Those of you that know me know that my political leanings lean towards the “try not to be stupid and screw everything up” side of the fence. You also know that I am generally interested in health and fitness when I’m not busy being lazy and eating cheese – so this struck me on two different levels.

Dr. Pinkus writes about the Dietary Supplement Safety Act.

It’s really quite frustrating when you see something that is so obviously:

1. Bad for a majority of Americans
2. Motivated by lobbyists
3. Completely ignorant of what the American people want
4. Counter-Active to making health care affordable
5. Dishonest and Unethical

It’s actually embarrassing to me to see this – I can only encourage you to join up with the Facebook Group and get involved.

I’m a little protective of my clients. Yes, that is in part because they pay me to be. It’s also because I work only with people and products I believe in – which leads to me feeling a little chafed every time I have to deal with folks who like to bad-mouth my clients.

I’m not talking about an unhappy customer here – those people get responses, get engaged, have things made right and help the business improve. I’m talking about goofballs who make a living off bad-mouthing other people. Those people annoy me.

The reasons really are not that important though – what IS important is that I have a negative article popping up #4 in Google for one of my big money terms. Our conversion rates on PPC are still great for this term (aren’t they always! ) but I think this listing is costing us maybe 1.5-2% in overall conversion rate. Or, in other words, this fool is costing my client about $250/day.

So, what do we do? In this case, it’s going to be a straightforward “flush” of this guy’s result. He’s sandwiched between two of our one-box rankings, and we’re going to pop that one result like a zit.  He’s gotten this ranking through about 5 years of link building – so it won’t be easy.

Basically, or strategy is to create enough new content on our sites, as well as through sites like PRWeb that will syndicate out our press release, to smother this guy’s ranking. Between that, and some brilliant social media wrangling, we should have this guy pushed out within a month.

I”ll post with updates.

I recently asked a couple questions on twitter – but I’m not even waiting for a response. I have a new project in the works (quite literally, it’s technically for a class, but I’m double tasking it for business as well) – and I was going to create a fully separate persona in Twitter and on Facebook in order to kick start the social media portion of the project.

After thinking about it, I’m going to instead work on further developing “my” social networks. It’s on target enough, and leaves me with a larger, more developed personal network to leverage. Anyway, keeping up with 3-4 different accounts is a pain in the arse.

That being said – I want to clean house around here some. I haven’t posted anything here in a long time because, bascially, I haven’t had the time or inclination to do so. But, as I reaffirm my commitment to grow my business again this year, I realize that I HAVE to live here. Having multiple blogs (unless you’re a professional blogger) is a recipe for stagnant sites. I have designs on maybe on more blog, but that has nothing to do with my business. Until then, you can find me here – talking about all kinds of stuff.

I’ve been reading a book called “Death by Suburbs” – and basically it lays out all the spiritual sucker punches that suburban culture will throw at you. The most prevailing theme throughout the book is that of “Immortality Symbols” – those things through which we feel we can gain enlightenment/contentment, but never truly can. These things include the cars, houses, portfolios, achievements, job titles, and, surprisingly, the scholastic and athletic achievements of our children.

We spend too much time in our lives rushing towards and stressing over these things – which in our minds leave some sort of legacy, but in truth are mostly empty gestures and plastic trophies on a basement shelf. Being a Type A-ish personality, and entrepreneur, and having a self-proclaimed desire to earn money and be successful, I found these revelations both obvious and a little painful to apply to my own life. All that, and I’m one of the lucky ones – I don’t pull 60 hour weeks or travel constantly. I have a pretty standard schedule and a surprisingly laid-back work environment for someone who is, in my opinion anyway, reasonably successful.

So, why was the philosophy of Immortality Symbols somewhat difficult for me to accept? Honestly, I’m not sure. I think more than anything, that it instilled in me a fear of wasted time – both in business and in life. I’m fine with the “things” portion – I want to build wealth so my family can be comfortable and safe. I want a new(er) car so if it snows, I can put my wife in a safe 4-wheel-drive vehicle on the way to work. I want things paid off so my family doesn’t ever have to worry about if the bank is coming to take the house – all of this allows us to experience life without it being filtered through a haze of fear or doubt. There’s enough to worry about in the world without having to worry about money – and I can handle that as a reason for a drive to be successful.

