Live a Healthier Lifestyle and Become an Everyday Champion: It Can Make the Difference in Your Life

What is a champion? Many people think of a champion as someone who just won a contest. I think of a champion as anyone who accomplishes a worthwhile goal. Let me tell you about two people who were champions for their health.

Several years ago, I met a lady who had smoked cigarettes for 50 years. She indicated that cigarettes defined her life. Because of other medical problems, she knew that she had to quit smoking. But this was very difficult for her because all of her friends smoked and, when they did things together, everything seemed to be centered around cigarettes. She had reached the point that she was "scared" to quit smoking.

Realizing that she had to be a champion for herself, she decided to quit smoking. Gradually decreasing her two-pack-per-day cigarette habit, she worked on this endeavor over a period of a year, and now she has been smoke free for the past year. Champions do not have to be well known people that we read about. Champions are people that we see every day.

Let me tell you about another person who was morbidly obese with a history of sleep apnea, hypertension, and diabetes. She desperately needed to lose a massive amount of weight. She did not want to have surgery for weight loss. She wanted to lose weight through exercise and reducing her daily intake. The thought of surgery terrified her. Friday night was her night to drink beer and eat nachos, french fries, and hamburgers with her friends. Over the years, she had gained a great deal of weight. Due to her health problems, she realized she had to take control of her weight. She put great effort into reducing her weight by tracking what she ate and eating all things in moderation. She also started exercising during television commercials. Every time a commercial came on, she would get up and do an exercise.

Did you know if you watch an hour-long program, commercials occupy about 20 minutes of that time? Learn from this woman. Get some 2 or 3-pound dumbbells and do boxing and kickboxing during commercials. Just walking around the room would be a good start if you haven't been doing any exercise. What an excellent jump start to get you on your way to improving your quality of life and improving your health.

Did you know that being overweight puts you at risk for a number of conditions, such as: osteoarthritis, back pain, cancer, diabetes, stroke, and heart attack to name a few? Losing weight and increasing exercise help to reduce your risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Isn't it worth your time to take steps to improve your health and reduce your risks for these conditions?

Make "you" a priority by eliminating unhealthy habits and scheduling some exercise into your daily routine. Start today exercising during television commercials.

My prescription for becoming an everyday champion is to Take care of yourself.

Remember don't start any exercise program without the consent of your physician.

©2012 Winifred D. Bragg, MD. All Rights Reserved.

Winifred Bragg, MD is a physician, keynote speaker, and author who has appeared on NBC, ABC, FOX and CBS television new segments.

Dr. Bragg is the CEO of the Spine and Orthopedic Pain Center where she uses state of the art techniques to provide non-surgical solutions to treat orthopedic and spinal conditions.

Visit Dr. Bragg's website at http://www.knockoutpain.com/ to contact her or for information regarding the diagnosis and treatment of various orthopedic and spinal conditions.

Original article

Success Is Not In The Land, It Is In The Mind

We have it in record that blacks and whites, fat and thin, dwarfs and giants, schooled and unschooled, able and disables, privileged and less privileged, and many more has succeeded in life and lived to manifest their ultimate destiny. David Schwartz appropriately captures it best when he said that "where success is concerned, people are not measured in inches, or pounds, or college degrees, or family background; they are measured by the size of their thinking". Permit me to share my thoughts grounded on my research of more than two decades on how successful people think.

Firstly, I have come to the knowledge that successful people are forward thinkers. They think beyond the now, they are consumed with their vision, they have a dream that they live for, they have the understanding that the first step to accomplishment in life is to have a dream. They think about their better tomorrow even when things don't look like it today. They see things as they can be and not only as they are, they have a clear picture of the future that they want to feature in. Successful people get better in every way every day and sign up for continuous and never-ending improvement. Successful people don't waste their time living in the past; they work to create the future that they desire.

Successful people have been found to be incurable optimists. They see opportunity in every difficulty, they do beyond complaining, and they see a setup for a comeback in every setback. They believe that an exit from somewhere is an entry to somewhere, they are unconditionally positive. They exude confidence, calmness and energy. They hope for the best and market hope to the people around them. Successful people will give you a million reasons why they should be happy when you have a thousand reasons for them to be sad. Successful don't have impossibility in their dictionary, they see every giant as too big to miss, they think positive thoughts, and they look for every good in every situation. Successful people have inspirational powers and are passionately committed to what they do; they forge ahead even when everyone refuses to believe in them, they pursue their dream with the last drop of the blood in their veins. They believe in their God given potential.

Success people exude exceptional creative powers. They allow and harness continuous flow of ideas. They think things through and through till they are clear of what they want to achieve. They give attention to their intention and then turn it to an invention. Successful people bring out sense from nonsense, they make messages out of mess, and they make new wine form old wine.

Successful people are unlimited thinkers. They are unstoppable. They don't accept that someone else is better than them, they have learnt to face their fears and they know how to conquer it. Successful people live their lives above limitations, they set truly awesome targets. They believe that records have been set to be broken; they are charismatic, inspirational and energetic to the fault. Successful people will tell you in all modesty that if they can't do it, then no one else can do it. They are sure they have a GOD and that they carry in them the seed of greatness. They know the infinite potential for greatness embedded in man.

