At our recent Sports Day, one of the highlights for me was being able to compete with you young Wrenchineers in badminton, table tennis, cricket, and football. I must say – keeping up with you guys felt great!

It got me thinking about the role sports has played in my life.

As a child my happiest memories were around playing games, and when Wrench entered the Middle East market and I found myself working round the clock – I’d work in India during the week and on weekends I’d take the red-eye to Dubai – I turned to sports again to help me balance my hectic work schedule. So to me, sports is much more than a physical activity.

Take badminton. It represents lessons that I carry into my work and life. Like the importance of being disciplined and showing up to every game. Or being fully present in the moment, because when you’re on the court, nothing else matters; every shot demands complete focus and quick decisions based on the situation in front of you. Or how to stay calm under pressure; by playing sports I learned to recover, adapt my strategy, and keep fighting without becoming emotional or frustrated.

Playing sports also taught me of the importance of investing in my health. Good fitness, strong muscles, proper recovery, and healthy food are all part of becoming a better player. And it’s also a great metaphor for navigating teamwork and relationships – doubles badminton reminds me that success comes from understanding your partner’s strengths and weaknesses, trusting each other, and working together.

My point is: you can offset mental stress with physical stress and sports is a fantastic way to create that ‘physical stress’ – and benefit from it. Understand what nourishes your body and mind, and do it with intention. In my case I love badminton, so whatever happens I try to wake at 5:45am and be on the court by 6:30am. I count being able to do this as one of the greatest blessings of my life and it’s how I’m able to take on players half my age today.

I know we live in a world where stress and burnout are everywhere and playing sports may sound like a luxury, perhaps even counter-intuitive. But as someone who has dealt with all kinds of stress – mental, physical, emotional, financial, social – for many decades, I urge you to find your ‘badminton’, something for which you’ll willingly wake up at 5.45 a.m. every day.