It’s that time thing I keep coming back to though – is what I’m doing challenging enough for me professionally? Am I spending enough time with my wife, and are we doing things that challenge us to grow as a couple? Are there things we should be doing to help others who don’t have the good fortune that we do? It’s all these things that lead to what the author calls the “thicker” life. Releasing the desire for things and recognition (while still maintaining the security of your family) and experiencing all life has to offer..both good and bad. Time is the only thing that this universe can’t offer a single sentient being more of than it can use – it’s the most scarce and valuable resource we have.

Heh – well, I don’t suppose I offered any answers did I? In fact, I’m not even positive I posed a question. Maybe this was just a little reflection that I needed help me along my path to some sort of personal enrichment. Thanks for letting me share.

Still cranking throught the “Couch to 5k” without much trouble. Looks like I’ll be changing my goal a little though – from one 30 minute 5k to running 3 each week. I think I’ll get more benefit from that than trying to come up with something to top a timed goal. I’ll revisit that after my 30th birthday.

Also – my weight training schedule has altered some, mostly by focusing more on free weights than machines, and using bigger, more complex exercises..like bench and squats. For the record, even running a couple miles and doing a few sets of squat will leave you sore. But, it’s a good sore.

My goal in this is to achieve a level of base fitness that fits my body type. This can easily be achieved in 3 workouts a week – all running/weight trainng combos. I’m going to keep this up until I’m running the 3 5k’s each week, and lifting afterwards. I figure that will put me in a higher percentile than most. Also, hopefully by this point, I’ll be down to about 200lbs and then I’ll be able to reflect on the next stages of this.

For the record, I’m on pace to kick off my first 5k about mid-December, and I’m kind of looking forward to the challenge that maintaining that over the holidays will pose.

So, after nearly a month of weddings, blisters, rolled ankles, and non-standard gym practices, I’m finally back on a regular schedule. I feel about 1000 times better when I’m able to keep to that schedule, so hopefully no more monkey wrenches get thrown my way before Thanksgiving, anyway.

But, if they do, I’m working on managing that as well. I’ve written on the importance of momentum before – but I want to stress it again. The thing is – it’s easy to build. One trip to the gym, one task, one thing checked off gets it started. The key is to not let little hiccups (a week of training missed because of a wedding, or a blister, or a rolled ankle) knock your train off tracks for the long term.

Sure, it’s a little harder to get going when you have a hiccup – but the sooner you get back to task, the easier it will be. You and I both would probably be schocked at how many business plans, training schedules, and diets have failed because of one mistake. And, my friends, that’s what really separates the winners from the losers, the successes from the failures, the fulfilled from the longing – is looking at any barrier in your way, jumping over it, kicking it down, (or, my personal favorite, running around it) and getting yourself back on track.

My next post is going to be about motivation and goals, so no need to get into that here. I just encourage everyone to follow that dream – and when you hit that stumbling block and think it’s all over, force yourself to make one more step in a positive direction. Then another, then another – and the next thing you know, you’re right back on track.

So, what’s gone on in the last couple of weeks?

1 – I’m partnering up with another great marketer to work with a new client (hopefully, fingers-crossed), we just finished up an extensive marketing plan, and we’re hoping to sign them on in the next couple of weeks.

2 – My other client work is still trucking along, still amazed that I can make a living doing something that I love.

3 – I gutted Thesis off my 7xo Media site – and took it back to a brochure site. I don’t have time or motivation to market two blogs – so this site is going to focus on everything…marketing, business, politics….a regular potpourri of stuff.

Mostly, I’m going to focus here on higher level stuff – theory, strategy, insight…and less on tactics. I charge people for those tactics, so it doesn’t seem fair to spill them here – and, anyway, I’m working on a master plan here

Also – the gym work has been going pretty well. Definitely working hard on cleaning up the diet in order to get down to 200lbs. I think I’ll cruise in to my birthday goals, even if it’s just barely.

Ok – it’s cold in my office, my fingers are going numb, and I have revenue to generate.

Well, I was feeling down about this week’s accomplishments, until I realized I got in three good workouts and ran 1.25 miles at a pretty good clip without dying. That’s a long way from my 3.2 target for Jan 21..but, I remember from last time that it’s a huge milestone. The longer you run, the less it takes to add on the couple extra miles.

Looking back, it took me a couple months to get up to the 1.5 mile range, and another month before I was running 3+ miles a few times a week.

