Persistent, Consistent and Balanced
With an aim to help people realise, develop and monetise their digital assets, Ankit Agarwal has launched a tech platform, “Do Your Thng”. Ankit is a vastly experienced digital marketing professional and has spent over a decade in digital marketing, advertising and social media management. To unwind, Ankit likes to travel, swim or ride a bike. As a fitness enthusiast, he talks to Corporate Citizen about his mantra of maintaining holistic wellness
Over the years, Ankit Agarwal has worked with various renowned brands such as National Geographic, FOX Life, Durex, Veet, Adidas, Reebok, SONY, UNICEF, Audi, Philips, BMW, British Airways, Expedia, MakeMyTrip, Honda, Jet Airways, Max Bupa, Microsoft, Panasonic, Toshiba, Rentokil, Maruti Suzuki etc.
Prior to founding Do Your Thng, Ankit was working as a digital marketer in the United Kingdom. It was during a client meeting there that Ankit thought about creating a platform that inspired, encouraged and supported people to do what they love. The Pharmacy graduate with an MBA in Marketing is a reputed influencer and is well-known in the relevant industry circles. He has shared the podium with industry leaders and has been the recipient of various awards for his contribution to the digital marketing arena. He is a specialist when it comes to influencer marketing and can speak extensively on the subject.
Corporate Citizen: Your philosophy on wellness?
Ankit Agarwal: Health is a state of well-being. And when I say health, I include everything, physical, mental, emotional, financial, social, and spiritual. So, the philosophy is to reach a state of mental health where I’m at peace and content with myself. Or attain a state of physical health free of afflictions and conditions.
CC: What do you do for your holistic well-being?
I find that small daily habits go a long way towards achieving holistic well-being. It could be a bit of meditation to be more emotionally balanced or a little stretching in the middle of the workday. However, an hour of exercise every day has had the most impact.
CC: How does your art/profession/hobby help you in dealing with stress and anxiety?
It will sound like an oxymoron but both my profession and hobby help deal with stress and anxiety. Let me explain. Time is fleeting. Yes, the days may seem long, but years and decades fly by. So, do what makes you happy and fulfilled. And when you are content with your work, it rarely causes stress.
That said, a busy calendar is not conducive to building great things. Plus, anxiety is part of life, even when you love your work. For those moments, I have squash. Playing takes me to another zone, a world where everything falls away and wipes the slate clean.
I think of my profession (running Do Your Thng) and hobby (squash) as Newton’s cradle. The energy of one pushes the other and vice versa, keeping the momentum.
"I find that small daily habits go a long way towards achieving holistic well-being. It could be a bit of meditation to be more emotionally balanced or a little stretching"
CC: Your idea/mantra about keeping fit and well?
“A healthy man wants a thousand things, a sick man only wants one,” said Confucius. & he was bang on: Physical health is indeed the very foundation. You can’t function without it. So, my fitness mantra is simple: at least 30 minutes of exercise every day.
CC: What keeps you fit and healthy? Share with us your secret ways of keeping your mind calm and cool.
Keeping fit is easy. I play squash. I swim. I gym. Keeping a calm mind is harder because you have to actively cultivate and earn it. Being healthy and having strong, loving relationships definitely help. So does the ability to change yourself, when required.
But music is my secret hack. Try it sometime. Forgo passive listening. Actively immerse yourself in the rhythm and melody of a song, any song or genre you prefer. It’ll do wonders to bring you to a calmer internal state.
CC: Your stress busters? How do you like to rejuvenate, recharge and de-stress?
Playing with my pet dog Majnu, hands-down, is the best way to recharge and rejuvenate.
Another is to make a stranger smile. Even if it doesn’t matter, go out of your way to help someone. There are not many things in life that bring as much happiness or satisfaction. For those few minutes, you leave the stress behind.
That said, both are band-aids on a leaking dam. What truly serves is identifying what is stressing you and fixing it.
CC: Your food philosophy? Is that also part of your wellness regime? Your diet fads?
I don’t follow any diet fads and keep my food philosophy simple: know what you’re eating and eat it on time.
CC: Anything you will like to say about ‘your exercise fundamentals’?
Most beginners ignore this, but I really can’t emphasise it enough. Do not skip a warm-up and cool down before and after exercise. I learnt this the hard and painful way.
CC: How do you set out your priorities to keep your work and personal life balanced?
I have set log-in and log-off times. They not only help compartmentalise but also ensure the lines between work and life don’t get blurred. Also, work is limited to the laptop and not the mobile. It takes time to make the change, but we, as people, are remarkable at adjusting.
CC: What helps you the most in maintaining calm and peace despite an overload of work?
It’s not a popular opinion, but maintaining calm or even work-life balance becomes moot when your work is enjoyable. Because you’re not suffering at work, even when there is an overload, it doesn’t hamper peace.
And a peaceful mind makes better decisions, which helps me become more productive, reducing the workload. That maintains calm. It’s a virtuous cycle. Also, humour—laughter really is the best medicine.
CC: Anything else you would like to say about keeping fit and on holistic wellness, what can others learn from your learnings?
Fill your house with plants and make it a habit to water them. As you grow older, you’ll appreciate how therapeutic those handful of minutes are.
Five tips that work the best for you to maintain a work-life balance.
- Keep your health and wellness as the main goal.
- Exercise. Eat well. Sleep.
- Get out into nature.
- Put your partner, family or friends high on the priority list. Don’t lose touch with them, even if it means occasionally staying up late to reconnect and talk to them.
- Play with your pet, significant other, children or anyone. As adults, we don’t do it enough. It’s a mechanism that stops you from being weighed down.