“Picking the highest quality problems that you want to spend your time solving is 90% of the battle,” Patel told Fortune. “Because the quality of problem that you pick to solve is actually directly proportional to the outcome that you’re going to have.”
“You have to figure out a way to make sure that it works for you, and you have to make sure that the people around you think that that’s okay, and you have to create that system for yourself. I don’t think anyone else can create it for you.”
Even in weeks when Patel is working 18-hour days, there’s one person who can pull him away from work: his 14-year-old daughter.
“I still work seven days a week but my daughter is allowed to come into any meeting and ask me for anything—she can just walk in,” he said. “She doesn’t have to knock on the door. She can just walk up anytime.”
Patel takes the same non-negotiable approach to staying healthy, even if he admits it’s not a perfect routine.
“I actually feel like my own health is important and more important than anything else,” Patel told Fortune. “And if you do that right, then you do have the ability to take care of your family, you do have the ability to work. But if you put your health last, then I think at some point in time that goes sideways pretty fast.”
Patel’s workout routine is modest—he tries to get in at least 20 to 30 minutes a day—but consistency is his ultimate goal because no two days can look the same in business.
“There are times when I’ll fluctuate in weight and I feel pretty shitty about myself,” he said. “Then I’ll try to get completely into it. Right now, I’m somewhere in the middle. I’m not in great shape, but I’m not in terrible shape. You just have to make sure that you keep adjusting.”
For his part, Patel is skeptical about balancing everything, if it wasn’t already clear from his punishing work schedule.
“In my mind, quality of life and work life balance, I don’t think those things are evenly distributed,” he said.