Successful people are strategists. They are strategic thinkers and have a long time plan for success. A great sage once told me that if one is not planning to succeed, then he's planning to fail. Thus, Successful people know where they are, have an idea of where they are going and are always planning on how to best get there. They talk the talk, plan the plan and walk the walk.

My question to you this moment is; do you know where you are? Have you got an idea of where you are going and how will you get there. To get things done in this life, you need focus.
You can only rise, conquer and achieve by lifting up your thoughts. The depth of your failure is not enough to determine the height of your success. Your capacity for growth and wonders is undoubtedly limitless.

Your responsibility to yourself is to do something with your life and make a real difference in this world. There's no limit to how much better your life can get.
You have brains in your head
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
In any direction you choose
You have all it takes to succeed in this one life that you have come.

Olugbenga Stephen ASAOLU, the author of the book titled "PEAK PERFORMANCE CAPSULES" & creator of the Facebook page "A WORLD OF EXCEPTIONAL MOTIVATION AND INSPIRATIONAL WRITE UPS", is a gifted orator and an impactful motivational speaker with Fresh Motivation International. He's a creator of possibilities, an instigator of Joy, a catalyst for growth, a builder of people, and a producer of passion. He can be reached through eagleolu@yahoo.com or http://www.olugbengasaolu.blogspot.com/

Original article

Baby Boomers - What Do You Value? (A List)

This is the first of a series of articles about the values, ideals and traits of character that give baby boomers uniqueness. I believe it is important for all boomers to think about these things. It contains some important reminders of who we are and maybe even a bit about what we still can be.

I have always taken a bit of pride in being a baby boomer. Lately, I started writing articles about our generation and the things that make it distinctive from those that went before and those that follow. Not only that, my interest was piqued further when I realized that I was facing retirement, Medicare, Social Security and all the other challenges all Americans face at this stage of life. As I looked around me, I noticed how many boomers there are who are either not financially prepared or else vastly underprepared for what lies ahead, and I wanted to share some principles, ideas and plans that have helped me cope with these new realities in the hope that they can help others too. Let's begin with the following list.

It is time for a disclaimer. The list and descriptions that follow are not meant to be scientific, definitive, or even objective. I have no training in sociology, or any other field of the kind, and I do not pretend otherwise. What this is, then, is a summary of my own observations as one who has passed through this life as a member of one of the most distinctive generations in history.

What traits of personality and character have baby boomers valued the most? Here is my list (not in any particular order of importance).

People who are "real." - We have no time for phony, fake, or counterfeit people whether in politics, religion, or personal life.
Personal freedom - We invented the motto "Do your own thing" to express our live-and-let-live desire to be seen as individuals and let others have that same freedom as well. The result is that many of us became fierce individualists.
A new kind of patriotism - We rejected the idea of our fathers, "My country, right or wrong - it is my country." Many of defied the laws and policies of our country and some of us even left it to flee to Canada or elsewhere in an outraged contempt for the conduct of the Vietnam War or civil rights abuses. America has never been the same naive nation since. At the same time, we have seem images from Woodstock of those who literally wrapped themselves in the flag out of a love for this nation and the freedom it gave us to express ourselves - even in protest.
Integrity - As an adjunct to our love for the genuine and distaste for the phony, we expected ourselves and others to be people of integrity. This extended to our leaders, our teachers, our family members, and our peers. In the sixties, when we were young, we said, "Don't trust anyone over thirty." We believed that there were very few in authority who told the truth about anything. We could only trust each other.
Justice for all - We were the generation that changed America during the Civil Rights Movement. We did not accept the idea that the Pledge of Allegiance applied to any particular group of Americans in its assertion that we are "one nation, under God." We stood up and said that if some of us are treated differently from any others, how could we be one nation? There are still many hills to climb to reach full equality, but our generation is the one that was there at the beginning of the journey, and the world has never been the same.
Optimism - We are a generation of optimists, almost to the point of blind idealism. If this were not so, how could we believe that we could get to the moon? How could we believe that the world could get better? Why was one of our favorite Beatles' songs, "All You Need Is Love" if we didn't believe that love could change the world? Optimism has always been at the heart of what it is to be a baby boomer.
Savvy - Whether it is how to be leaders in technology or industry or science or any other field, "We get it!" We have found out how to use common sense and hard work to build something to be proud of. Now, over 50% of all the wealth in America is controlled by baby boomers. That was not a freak accident. We had the savvy and know-how to do it ourselves.

In the days and weeks ahead, you will see articles about each of these values (and perhaps more). This has been a brief overview and, hopefully, not unpleasant reading.

However, there is an admonition here too. If we were such ground breakers and optimistic individualists before, what happened? Why don't we see more of that now that we are older? Life isn't over yet, you know. As we start to retire, we can still set the agenda for how our futures as individuals and as communities is shaped. So, what are you waiting on? Like Nike says, "Just do it!"

Thanks for staying with me to the end. I have a free gift for you just for reading this. At the bottom of this page is a link to my private website reserved for the use of people like you who want to explore ways to a better future. If you follow this link, you will see a video I did which will explain in more depth some of the truths expressed here. It will also introduce you to some people that helped to mold my thinking about my own future.

Here is the link. http://timmorrisonline.com/?t=ezinelist

Original article