Our consultants have a double life: Manjunath Shastry

Date
26 November 2020

Share a part of the life of our consultants by discovering their hobbies! This month, let's talk about Manjunath Shastry (d²X Singapore) and his passion for sports.

 

Straits Times Run 2016

Straits Times Run 2016

 

What is your double life?

“Life is not a sprint but a marathon”. Sports is my second life which includes Running (Marathons), Badminton, Cycling & Swimming.

Most of my friends knew about my sports life outside of career and proud of my 5 Marathons and 30 over Half marathons.

I run because it challenges me, inspires me, connects me to my community, connects me to nature, is meditative and social, and even in a difficult run I feel better before, during, and after it—in short, I run because it’s just awesome. It may not be my profession but it will always be my passion!

 

When and how did you start?

I had the passion for all sports but particularly latched onto running & badminton from my school days. I have always been interested in fitness; and I liked running, which helped me to keep up my fitness desire. When I moved to Singapore, it was a pleasant surprise to see many running places/routes which helped to me take my passion for running to the next level. I completed my first half marathon in 2011 and started registering and running almost all half marathons in Singapore!

Three years later, I completed my first marathon which gave me ‘Yes I can do it’ confidence and made me proud. Now I run almost 2 half marathons and 1 marathon every year.

 

What do you like about this passion?

Running makes me feel I can accomplish the impossible. It satisfies my yearning for adventure and it gives me moments of clarity otherwise unreachable. Problems and thoughts that have been swirling around in my mind disappear when I’m deep in the rhythm of my footsteps and my favourite tunes on my iPhone. Simply put, running makes me a better person!

I run to feel empowered and healthy, relieve stress. It’s calming; it’s challenging; it gets me outside and makes me happy. I could say running is a great way to test my personal limits, finding ways to challenge myself.

 

And in your daily life, how does your passion fit in?

Exercise is a significant part of a healthy lifestyle and regular exercise has to be something you enjoy doing! Both these things make perfect sense to my passion for running.

Within the framework of my office & personal commitments, I make clear decisions about creating free time several days a week to run. I am not a morning person, so I usually (at least 3-4 days a week) run at night. I make it sustainable and enjoyable.

I follow a routine which helps me to establish priorities, limit procrastination, keep track of my goals, and even make me healthier.

 

Have you acquired skills that you use in your professional life?

Absolutely yes and in many ways. Managing a team to deliver quality services to clients and running a marathon are oddly similar; after all, you need the same grit, the same dedication, and an unwavering commitment to your goals, even when the going gets tough (and it will).

I am at a loss of count as to how many times I have applied my learning from sports to my work table. Playing sports has taught me the best lessons that come to me naturally today and I strongly believe it helps me in my professional journey. Not only does it make me a stronger person (not just physically but mentally also), it also helps me deal with difficult situations that come my way in professional life. Many such situations otherwise could easily drain you out, if you don’t know how to tackle them.

Sports has helped me handle the challenges of professional life in many fronts and some of the correlation and lessons which I gained from sports helped me to overcome professional challenges include:

  • It taught me to never quit and to be consistent
  • Made me more disciplined, focused and dedicated
  • Learnt a great deal of Team spirit and Sportsmanship & set up goals
  • Realised that confidence comes from actions and accomplishments, not desire

 SC Marathon Singapore 2019SC Marathon Singapore-2019

Thank you Shastry for answering our questions! 

 

 

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