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Schock Your Abs into Summer Shape (and yes, I know how to spell shock!)

May 17, 2011 19 Comments

By: Julie Manriquez (jamwritingservices@gmail.com)

Congressman Aaron Schock's abs on the cover of June's Men's Health

Last week freshman congressman, Aaron Schock, opened his shirt for the cover of the June issue of Men’s Health. Holy House of Representatives, Batman! There’s no denying that even with the airbrushing and Photoshop® removal of every bodily hair, this 8-pack (yes, with the transverse abdominus, it’s an 8-pack) is worthy of some superhero Spandex. But, Mr. Schock is 29-years-old and a Republican, which means that gravity is currently working in his favor and he enjoys sporting at least a couple of guns at all times (I’m pretty sure I see them under the shirt sleeves!). Some of my best pals are Republicans and occasionally I find myself wavering in a moderate or even (gasp!) right hand direction on issues, but these conservative abs and hyper-masculine peacocking are simply not enough to urge this mostly leftwingin’ mother of two to inch my pinkie toe across the aisle. Mr. Schock’s stance on women’s rights (he voted to defund Planned Parenthood) and global warming (opposes the reduction of coal and oil usage and believes there is little, if any, evidence of global warming and it’s effects) does not fall in line with his reported desire to reach out to the MTV generation.

Not much makes me waver from my usual news sources (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central, and Chelsea Lately on E!), but this kind of hypocrisy offers the kind of intrigue that even the most credible installment of TMZ might miss. Read more of this post

Filed under Deep Thoughts and Philosophy, Fitness Stuff, Julie M. Tagged with Aaron Schock, abdominal training, Abs, Build Muscle, Dieting, lose weight, Mens Health, nutrition, postaweek2011, Republican, Self Improvement & Motivation, Strength Training

Top n Lists with Excel

May 15, 2011 Leave a comment

I love data! I love collecting it, analyzing it, finding answers inside it, and ultimately presenting it. But even I find it hard at times to sort through and make sense of it all. That’s why I love dashboards and really encourage all business owners, managers, and employees to incorporate them into their daily work lives. Whether it’s having a clear look into the health of the company, figuring out which expenses are out of hand, or understanding how fast (or slow) customers are paying their bills; well prepared and presented dashboards can save decision makers a lot of time and money.

One of the most fundamental things you can achieve with dashboards is the filtering of data, narrowing information into the most pertinent, important, or actionable. Commonly in the form of top n lists, where n is any number of items you care to look at, using MS Excel to organize this type of information is actually fairly simple. Even if you are allergic to dashboards or any structured system for understanding information, there are certainly other applications for it. Maybe you’re keeping a running total of the minutes your basketball players are logging, trying to avoid fatigue. Or you want to continually look at which products are your best sellers. Or maybe you just want to keep track of and reward your top sales people. Again, all of this is easy and made possible with Excel. Read more of this post

Filed under Application (Excel, Access) and Process Development, Business Stuff Tagged with Business, Business Forecasting, Business Performance Metrics, Dashboards, Large Function, Microsoft Excel, postaweek2011, Row Function

Managing Your Energy,Not Your Time

May 9, 2011 1 Comment

Rest and Recovery in the workplace is just as important as it is on the football field.

I walked off the field with my head slouched, feeling like I’d let my team down. When the game was on the line, I’d given into the pressure, it felt like. When my teammates needed me most, I’d betrayed them. And when the fans were hoping for one more defensive stop, my efforts proved futile. I didn’t understand. What happened? I’d known it would come down to this, didn’t I? I knew it would be a hard fought game, back and forth. I had a feeling it would come down to the last minutes of the game. I suspected— hoped, even— it might be in my hands, up to me to make a game clinching play. To be at the ready, I’d prepared extra hard all week. I’d lifted weights every day after practice. I’d gotten up at 5 am each morning before school to run, making sure my conditioning was where it needed to be. And I’d watched hours of game film, studying my opponent until 1 or 2 in the morning each night. I don’t know where I went wrong.

But you do, right?

That, of course, is a fictitious story. Well, maybe not leaving the field disappointed, but certainly the weak (oh, I mean week) buildup to that point. Read more of this post

Filed under Company Strategy and Culture, Deep Thoughts and Philosophy, Self Improvement & Motivation Tagged with Corporate Athletes, downtime, Jim Loehr, postaweek2011, recovery, rest, Self Improvement & Motivation, The Power of Full Engagement, Tony Schwartz

This Mother Q$#$%

May 8, 2011 3 Comments

You know what annoys me? Well, a lot actually, but I’m sure I’m not unique in that respect. You know what has been annoying me more than usual lately? People who walk around beating their chest and patting themselves on the back for all they’ve done. These are the same people who look down their nose at people who have fallen on hard times or just can’t seem to get things right. And I can’t stand it! This “If I can do it, why can’t they” mentality is annoyingly arrogant and egotistical. And I’ll go to my grave arguing that it is completely delusional. No man who has achieved any level of success has done it by himself. Every woman who has “made it” in this world has done it with the help of many, many others.

Don’t get me wrong; I certainly believe that we make our own luck and that the world doesn’t reward whiners and complainers. I also believe there are several roads to success for all of us and that it is our job to continue walking (or running) down the roads that present themselves until we reach our always chosen, sometimes desired location. But I’d be more than a little naïve, ignorant even, if I didn’t recognize that those paths were paved in large part by other people, other circumstances, and what a lot of people might call fate. Read more of this post

Filed under Deep Thoughts and Philosophy, Family and Friends Tagged with Mother's Day, postaweek2011

One day they won’t

May 5, 2011 6 Comments

My kids are very, very educated in the art of persuasion. You should see these two sales geniuses at night, at work in their laboratory trying to figure out how to stay up five or ten more minutes. First, my daughter with “Dad, can you give us our vitamins?” That’s usually my first trip down the hallway to each of their rooms. Then my son chimes in. “Mommy and Daddy! Hug and a Kiss,” our cue to lovingly tuck them both into bed. But it’s not that simple. They each want us to tuck the other child in first so they can get the last hug and kiss for the night. And finally, my daughter asks me to lie with her for a little bit. No sooner had I accepted her invitation than my son screamed from his bedroom, “Daddy, can you lay with me after?” Read more of this post

Filed under Deep Thoughts and Philosophy, Family and Friends, Self Improvement & Motivation Tagged with In the moment, postaweek2011, Raising Children, Self Improvement & Motivation

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