how do you get new information? Where is the inspiration?

I take information from everywhere. I learn from people with whom I intersect in life and work. I learn from my mistakes, without them it is simply impossible. I really like the expression: we make the most mistakes when we stand still. There is no limit to personal growth. Just like in the physical.

I read a lot. I read about business and my hobbies: running and triathlon. Organized a business library in the office for employees. I think that a book is the best source of knowledge … All the answers to all difficult questions are already there and they are in the books. I try to read 2 books a month. I read several books at once.

I have a big reading list for a long time to come. Although there are times when I impulsively add books to it outside the schedule.

Development is life, day after day. If you accept this philosophy, you grow. If you stop, you “die”.

From the last I read, I will single out “Difficult Dialogues” by Kerry Patterson, Al Switzler, Joseph Granny and Ron MacMillan. The book is about how to find mutual understanding and negotiate when there are differences of opinion, high risks and strong emotions.

Currently reading “The Speed of Trust” by Stephen Covey Jr., “Gamification in Business” by Gay Zickermann.

In the near future I plan to read: “Emotional Intelligence in Business” by Daniel Goleman, “My Own MBA” by Josh Kaufman, “The Oz Principle” by Roger Connors, “Triathlete's Bible” by Joe Friel and “11 Signet Rings” by Phil Jackson - the legendary basketball coach, about the importance of leadership in sports and beyond.

In general, for me there are a lot of parallels in sports and business. It is by watching professional athletes that I get motivation not to stop in my pursuit of the goal.

The books that, in my opinion, influenced me the most:

21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
“You Can Agree On Anything,” Gavin Kenedy
The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clayson
Good to Great by Jim Collins
All books by David Allen
"To hell with all of it! Take it and Do it”, Richard Branson
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
“Everybody Has an Iron Man,” John Calllos

5 films that influenced me:

The life of David Gale
The pursuit of happyness
The Shawshank redemption
Friday night lights
"We are one team" (We are Marshall)

10. Philosophy. Your principles of life. What do you believe in? What laws of life do you use?

I believe that everyone can achieve what they want. If you do not achieve, check your desires again. You probably don't want it that badly.

I believe in the law of magnetism. You attract people like you. If you want to be in a different circle, first of all, change yourself. Also, it is important to value relationships and find mutual understanding with the people with whom you work and communicate. It is important to act with a person in the same way as you would like to be treated with you.

I believe that everyone gets what they deserve and in order to achieve more, you need to constantly improve and grow above yourself.

I believe that what you are doing must be done with high quality, regardless of the conditions and situation. My philosophy: you better do nothing than do it somehow.

10 most daring goals for the rest of your life

An ambiguous question for me. I believe that success is something in the present. And every day you can become more successful. You cannot be successful in the past. This is more of a pleasant story about myself and for myself. If that success today doesn't benefit you, it may not have been a success. My success today is my family and work, as well as the circle of people who believe that I have made a positive impact on their lives and careers.

My goals for the rest of my life … In my philosophy, life is a constant path to happiness. At some stage, material things are replaced by spiritual ones and the desire to leave a legacy comes.

Of the most daring is organizing an efficiency consulting company and transferring knowledge that can be useful to others.

If we talk about more mundane things, it is important for me to raise my son as a self-confident and self-sufficient person and to be a worthy husband and father.

Due to the above approach to success, I will highlight 7 main achievements:

Became the Director of a McDonald’s restaurant at the age of 24
Became the executive director of a large restaurant holding at the age of 32
Ran the first half marathon in his life in 1:37 in October 2014
He took 14th place in the 10 km race at the Kiev Half Marathon in September 2014.
Got himself physically fit where he can do 100 push-ups at a time
Personal acquaintance with David Allen and the successful implementation of his system in the life of his and others
Wonderful family and Son.

10 life hacks from Vyacheslav Sukhomlinov

Buy yourself a pair of cool running shoes and you just can't help but run.
Time management is impossible. You need to manage things that you can do at specific intervals.
Pay yourself first. Save from each income or invest in other projects that will increase it (income) in the future.
Combine work trips with family trips to spend more time with your family.
The child is more often praised than condemned, since in human nature there is a desire to be what others see him as.
Anything that can be delegated must be delegated.
Active rest, passive rest can only be justified by reading books.
Read 2 books a month.
Better not do anything than do it somehow.
You cannot be successful in the past.