"You need to have ways to turn off and unplug or else you're not going to be your best" - Alexis Ohanian reveals the best advice he got from wife Serena Williams
Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian revealed on a recent podcast that the best advice he has ever received has come from his wife Serena Williams, who once explained to him the importance of switching off now and then.
Ohanian and Williams have been highly occupied individuals for well over two decades, with both global names in their respective fields. With immense work, there also comes a great deal of pressure, which can often take a toll on one's mental and physical wellbeing.
Touching on the topic on a recent podcast with HuffPost founder Arianna Huffington, Alexis Ohanian explained how his wife helped him come out of a rut several years ago. He revealed that Williams very cleverly made him realize that his relentless hard work - what he thought was a positive trait of his - was actually quite negative.
"I'll tell you the best hack that I learned five years ago, we were having this conversation, and I got some of the highest praise of my life, or at least I thought it was, because Serena told me, she's like, you work even harder than me. And I was like, all right, yeah, I'm doing it right. This is amazing," Alexis Ohanian said. "This is the nicest thing you could have ever said to me. And she was like, that was not a compliment. That's how distorted my worldview was."
Ohanian recalled how his wife stressed the need to unplug and switch if he wished to achieve greater heights.
"And she (Serena Williams) said no, I love that you work hard and you clearly love what you do, and you're great at it and that's awesome but you need to understand you need boundaries," Ohanian added. "You need to have ways to turn off and unplug or else you're not going to be your best. You're not going to be the greatest."
"In the last year, Alexis and I have been trying to have another child" - Serena Williams
Elsewhere, Serena Williams opened up about her family plans with Alexis Ohanian in her recent retirement announcement article for Vogue magazine.
She revealed that the two have been trying to have a second child in the past few months, asserting that she is keen to become a mother for a second time. That said, the 23-time Major champion made it clear that she does not wish to undergo pregnancy while still a tennis player.
"In the last year, Alexis and I have been trying to have another child, and we recently got some information from my doctor that put my mind at ease and made me feel that whenever we’re ready, we can add to our family," Serena Williams wrote. "I definitely don’t want to be pregnant again as an athlete. I need to be two feet into tennis or two feet out."