I never really had hobbies. Parties were my only way to release internal pressure, and that took a toll on me throughout my twenties and early thirties.
I have been crazy about racing and rallying since the day my mother got satellite TV, a window to the world for us kids of the 90s, but I never had the courage to do anything about it. That changed a year ago when I met my own racing version of Mr. Miyagi, and with a little push from my wife and therapist, things started to accelerate. Pun intended.
The founder problem nobody puts on a slide
I’m not the only founder who ran on pressure and found the wrong release valve. Research led by psychiatrist Michael Freeman found that about 49% of entrepreneurs report at least one mental health condition in their lifetime, with founders more likely than comparison groups to report depression, ADHD, substance use problems and bipolar spectrum conditions (summarized by the World Economic Forum). Two cautions: those multiples come from a self-reported sample of entrepreneurs, and the summary does not name the comparison group, so treat them as a signal, not a precise number. But the pattern matches what I see among founders I know. We are good at working and bad at stopping.
Culture makes it worse. Burnout is worn as a badge of commitment, and rest is treated as a luxury for people who are not serious. The people who seem to last in this game are usually the ones who built something around the work that was not the work.
What racing gives you
There is the obvious thrill of wheel-to-wheel racing through a 200 km/h corner, where you forget the ten thousand notifications waiting on your phone. That is the point: it demands your complete attention, and you cannot think about a contract while a car is about to rotate into a corner. There is the emotional roller coaster of winning, and of things (or car parts) falling apart. And there is a surprising physical demand: keeping your eyes, hands and feet perfectly synchronized under pressure. Imagine biathlon, but instead of lying down to shoot, you are standing on a balance board.
To really appreciate motorsport you also need to be analytical. It is a world full of smart people, many of whom do quite well in life. Data, tyres, fuel loads and braking points are all measured and argued over. The sense of community is real, and friendships come naturally.
The unexpected business lesson
Ironically, what made me more effective in business was not reading the five hundredth book on team management. It was focusing on the basics: family, health, and a passion outside of business to clear my head and avoid burnout. Racing also trained skills that transfer directly: staying calm when things go wrong at speed, learning from data after a bad session, and accepting that you improve by getting feedback from people who are faster than you. The only thing that burns in racing is fuel, and occasionally an engine.
How to find your own racetrack
- Pick something that demands full attention. Passive hobbies do not clear a founder’s head. Physical, skill-based ones do.
- Make it social. A community and a coach keep you showing up when work gets loud.
- Protect it like a meeting. If it is only done when work allows, it will never happen.
- Get help early. A push from my wife and therapist is part of this story. Doing it alone is optional and not a virtue.
If you are running on empty, maybe it is time to find your own racetrack, whatever that means for you. Sometimes stepping away from business for a moment is the fastest way to move it forward.
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