I was one of the few Bangladeshis who worked with three global banks at home and abroad. I was also the youngest CEO of a commercial bank in Bangladesh. My laurels and recognition would anytime make anyone jealous.

However, what is not possibly known to many is how many times I had to visit hospitals and that too emergency departments early in the morning or late in the night with chest pain, exhaustion, or sleeplessness. From 2007 to 2010, it was almost 10 times I visited the hospitals at odd hours and started to fall ill at frequent intervals.

I got diabetes at a relatively young age. Twice or thrice, I fell in my room sweating all around. My hiatus influx took me to consult doctors at many places abroad.

I have been taking medicines for diabetes, high pressure and cholesterol for the last two decades or so. My friends say these are all side-effects of my success at an early stage, coupled with office politics, tremendous pressure to achieve or exceed set goals, and colleagues as well as peers not showing any sympathy when I needed them most.

The scenario became almost the opposite once I decided to leave my high-flying corporate job. I no longer compete for higher bonuses and higher salaries or recognition from my seniors. My colleagues have stopped taking advantage of the "ethics hotline" for trivial matters. In the last 10 years, my hospital visits have come down despite ageing.

What could I do about this? The question is big but the answer is a very short one. I regularly try to visit fitness centres, including swimming pools. I am least bothered about knowing who the highest-paid CEO in Bangladesh is, whether my boss continuously thinks whether I am the best or not, and most importantly, I am trying to influence my food habit. I try to spend more time with my family and the friends I like the most.

Corporations create jobs, pay taxes and provide the economy with goods and services. Despite the unblemished records, they doom us to get involved in a rat race. The phrase refers to a pointless quest to get ahead in corporate culture.

The corporate struggle to survive makes people tired and stunts creativity. Nobody protects you or gives you a pat on the back. And here in Bangladesh, we do lack the service rules in the private sector now found in many developing economies.

Paul Ulasien, in his book 'The Corporate Rat Race: The Rats Are Winning' writes that "no matter what you do in the rat race, success is not guaranteed, but if you do nothing, failure is."

In 2009, I met an elderly and amiable person in the swimming pool. I noticed for a few weeks that he swam without creating any noise or talking to anybody. He once asked me: "There are 24 hours in a day. How many hours do you spend for yourself?"

I didn't have a reply because I didn't understand the question. I thought I spent 24 hours for myself, my family, my business, or society's well-being. He told me: "No, your time is the time that you totally dedicate to your health or knowledge improvement."

Now I spend at least one hour a day to keep myself reasonably fit and an hour reading in order to keep pace with what's happening around me.

If I were a little more serious about the work-life balance and had focused more on fitness, I could have saved a lot of money that I had spent at the hospitals during the latter part of my corporate life. I regret it when I look back.

My advice for my corporate colleagues: Please, spend at least 30 minutes a day on your health, keep smiling, and enjoy youth and friendship.

The author is an economic analyst