I fell in love immediately. But it wasn’t with a woman.

I fell in love immediately. But it wasn’t with a woman.

It was pickleball.

When I first started, I was getting schooled by 70-year-old seniors with knee braces.

But the more I played, the better I got.

Soon, I was competing in and winning higher-level tournaments.

About a year ago, I decided to take things up a notch.

I hired a pro player as a coach.

I started training with focus and purpose.

I was on the court about 3x a week, playing for 7 hours.

That was the extent of my pickleball training.

I thought.

Recently, though, a friend asked me how often I train.

I told them about my 7 hours on the court.

They questioned why I didn’t count my other activities as training.

I lift weights 3x times a week.

I run 10 miles a week.

I watch pro pickleball on TV.

I follow instructional videos.

My friend pointed out that this was training.

I hadn’t seen it that way.

I was only counting court time as training.

In reality, everything I do impacts my performance.

Meditation.

Eating healthy.

Sleeping well.

It wasn’t just 7 hours a week.

It was closer to 20 hours of effort that directly or indirectly contributed to improving my game, both physically and mentally.

This realization about pickleball training made me think about work differently.

Success in our role isn’t just about what we do at our desks or in meetings.

All the other activities—

Eating well.

Exercising.

Meditating.

Networking.

Podcasts.

Reading.

Sleep.

Boost our work performance.

These activities help us think better, be creative, and focus longer.

The traditional 40-hour workweek doesn’t fully capture the effort that leads to success.

It only counts what happens ‘in the office,’ not the total investment we make in our intertwined personal and professional selves.

Success—on the court or in the office—requires a range of activities supporting peak performance.

Should we be valuing these activities more explicitly?

How can we integrate this concept into work culture?

Is it additional compensation, recognition, more flexible definitions of “work hours,” or something else?

What about you?

Could you be doing more?

What you do in the dark puts you in the light.