Tag Archives: goals

Inspiration

Make it a great day

By DAVID TEPERA | Posted: Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Recently, I was listening to a radio interview with Troy Aikman, Hall of Famer and former quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. Aikman was asked about his former wide receiver Michael Irvin. His response was how Irvin can turn an average practice into a great one with his enthusiasm and work ethic.

Let’s all think about how we can apply that same mentality and turn our average days into something great.First, start by recognizing and being thankful for everything you already have. I sometimes remind my kids that there are thousands of other kids who would love to trade places, so appreciate what you have.

Take your average day at work: complete unfinished projects, help a colleague or decide to treat others with more respect and make everyone’s day better.

Maybe when you get home this evening, instead of plopping on the couch, take a brisk walk and enjoy the outdoors.

Take the family to the park, their favorite restaurant, get ice cream or just find time to interact with them. Kids want parents to listen to them and be loved. I sometimes try to be sillier than my kids. They think I’m the biggest dork, and I love it.

When’s the last time you surprised your spouse with a random heartwarming hug along with a passionate kiss? Look at them and say “just because,” then walk away and leave them in shock. This could be your lucky day — wink wink.

Listen, we all battle the brutal world during our average days. Don’t let yourself get caught up going through life just making ends meet while being stuck in the same old routine.

Tap into your creative mind and start thinking outside the box. Find what you truly have a passion for and apply it into your daily life.

I have a passion for many things, but I get the biggest kick out multiple acts of kindness throughout my day.

I typically work in a variety of hospitals each week. So, I interact with complete strangers all day long via parking garages, elevators, offices and operating rooms. I always hold the door and greet people with a smiling, head-nodding hello.

At least I know, for one brief moment, that person had an opportunity to smile. They might be having a bad day, and that one smile helped them get back on track to a great day.

Now go for it and make it a great day, too.

Inspiration

Let’s hit a walk-off home run

By DAVID TEPERA | Posted: Tuesday, October 4, 2016

As a batter in baseball, there’s not a more compelling hit than a walk-off home run. I’ve never accomplished that, but it has to be the most amazing feeling to know you’ve won the game with one powerful hit.

It’s a moment of glory as you stroll around the bases while the fans, family members and teammates are celebrating you as the game hero.

It’s truly amazing that so many years of hard work, determination and patience can be rewarded in a split second. If you think about it, we’ve all had a moment of a walk-off home run feeling.

As we go through life, there are many situations we battle trying to accomplish success. Maybe you were diagnosed with a major health issue and conquered it.

How many years does it take to reach a high school diploma, a college degree, buying a house, job promotions, retirement, and so on?

All the late nights of studying, long hours of work and never letting negative influences keep us from accomplishing our dreams.

Life will constantly throw us curve balls trying to get us off course. We’ve all been knocked around, bruised and punched. But because of our strong will and pride, we get back up and kick the world’s butt.

My son Dylan has been training for six months for his first physique contest which is in a few weeks. He spent the summer months before his senior year of high school training and eating like a champion.

How difficult do you think that was for a teenager, giving up time with friends and eating junk food? Not Dylan, because he stayed focused with a “win and take all” attitude.

Remember, there’s no situation or person who can stop you. You’re on a mission to improve your life and swing for the fences. So flip the bat, shake your fists and scream at the top of your lungs because you made it.

Of course, hopefully, you had a support system of family members and spouses to be thankful for because they will be the ones cheering as you round the bases of success.

Now go ahead, strap on your helmet, step up to the plate and hit a walk-off home run because you’re the game’s hero.

Diets, Fitness, Inspiration

What are you waiting for?

By DAVID TEPERA | Posted: Tuesday, September 20, 2016 

Every one of us has goals or life experiences we would like to accomplish. But for some reason, we continue to give excuses that keep us from pursuing them. What are you waiting for?

Typical excuses include; my kids are too young, after kid’s college, when I retire, next year, I need more money, I’m too old, too fat, yada-yada-yada.

Listen, none of these are acceptable because real goals require small steps and planning. So really, the right time is now.

If you need more money for a purchase or dream vacation, then write down all of your spending. How much more money could you save by cooking instead of dining out or cutting back on alcohol and tobacco?

A friend of mine went through a divorce and became a single parent. The extra expense and responsibility of young kids forced him to give up drinking alcohol and cook balanced meals. He told me that for the first time, he was able to start a savings account.

