17 questions for… prof. Agnieszka Słomka-Gołębiowska, Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of mBank SA

For me, work life balance is... a balance between what is good for the soul, mind and body.

The soul – needs passion, time to develop its strengths, and space to fuel itself with some higher goal. Nowadays, young people are focused on saving the world and I think that such goal orientation helps in life and soothes the soul. We then get the feeling that we are doing something important, not monotonous and beyond one person.

The body needs good nutrition, exercise and rest. You should find time and space for these three things every day.

Mind – taking care of the appropriate emotions that accompany us every day. Appreciating yourself and your surroundings, being guided by values ​​that keep the brain constantly stimulated to action. Otherwise it's boring.

My most important daily health habits are…

• Hydration – I drink a lot of water.
• Physical activity - even if I don't have time for it, I try to get up earlier or spend 30 minutes late in the evening doing yoga or conscious breathing, which makes the stress go away and I start to notice a new perspective.
• Meals - I try to eat healthily, not always regularly, but I am comfortable in that I am not drawn to unhealthy meals.
• Care – no matter what, I always have time to moisturize my body and apply sunscreen.

The sport I practice regularly is… yoga, which is with me every day. I also like to play tennis, run and play volleyball.

I spend about 5 hours a week on physical activity . I practice yoga three times a week for an hour. On other days, I try to spend at least 30 minutes on activity.

My motivation for sports... is primarily to reduce stress, which is my key everyday problem. When I do sports, I feel much better and the negative pressure disappears. Sport is my key motivator.

For me, meditation is… a luxury. I really like doing it, but I need some peace and quiet to do it. This is a particularly pleasant activity for me in spring and summer, when I can get up at 6 a.m., go out to the garden and spend these 20 minutes with myself. It's the best thing that can happen to me in the morning.

My diet is based on... the assumptions of the Mediterranean diet and this way of eating is closest to me. When I'm in Italy, it feels like someone made it especially for me. I like my meals to be full of vegetables - grilled and raw, fish, olive oil, groats and lentils. I eat meat twice a week, but I avoid red meat. The aesthetic value of meals is also important to me - I have to like what I see on my plate.

I end the day by... giving thanks for the most pleasant things that happened to me that day. I really value good, peaceful and quality sleep, and quieting my thoughts allows me to achieve it.

I spend… about 7 hours sleeping .

Things that I do only for myself... I read compulsively.... While recently doing the Gallup Talent Diagnosis, which looks at individual strengths and arranges them, it turned out that my first strength is collecting various information and it really turns me on. When I don't understand something, I explore the topic until everything becomes clear to me.

My little sin is... I don't confess my sins publicly 😉

Happiness for me is... We often find happiness in what we lack at a given moment. For me, happiness is a sense of joy, inner peace and gratitude for what I have achieved and what surrounds me: family, friends and work, etc.

Luxury for me is... this image in my head: it's a hot summer, an evening in Verona, I'm sitting in this beautiful, historic amphitheater from 30 AD and in these beautiful circumstances I'm watching an opera, e.g. Aida. I hope to go there this year and it will be a luxury for me.

My small daily steps in taking care of the planet are…

• Segregates garbage.
• I care about water because it is a resource that we will greatly miss. We do not respect it, and in Poland we have drinking water resources similar to those in Ethiopia.
• I limit buying products in plastic packaging. These are the little things that, if done every day, make a difference.

The advice I would give myself if I were 20 again is... make the best of every situation. When we are young, everything seems black or white, but over time it turns out that everything is more complex and nuanced. Not true. These are different shades of gray. Therefore, there is no such thing as an extremely hopeless situation, because you can always get something good out of it.