As I nudge well past mid-thirties into middle-age territory, health and fitness is starting to become an area of focus and concern.

Strange as it may seem half of us on earth are doing all we can to avoid food whilst the other half will do anything to get some.

Just as we are signing up to diet programs, having liposuctions and dangerous stomach shrinking operations, they’re dying of starvation on daily basis.

…but I digress.

Christmas parties, New Year’s resolutions and all that jazz makes us wonder about losing weight. Here are some simple proven methods that have worked for me every time I feel my belt buckle tighten or the bicycle creak.

Here’s a link to articles on basketball from a marketing and management perspective.

I’ve cached the ones I can on my site just in case:

FORBES – www.forbes.com/nba

The Business Of Basketball – 12.06.07

You could not blame basketball fans for thinking the National Basketball Association is in big trouble. Just look at the news that has dominated the headlines the past several months. Ratings for the NBA Finals between San Antonio and Cleveland hit an all-time low. One of the league’s biggest stars, Kobe Bryant, went public with demands to be traded from the Los Angeles Lakers. A betting scandal involving a referee has scarred the league’s image. Seattle filed a lawsuit against the SuperSonics to prevent the team from leaving town. The scandalous New York Knicks, a vital market for the NBA, have proven to be completely inept both in a court of law and on the court.

A constant struggle, a ceaseless battle to bring success from inhospitable surroundings, is the price of all great achievements.

A good system shortens the road to the goal.

A strong, successful man is not the victim of his environment. He creates favorable conditions. His own inherent force and energy compel things to turn out as he desires.

A will finds a way.

All men who have achieved great things have been great dreamers.

All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible.

A manager is responsible for the application and performance of knowledge.

Accept the fact that we have to treat almost anybody as a volunteer.

Business, that’s easily defined – it’s other people’s money.

Checking the results of a decision against its expectations shows executives what their strengths are, where they need to improve, and where they lack knowledge or information.

Company cultures are like country cultures. Never try to change one. Try, instead, to work with what you’ve got.

Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.

by David Rock and Jeffrey Schwartz

[reprinted from: http://www.strategy-business.com/press/freearticle/06207]

Breakthroughs in brain research explain how to make organizational transformation succeed.

Mike is the CEO of a multinational pharmaceutical company, and he’s in trouble. With the patents on several key drugs due to expire soon, his business desperately needs to become more entrepreneurial, particularly in its ability to form internal and external partnerships to reduce time-to-market. Yet his organization has a silo mentality, with highly competitive teams secretly working against one another. How can Mike change the way thousands of people at his company think and behave every day?

All successful people men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose.

Communication is a skill that you can learn. It’s like riding a bicycle or typing. If you’re willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of your life.

Decisiveness is a characteristic of high-performing men and women. Almost any decision is better than no decision at all.