Look in your closet. I’m sure there are clothes and shoes never or barely worn. So, stop buying more clothes and rotate your wardrobe more often. Ok, I know there’s a lot of people upset with me right now. Sorry, don’t let your spouses read this article.

The beauty of goal setting for losing weight and getting in better shape is that you can start immediately. You need to accept that you’ve been lazy and undisciplined, but don’t beat yourself up over it. We’ve all had our share of bad habits and self-destruction.

After work, before you go home, drive straight to the gym. Have your workout clothes and sneakers in your car. We all know that once we’re home, there are too many excuses that keep us from going to the gym. Don’t let those excuses have a chance.

If you don’t have a gym membership, then go for a walk, run or bike immediately after work. Once you’ve prepared and eaten dinner, you’ll become too lazy.

So what are you waiting for? Tomorrow is too late. Start the road for accomplishing goals today. Don’t let anything or anyone stop you. It’s your life and you deserve it. You’ve earned it.

Diets, Fitness, Inspiration

Keep it simple, stay consistent

By DAVID TEPERA | Posted: Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Through the years, there have been many people asking me for advice with diets, exercise and stress relief. I typically guide them in the proper direction, according to their situation.

So, I chose to combine all three categories and try to give some ideas that each of you might be able to take away.

Listen, the best advice is to keep your life as simple as possible and stay consistent.

There’s no secret, diets and exercising can add stress when you’re determined to change your life. But, don’t be so drastic because you’re probably setting yourself up for failure.

Don’t worry about elaborate dishes, casseroles and multi-foods. Just make a simple one protein, one carb and veggie dinner — something quick and easy. It really comes down to the seasoning to make it delicious.

When exercising, find the one cardio you enjoy the most. For me, it’s riding my bicycle. I look forward to getting on my bike and enjoying the sunshine.

Most importantly, you must find a way to remove certain unnecessary stresses in your life.

You don’t have to be as extreme as I have been, but over the past few years, the following has made my life much easier and happy.

I downgraded my house to a small three-bedroom in a nice neighborhood. The extra money helped buy my son a car.

The yard is of moderate size, which is easy to maintain. I do all the yard work myself for the exercise and can complete it in less than an hour.

My social circle is very small, but I really spend most of my spare time doing hobbies I enjoy. You must find a hobby or interest to help feel accomplishments and relieve stress.

Years ago, I got rid of all my man toys. No more unnecessary expenses and responsibilities of a motorcycle, boat and sports car.

I cook six days out of the week with the types of meals described earlier. The one night a week we dine out, we cherish the elaborate meals of different restaurants.

Bottom line, write down all the stresses you face. I’m sure you’ll discover a lot of negative influences that aren’t necessary. Start the process of elimination to create a life of simplicity and consistency. You’ll feel much better — I promise.

Inspiration

Keep filling the glass

By DAVID TEPERA | Posted: Tuesday, September 6, 2016

We’ve all heard the expression, “Is the glass half full or half empty?” I read once from a positive thinker that you should not look at it that way and just keep filling the glass. Now if you really think about it, that’s a powerful statement.

It’s easy for us to think that all difficult situations are much worse than they truly are. But look back over your life when you faced these difficulties. I bet you made it through each and every one of them. Somehow and someway, situations seem to work themselves out. And, I wouldn’t be surprised if most of them turned out to be a blessing.

You might have heard bad news from a doctor which forced you to live a healthier lifestyle. Now your quality of life has never been better.

Maybe you were terminated from an employer which led to a better opportunity of a dream job. Now you’re happy and making more income.

Some of you were thrown into an unexpected divorce. But now, you get to lead a more adventurous and productive life.

The list is endless, but it’s up to your mentality to create a better outcome.

It’s these situations where we find how determined and strong we are. We’ve all heard of disasters that happened to cities where heroes seem to emerge to help others. Well guess what? You are one of those heroes, too. There’s times when you are faced with no other choice but to conquer Goliath.

Even our children can learn these lessons from an early age. For example: A friend of mine’s 10th-grade son was devastated that he didn’t make the varsity football team. He was placed on the JV team to which he played both offense and defense. It was the best season of his young career, and he was voted most valuable player.

It’s inevitable; we’ll continue to face adversities throughout life. Just remember to keep filling the glass and conquer the day.

