2012 NFL Seasons Begins in Just a Few Days

The 2012 NFL season begins in just over a week and I am ready! I already have the man cave all set up, starting with the requisite 50" Sony TV, surround sound system, reclining leather chairs, a pantry full of various snacks, cold refreshments in the fridge, and the local pizza place's phone number on speed dial.

Besides the fact that I am actually ready this year for the season to begin, another reason for my excitement is that I was able to attend the training camp of the Dallas Cowboys a few weeks ago in what we call the "Gold Coast" area of California.  As I watched Tony Romo, Morris Claiborne, DeMarcus Ware and the others practice, it inspired me to work even harder to get the new and improved SpeedTrainingOnline.com site up and running. It was inspiring to see several of the members of the team working specifically on what we teach athletes...speed training.

I can't wait for the 2012 NFL season and this new chapter for SpeedTrainingOnline.com to begin.

RJ Clement, MBA

General Manager

SpeedTrainingOnline.com

It's the most wonderful time of the year, or is it?

I recently heard the familiar tune on the radio, the one that purports that this is the most wonderful time of the year. But I wonder...is it really all that wonderful? Don't get me wrong, I am not some "anti-Christmas" scrooge or anything and I truly enjoy the holiday season and the opportunities to be with friends and family and to share some good cheer, but to read the newspaper or watch the news, one would question how wonderful the months of November and December really are here in the U.S.


As I commute or travel to visit friends and relatives this season, I inevitably witness incidents of road rage, and angry or aggressive driving. I have even felt a little stress over what to prepare for holiday meals (and the dreaded clean up after the meals have been consumed). But the least wonderful time of all is this social experiment known as "Black Friday." Right here in southern California, a woman made national news by dousing her fellow shoppers with pepper spray to clear a path to the XBox players at Walmart. Who does that? Though I do not yet know the whole story, it strikes me as disconcerting that the woman felt the need to bring pepper spray with her while on a Christmas shopping trip in the first place. Then there are the smash-and-grab incidents around the country, muggers waiting in dark parking lots for unsuspecting shoppers who have just spent their hard-earned dollars on gifts, only to have them snatched away from them as they walk to their cars. What's next? When I heard that many of the retail stores were going to open at midnight, my immediate reaction was one of concern for the safety of those shoppers who were going to brave the dark parking lots and huge crowds.


I really don't know what to make of all of this, but I could think of a lot more wonderful times than these. It's no wonder that Cyber Monday has gained so much momentum. But what can we do to reverse this trend? Do we retreat to our warm, cozy homes and do all of our shopping online? Do we write pointed letters to the Presidents and Boards of the large chains, such as Walmart and Target pleading with them to learn from this social experiment and put an end to it?

Just Take Action

Today's theme is "Just take action." There are entire books written on the importance of taking action relative to whatever you want to accomplish. Whether you are writing the next great global best-selling novel, writing a song, starting a business, or even just getting started on a project around the house upon which you have been procrastinating.

Tony Robbins, famous American self-help author, motivational speaker, and advisor to leaders from around the world says, "the path to success is to take massive, determined action."

Much of what I do on a daily basis these days is relatively new to me; running, blogging, business consulting, and it can be very easy to by paralyzed by inaction, so I simply try to tell myself each day that I need to take action today. The more the better.

Eckhart Tolle, New York Times Bestselling Author, says, “Any action is often better than no action, especially if you have been stuck in an unhappy situation for a long time. If it is a mistake, at least you learn something, in which case it's no longer a mistake. If you remain stuck, you learn nothing.” 

While this seems to make sense, I would like to invite other thoughts or experiences that can either support or dispute the notion that any action is better than no action. 

You don't realize how close you are to success

I have recently taken up running and working out on a quite regular basis. This endeavor began in earnest approximately one and a half months ago, at the beginning of October, 2011. One of my goals was to lose a few pounds (ok...slightly more than a few) as I improved my overall health and endurance. I have also tried to eat a more healthy diet. 

