Before and After: How Audiobooks Transformed Denis Yablonsky’s Life

Presented by the modern publishing house Zamona, here’s the inspiring story of Denis Yablonsky—the founder and instructor at the Music Academy DJ School—sharing how audiobooks reshaped his perspective on running.

BEFORE

Three weeks ago, an interesting experience unfolded in my life. The day began typically: waking up at 8 a.m., enjoying a delicious cup of tea, and reading books.

By 11 a.m., I was heading to teach at the Academy. At 2 p.m., I paused for a quick seven-minute fruit lunch before resuming lessons. At 7 p.m., I took a short break to call DJ Lvov, where we had a productive conversation about work and life. Then, by 7:30 p.m., I was back teaching.

At 10 p.m., I headed home with thoughts about my first run of the season ’13 (the last time I ran was back in December in Barcelona). By 10:15 p.m., I was on my first run.

An hour later, I enjoyed a hot bath and even blogged right from it :). The result? A 14-hour workday, a seven-minute lunch break, a run, and yet I felt full of energy and strength. This was my routine every day—except without running.

Running... Everything seemed fine, but I always hesitated to lose an hour or more of productive time for sports. I understood the benefits of exercise, but neither running with friends (which was more distracting) nor music (which I already listen to 24/7) helped overcome the boredom of running.

THE BOOK

Until then, audiobooks had no place in my life: I quickly lost focus when listening on the go, and at home or at the Academy, I always preferred paper books.

The next day, equipped with Nike Free Run 2 sneakers, an iPhone arm strap, and the Nike Running app, I set out for my second run (during the first, I listened to Daft Punk’s new album and met a young couple who also run, but no audiobook was involved).

Here’s what happened—I took the book "How to Run a Business" with me and was overwhelmed by the abundance of important and useful information that I felt should only be absorbed from a physical page.

Next time, I prepared a new set of books, carefully considering how they would fit into my runs. Among them were books by Donald Trump, "Rework," and Sam Walton. Then everything flowed smoothly. Donald Trump’s book energized me during running and warm-up—90 minutes flew by in a blink, and after four runs, I had finished the audiobook.

At this point, I had the idea to create a community for people who want to "run smart," where they could share useful and tested audio materials—books, seminars, trainings, and more.

AFTER

For the first time in years, I look forward to my runs, plan new routes, choose which book or seminar to listen to next, and most importantly, share discoveries and valuable insights within the community. My latest favorite is "Rework," which I previously read in print and thoroughly enjoyed listening to during runs.

By the way, my passion for running expanded my library with books I hadn’t known before—"Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall, "From 800 Meters to Marathon" by Jack Daniels, and "The Pose Method of Running" by Nikolay Romanov.

I want my positive experience combining sports and learning to be contagious—encouraging those who already run to do so "with intelligence," and inspiring those who stay home reading books to take up sports without sacrificing knowledge!

P.S. Once again, I’m convinced of the power of focus on an idea when the whole world starts helping you realize it. For example, an old friend shared a great collection of audiobooks, and Mikhail Ivanov told me about recent releases in audio format. These aren’t mere coincidences—I love knowing the world always has something delightful to offer!

Denis Yablonsky,
MusicAcademy.ru DJ School

From the Publisher

Dear friends! In response to our previous "Before and After" post, many commented that the text felt too promotional.

We acknowledge the feedback but struggle to address it without rewriting the story for the author. When someone writes a heartfelt post about a book that changed their life, they are naturally passionate about it. Denis, the author here, is no exception. He has long been a fan of business books and our publishing house, which is evident even from the photo section on his VKontakte page :)

Thank you, Denis! =)

If you want to share how one of our books has changed your life, please write to us at blogger@m-i-f.ru. We’ll gladly publish your story in our section on LifeHacker.ru. Just please try not to overpraise the publisher and the book. Extracting value from it is your achievement. Many read the same and remain unchanged.

Cover photo: Shutterstock

*Operations of Meta Platforms Inc. and its social networks Facebook and Instagram are restricted in certain regions.

Explore useful articles in Book Collections & Inspiring Reads as of 10-04-2022. The article titled " Before and After: How Audiobooks Transformed Denis Yablonsky’s Life " offers in-depth analysis and practical advice in the Book Collections & Inspiring Reads field. Each article is carefully crafted by experts to provide maximum value to readers.

The " Before and After: How Audiobooks Transformed Denis Yablonsky’s Life " article expands your knowledge in Book Collections & Inspiring Reads, keeps you informed about the latest developments, and helps you make well-informed decisions. Each article is based on unique content, ensuring originality and quality.