The Accountant – Business as Usual?  –  Spring 2020 (MIA Publication)

A triathlon is a multi-sport activity which involves a swimming, cycling and a running segment. The training tests you mentally as well as physically. An athlete must not only be in top health conditions, but must be equipped with months of knowledge and proper training as well as a willingness not to stop at the first difficulty encountered, as there will be many.

After finishing my ACCA qualification I was determined to start practicing a sport, so I started running with a local team, this team also practiced triathlon. After several sessions with the athletes I was introduced to triathlon, so I acquired a bike and starting swimming with my coach. This completely changed my life. Of course, it is not easy to keep up with, and in a way, this also prepares me for life in my workplace as an accountant. Being accountants, we need to multi-task between colleagues, our employer as well as clients. An accountant must not only have undergone years of studying and commitment to the subjects, but needs to day by day, keep up with the ever changing financial and regulatory environment our industry is faced with. One needs to remain abreast of certain deadlines and obligations must be to adhered to.

Triathlon is mostly an individual sport, however only through proper teamwork one can achieve the desired results. I am a firm believer that a good team will improve an athlete, as athletes must work together to better themselves. I achieve this by training two to three times a week with a team under the supervision of our coach. I like to associate this to the workplace, at the workplace the effort of the team is recognised by how the firm is contracted by its users. A firm will achieve a good reputation  in the same way as a sporting team would when it performs successfully in a local event. These events are organised by the local triathlon community, and we are always grateful for the time they commit to be able to provide us with the racing conditions necessary.

I am currently training for a half-ironman race and I am going to prepare myself by training a total of eight to ten training hours per week for ten to twelve weeks. This includes a 1.9 km swim segment, a 90 km bike segment, and finally a 21.1 km run.

Racing in such an event is like performing in one of your final accountancy exams, this means you need to be in top shape, commit long hours, and be prepared for any adversity.

It is not easy to maintain the work-life balance especially when you must commit to achieving a certain level of performance both at work and in training for the sport. My suggestion is not to burn yourself out with training, but to practice a sport with all your heart and passion. Treat the sport the same way you would assist and motivate a fellow colleague, in a sustainable manner.

How do I achieve this? Basically, it is all a matter of committing to waking up early, training before work, getting to work early to plan the work load and tasks to delegate, then working around the timetable to meet the daily requirements for both work and training.

This sport breaks your mental barriers, it takes you out of your comfort zone, it helps you achieve what you thought was unachievable. It will definitely help you during stressful times at work when you think that you are given an impossible task to complete effectively and efficiently within a restricted timeframe.

Confidence and facing challenges: On a personal experience adapting myself from an accountancy student with no or basic athletic capabilities to becoming a triathlete proved very difficult but it helped me get out of my shell and face the world on a completely different level. Meeting athletes locally and  abroad, competing with them and reaching that finish line boosts your confidence and prepares you for the struggles one is must face in an office working environment. Whenever I feel like giving up I always remember how lucky I am to be physically able to practice such a sport. We are blessed with the Maltese climate as well which I believe is perfect to practise sports.

My dream is to one day complete the full ironman race which is considered one of the most difficult one-day sporting events in the world. Our emotions drive us, and this is what I believe the workplace is all about – emotional intelligence, that is being able to understand and manage your own emotions, and those of the people around you. This is what in empowers you in your decision making.

Roberto Sammut is an ACCA Qualified Accountant. He currently holds the position of senior accounts manager at the audit firm DFK MALTA.