After a month had passed of running several days a week, and no significant weight loss to show for it, I began to question whether or not this was the path that I should continue to achieve my desired results. 

Despite my aching joints and daily soreness, I pressed on. I remembered that Thomas Edison said, "many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." Instead of making excuses to not get out and run, I began to make plans for my next run. I usually run 4-5 days per week, and I have increased the distance from 2 miles up to 4+ miles. 

I am pleased to report that, in the last few weeks, I have really began to notice that I am actually beginning to lose weight and my clothes are beginning to fit better. Running, along with a closer watch on my eating habits, has really become integrated into my lifestyle. Thank you Mr. Edison!

What's new in litter?

I have recently noticed a rise in the amount of a particular type of litter in my neighborhood. This new litter is not only disturbing, but totally unnecessary. The latest fad in litter is: full bags of doggie droppings left in landscaped areas next to sidewalks where people walk their dogs (and where other people walk, jog, and take their children for a stroll). 


This is puzzling to me because these dog owners take the time to carry the bag with them, pick up the droppings, tie off the bag, and then proceed to drop the bag wherever they decide. This is strange in three ways: 1) if you are not going to carry off your litter, why bother to carry a bag with you to pick up after your pet? 2) aren't the actual droppings less harmful to the landscape than the plastic bags? 3) someone still has to pick up that bag after you.


I am having a difficult time understanding the motivation for this behavior. While I applaud pet owners for being responsible and carrying bags with them when they take their dogs for walks, it completely escapes me why a small percentage of dog walkers will simply toss the full bags of droppings in the landscape, creating visually displeasing litter in their own neighborhoods. 

Live each day with purpose and intention

Live each day with purpose and intention


I have been thinking about a concept where we begin each day, not just with a list of things that we want to accomplish, but also a purpose and an intention for that day. When I wake up, I try to establish in my mind what I want to accomplish for the day, then I think about my purpose as well as my intention for the day also. 


For example, one of the things that I may want to accomplish is to publish my next amazing blog post, but my purpose may be to share information or a story so that I may be helpful in some way to a person or group of people. Additionally, my intention may be to have a positive impact to that person or group of people.


By starting out the day this way, it helps me to focus on what is really important, which helps me to prioritize the tasks for the day as well. 

Personal goal setting with a twist

Personal goal setting with a twist


Today my theme relates to personal goal setting. I was thinking about goal setting and how important it is to write our goals down. This not only helps in simply remembering the goals, but also there seems to be some magic to writing out goals. This is described quite regularly in self-help books and articles on personal growth and success.


In thinking about today's theme, I began pondering other areas where I write things down so that I am sure not to forget them and this led me to the preparation of grocery shopping lists. The twist came when I considered the relative importance of certain items on the shopping list. I thought, "what items, if I were I to leave the store without them, would most certainly prompt a return visit to the store to purchase them?" Would it be the milk, the bread, the bathroom tissue? The items that would prompt a return visit are, from my perspective, the most critical ones on that list.


As a personal example, I might have on my list of tasks for the day to have the oil changed in the car and also to do some research on a business idea that I have. At the end of the day, if I accomplished the task of changing the oil, but I didn't do the research on the business, my car may be in better shape, but my business has to wait for another day. Is it okay that my business has to wait another day, or another day, or until I finally get around to that research? Will I ever get to it at all?


If we make a list of goals for the day or the week, just like our shopping list, We should also decide which goals must be accomplished today? Especially if, like my lists, there are more items every day than time to accomplish them all. What goals, if we look back at our list at the end of the day, or the end of the month, or the end of the year, were the most important to accomplish? Did we accomplish the most important things on our list? Or did we spend too much time on the less important items?


By considering the relative importance of each goal or task that we strive to accomplish, we have a better chance of achieving what is really important to us in whatever we do, without worrying about whether or not we need to return to the store for the forgotten milk.


RJ Clement 
Entrepreneur