I also discovered a bit of enjoyment today in just “going running” without a real goal in mind. I think the pressure of trying to keep up with work and training targets was stressing me out. Plus, it just wasn’t fun.

So, here’s what I’m going to do – I want to lift three times a week, run three times a week, and do a light recovery cardio workout once a week. I imagine I’ll couple lifting with the first two runs and the recovery workout, with a longer run at the end of the week standing alone, but I’m not committing to that.

It’s entirely possible that, until I get up over 3 miles, it’ll make more sense to have my lifting routine follow my run and have my recovery day (different than the “off” days) be a long walk with the dog (or, a bike ride, assuming I get my tires fixed..again)

So, instead of boring you with constant details about my training, I’ll do the weigh ins and share some insight on training motivation and techniques..and keep my focus here on business, life, etc…

For lack of a better idea, I’m going to call this training day 12. Unfortunately, day 11 was 13 days ago.  That’s what a wedding and a blister will do to you. No biggie though – just going to restart C25K week 3, and try to progress from there.  I already feel better after the first workout.

Monday – W3D1 (90 sec intervals followed by 3 min intervals) + weight training
Ahhh yes, adding those longer intervals in the prvious weeks paid off, as I had just enough fitness to get through this workout at my target pace. I’m going to be running everything on the treadmill faster than what I plan to run on the road. Thankfully, I didn’t lose all my gains.

I’m dreading weighing in this week – as last week was just filled with Cake and dining out. Such is life, I suppose.

Tuesday – 45 minute elliptical. 5 1×1 track intervals.
Ugh – elliptical day. Going to have to think of some things to brighten it up..because it is boring. Just need to get through the next couple weeks to where I’m running 2+ miles at a clip, and I’ll swap things around some. Overall – a good workout, albeit a boring one.

Wednesday – W3D2 (90×90 and 180×180), weight training
Thursday – off
Friday – W3D3 (90×90 and 180×180), weight training
Saturday – 1.5 mile run, weight training

(Well, as you can see, there are always hiccups. Today, was my first day in the gym since Tuesday. I knocked out 1.25 miles and did the weight training. Update to come).

As you can see, I’m mixing it up a little.

My wife and I are also starting a “caveman” diet this week…meaning that most processed foods are out, with the exception of whole grain carbohydrates (in limited quantities), and some dairy. Mostly, it’s vegetables, fruits, and lean meat. I’m hoping this will help kickstart things a little more.

I want to share a lesson I’ve learned (often times the hard way) over my last 4 years of entrepreneurship. That lesson is: Momentum is the key to almost everything.

Now – there are a lot of things that allow you to build momentum, those things being the core tenents of motivation (passion, ambition, drive, etc…), but they all lead to one thing – and that’s building momentum.

What is momentum? In it’s most basic sense – it’s Newton’s second law. It’s a vector quantity representing an object’s direction and magnitude of movement. (thanks wikipedia!) You’ve heard it before – objects in motion tend to stay in motion. On a deeper level, the bigger the object and the faster it’s moving, the harder it is to stop it.

If you want to step outside the physics lab, you can learn about how to apply momentum to your daily life. This can be business, work, fitness – whatever you want to improve on.

Example #1 – I am on a mission this month to produce a lot of quality content for some of my 7xo Labs sites. Saying you’re going to produce 50+ items of content in a month is daunting…so daunting in fact that it’s easy to not even start. How do you even approach a goal like that?

Easy – using our basic understanding of how momentum works, we know we have to write that article, and write it now. Don’t worry, the second one is a little bit easier. Then, you ride that wave through the third and fourth. Next thing you know, you’ve built up your internal momentum to a point where you’re absolutely killing it. The beauty of momentum is that, while it can be hard to get going, it can also be hard to stop.  When people refer to the force of habits, they are really talking about momentum in their behaviors. If you’re in a habit of writing a couple articles every day, suddenly it’s easier to write them than to not…that’s momentum.

The most important thing I want to share with you about momentum is also the most encouraging – anyone can do it. That’s right – if you’re sitting out there with a business idea, you can start to bring your dream to life with just one step. One little step forward today, and a committment to making another tomorrow (then, recommitting tomorrow to the next day, an on and on) and you can start to live your dream.

It doesn’t even have to be big, but it should be meaningful.  Write a page of your business plan, get a hosting account for a website, pick a name, just do something. You’ll hit some bumps along the way, and may even change direction a couple times – but the momentum you’ve built will carry you through.