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Sunday Routine

How Paul Rabil, Lacrosse Player, Spends His Sundays

The lacrosse player Paul Rabil making breakfast, which usually includes six to eight eggs and “a ton of water.”Credit...Harrison Hill/The New York Times

Paul Rabil, among the most recognized lacrosse players in the world, plays for the New York Lizards of Major League Lacrosse. Mr. Rabil, 31, is also a tech-savvy, sports-media entrepreneur and the chairman of his namesake foundation, which aims to assist students with learning differences. Most Sundays during the lacrosse season, which lasts from April through August, Mr. Rabil stays close to his home in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

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Mr. Rabil, 31, writing in one of his numerous journals outside his apartment complex in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.Credit...Harrison Hill/The New York Times

INTENTIONS I try to read a while every morning, first thing. I read a lot of personal growth books and business books. I’m currently reading “Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience and Finding Joy,” by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant. It’s incredible. After reading, I meditate, to set my intentions for the day. After that, I’ll do my “morning pages,” a practice I learned from business and personal growth guru Tim Ferriss, which is basically releasing your thoughts from the prior night, a technique that allows me to let go: to see those thoughts, write them down and move on. I’m constantly striving to be present, so overly thinking about a win or a loss or the week’s travel schedule or stuff like that can really bog me down, so I have a pretty thorough morning journal to help me focus on the day ahead and that day alone.

BIG BREAKFAST Sunday mornings are tough during the season because you have a late Saturday night game, so — after my regular routine — I’ll take care of any kinks or bruises that I picked up the night before. I’ll stretch for a while and go into a hot tub. Then I set some time to dig in and make a nice breakfast. I’ll make six to eight eggs, sauté kale or spinach, two to three strips of bacon, some mushrooms and roasted sweet potatoes. It’s a really big breakfast on Sunday. I wash it down with a ton of water.

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Mr. Rabil stretching in the gym of his apartment. He allots time every day to be active and to workout, even on weekends.Credit...Harrison Hill/The New York Times

WALK AND TALK I’m trying to invest more in my tribe of close friends to find that more balanced life, so Sundays are a good time to set that intention because every other day of the week is so busy. A regular example might be getting together with a friend for a walk. I like to go to areas of the city that I haven’t discovered yet or even just take a big lap around Williamsburg to check out thrift stores and pop-up shops. The topics of conversation can be sports or business or life. Personal growth is an area I like to spend time talking about with friends that I trust.

STILL LIFE One kick I’ve been on lately is exploring my artistic roots in drawing and painting, either outside or in my apartment, depending on the weather. I mostly use acrylics on canvas and paint whatever I see that comes as inspiration. This sounds horrible, but I just did a latte! I know. I know. But it just occurred to me to paint it, so I did. But it could be other things, too: buildings, plants, cityscapes, trees. Not just lattes. I swear.

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Mr. Rabil, who has a sports media company, catching up on some work.Credit...Harrison Hill/The New York Times

WORK SPACE Sunday is the best day to get things done since there’s no games or practice, no business commitments or appearances. I’ll set up in the shared work space in our building. I get ahead with some preparation for the upcoming week’s agenda: interviews and appearances and content creation, work for the foundation. All of it scheduled around practice and games, of course. And I also catch up on things still left from the previous week. Finally, I give one last edit to all the content that is set to be released in the upcoming week: Podcast, YouTube video, newsletter. This last look helps me sleep later that night.

TABLE FOR ONE I’m of Lebanese descent, so I eat Mediterranean several times a week, certainly on Sundays for dinner. Cafe Mogador is right down the street. I like to take a number of dishes, so I’ll usually go kibbe, grape leaves, falafel, fataya. I’ll have a glass of red wine with it. I like to eat by myself. I bring a notebook to collect my thoughts or look through previous notes; it’s a good time to reflect. No dessert.

SOMEONE ELSE’S STORY Right now I’m watching “Game of Thrones,” and this is a great way to cut out the noise of business and playing and just focus on a narrative that thankfully doesn’t involve me. This gets me out of my own head and helps prepare for sleep.

A correction was made on 
Aug. 6, 2017

The Sunday Routine column in some editions on July 30, about how the lacrosse player Paul Rabil spends his leisure time, misstated the opening month of the Major League Lacrosse season. It begins in April, not in June.

How we handle corrections

Sunday Routine readers can follow Paul Rabil on Twitter or Instagram on Sunday @PaulRabil.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section MB, Page 2 of the New York edition with the headline: A Lacrosse Player Stays Centered. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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