Inspiration

Learn to get back up and never quit

By DAVID TEPERA | Posted: Tuesday, August 30, 2016

As parents, one of the best lessons we can teach our children is to get back up after being knocked down. These lessons will be needed throughout their whole lives.

For example, when I was a youth soccer coach, it was countless how many times parents would run to their kid’s rescue after they fell from being tripped. The fallen kid would look for their parents then start crying.

Now wait a moment and keep reading before you get mad at me. There is a difference between being hurt and being injured.

At the beginning of each season, I would tell the parents that if your kid falls, I’m going to yell at them to get up and get back in the game. I wouldn’t give them an opportunity to cry or have their parent over-pamper them.

Also, once the kid was up and running, I would yell encouraging words letting them know how proud I was of their effort. Those kids always received extra high-fives from me.

It was amazing to watch a young kid learn to self-power and transform into a determined athlete.

The second part of this lesson is I never allowed my kids to quit any sport or activity either. It didn’t matter how much they weren’t enjoying it. I told them to finish the season, and if they never wanted to play again, then don’t.

Besides, my kids typically would end up liking that sport anyway. They just had a discouraging game or practice during a particular week.

Once we teach our kids to quit, quitting becomes a way of life. Believe me, my kids have deleted the “quit” word from their vocabulary.

I know a family whose parents came to their son’s rescue in every situation possible, not just sports. Their son never learned to get back up or problem-solve. They allowed him to quit every activity he was involved in. Now he’s in high school and has no ambition because quitting comes too easy.

Throughout our whole lives, we will be in situations that require us to find courage to never give up.

We’ll encounter divorce, unemployment, life-threatening diseases, death of love ones and so on.

Yes, you will fail, you’ll get hurt, and you’ll lose. But, you’ll also come from behind to win, cross the finish line and fight your way back in life.

You’ll always find a way to land back on your feet because quitting was never an option.

Inspiration

Change your destructive family patterns

By DAVID TEPERA | Posted: Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Have you ever noticed obese parents typically have obese children? How about athletic parents raising children athletes?

Of course this is one extreme to the other, plus this only pertains to percentages. There will always be outliers in every category.

You can use the same statistics for parents who have destructive habits. Why do their children take on the same behaviors? How come this pattern keeps being passed along the bloodline?

Maybe you were raised in a questionable environment. The good news is that you are the one who is willing to stop it. You are the family member who chooses to start a new tradition of a healthy environment for your children, who, in turn, will pay it forward.

I was fortunate to be raised by a father who was a high school coach. My sister Karen and I were exposed our whole lives to a variety of sports, especially football.

Recently, I was apologizing to my 15 year old daughter Daylyn for not exposing her to more girlie types of activities. She happens to be raised by a single dad who only knows sports.

Daylyn is so funny. She told me she hates high-heel shoes, and would rather be wearing sneakers and putting her hair in ponytails, anyway.

You see, I don’t have any artistic ability either. I just had to come to the conclusion that I can’t sing, draw, paint, play any musical instruments or cut-the-rug on a good day. My poor kids have the same DNA.

Believe me, I personally tried to do all the above, but to no prevail. So, I can only pass the family pattern of a healthy environment of exercise and diet.

What about all of you parents? Just know your kids are a product of their environment. Their success in life depends on your teachings. This doesn’t mean what you say, it means what you do.

I know a family whose children were raised in an active, healthy lifestyle. One child grew up and raised their children the same way. The other child grew up and decided to become lazy and undisciplined, and now their children suffer from adolescent diabetes.

Be the hero in your family and start a new branch on the family tree of strength and success. You just need to leap out of the destruction basement and hit the ground running.

You’ve got this!

Inspiration

What choices will you make today?

By DAVID TEPERA | Posted: Friday, July 29, 2016

Each morning, we wake to a full day of choices. Every thought and every action is based on a series of choices.

One of the greatest beauties of being human, is we get to make our own decisions about how we live our lives.

You get to decide on clothes, cars, neighborhoods, friends, spouses, diets, exercise and so on. But, most importantly — how you treat others.

Whatever and wherever you are in life, is due to all the choices you’ve made to date. Now think about that for a moment.

If you’re not happy or you’re miserable, then maybe it’s time to change your thought process by being a more positive and caring person.

Take a hard look in the mirror, reflect on yourself and understand why life hasn’t gone as planned.

To turn it all around and get back on track, start by changing your stinking thinking. Recognize when your thoughts are negative and find something positive to focus on.

For me, when situations aren’t going well, I’ve trained myself to find all the reasons to be thankful. I recognize life could be so much worse.

This starts first thing in the morning when I wake. My first thought of each morning is, “Wow, I’m alive and I get to go out into this beautiful world today.”

It took some time, but once I forgave everyone who wronged me, unnecessary stress vanished. Now, I find beauty in everyone and life has never been better.

My kids have learned to interact with people because I’m always striking up conversations with total strangers. To me, everyone has a story, plus I’m truly interested. That’s why I share so many stories in my column.

Just remember, your thoughts become actions, and your actions will determine your true character. That character is how we perceive you.

So, what choices will you make today? Choose to be happy because you can turn your life around with just one choice.

Inspiration

Use exercise to slay demons

By DAVID TEPERA | Posted: Tuesday, July 19, 2016

We all carry different levels and types of demons within ourselves. We know our personal flaws, some of which are very destructive to our daily lives and those around us.

Many years ago, a friend of mine, whom I’ll call Mark, revealed to me that he was a weekend alcohol binger. Mark’s friends would come over, and his house always turned into a party.

At that time, Mark was a husband and a father of two toddlers and didn’t want to expose his kids to that lifestyle anymore.

Mark asked me for some help because he was sick and tired of being sick and tired.

I told Mark let’s take it one weekend at a time, and I’ll help you for the next two months.

I’d pick Mark up every Friday and Saturday evening during the time he would normally start drinking. We would spend one to two hours at the gym, where I put him through vigorous training.

Because Mark was worn out, he’d eat dinner, go to bed and get a good night’s rest. To Mark’s surprise, he started feeling amazing in the mornings, especially due to no hangover.

After those two months, Mark signed up for Saturday fun-runs, mini-triathlons, team bike rides and ran his first marathon.

Just know, once your body gets into shape, it will crave the surge of endorphins it receives from exercise. There is truly not a better high.

Mark finally dumped his drinking friends and only hung out with good people and parents whose common goal was to raise kids in a healthy environment.

Mark’s life became overwhelmingly productive. There wasn’t time for any destructive behavior. He looked forward to enjoying weekends to the fullest. He fell in love with himself and who he truly was as a person.

You see, Mark is just like all of us. We all have this passion to help each other, love neighbors and give our hearts around the world. You just have to find it within yourself like Mark did through exercise.

Accept and recognize your demons are out of control. Of course, there are many of you who need professional and spiritual help, but I challenge you to go outside this evening and take a long brisk walk.

Put on your headphones or just do some soul searching self-talks. Feel the sweat on your body and holler, “Hallelujah, I’m alive, I feel amazing and this world is better because I’m in it

Inspiration

Stop giving excuses

By DAVID TEPERA | Posted: Tuesday, July 12, 2016

As young kids, we all learned to give excuses for not being able to accomplish something. It was typically due to keep from getting in trouble with parents.

The sad part is there’s still a lot of grown adults using excuses for reasons of being overweight, unemployed, in bad relationships or having destructive habits.

If any of this applies to you, what’s your excuse? Guess what? No one really cares about your excuses. All you’re doing is making us feel better about ourselves because we are giving the world our best.

Now don’t get me wrong, I was an excuse-guy for way too long. Once I owned up to all my faults, I was able to blame the only person responsible — me.

Don’t wait for tomorrow. Take action this very moment. Rewards come through time, work ethic and character building.

It’s time to make healthy choices in all aspects of our lives. If you’re going to the gym after work, then there’s no time for the local bar. When you help perform household chores and show appreciation toward your spouse, then marital relationships will improve.

Quit being lazy and start grocery shopping for healthy foods that require cooking. We live in a society where people want everything fast. That’s why fast-food restaurants are flourishing and more than 40 percent of American adults are obese.

Now get off the couch, step away from your laptop and iPhones, and get your bodies in motion.

Accept that you made bad decisions yesterday because today is the first day to kick this world’s butt. Punch your excuses in the face and become a champion.

Yes, I will run into road blocks, but I’ll turn them into opportunities.

From this day forward, I will fight for my destiny because it’s up to me. At the end of each day, I will give myself a high-five for my determination. I’m beautiful, I’m smart, and have a passion for success.

Look out world — I’m back with a vengeance.