The answer? There is nothing wrong with people. But there is a serious problem with the choices people make every day. Compounding the bad decisions problem is the fact that the bad decisions get all the publicity, while the thoughtful, considerate and responsible decisions in comparison, go largely unpublicized.

Unless I missed it, you’ve never seen a 10-year, $100 million contract offer to a loving Mom who without fail has read to her child every night since the day she was born. The same can be said for that anonymous student who quietly hits the books while his partying friends are hitting the bong. And today like every day, there will be no headlines for the countless, middle-age adults who willingly give time and love to elderly parents who have always given time and love to them.

Human nature gets a bad rap in the media, it’s true. But out where life is lived rather than sensationalized, I think human nature is doing just fine.

From the Blog

• Super Bowl Winner… The NFL

Health News Highlights

• Is Your Personality Making You Put on Pounds?
• Define Your Wellness Mission
• Bicycle Magician
• Less Jobs, More Twinkies
• Why Eating Fat Doesn’t Make You Fat
• Healthy Sleep Tips

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But the real winner in all of this is really the NFL. Whether or not you are a football fan, you have to tip your hat to an organization that knows how to deliver a product that people love.  Unlike the NBA, MLB or the NHL, the National Football League operates on an entirely higher level of passion, professionalism and profitability.

In a year when a labor dispute between players and owners threatened to cancel the entire 2011-2012 season, both sides came together, resolved their issues and proceeded towards a Super Bowl that was watched by an estimated 100 million people. Not a bad ending to a rocky start.

Along the way, NFL annual revenues climbed to $9 billion, aided in part by the average 30 second TV spot for this year’s big game going for around $3.5 million. That’s a lot of Doritos and Bud Light.

So as the lights go down on the 2011-2012 football season, what lessons can a dedicated Body Manager, or business owner, learn from the NFL’s success?

Here are a few suggestions:

• Play with passion. Life is too short for a C minus effort with a C minus outcome.
• Play with integrity. Establish high standards of performance and always strive to exceed them.
• Be creative. Always watch for new opportunities. You’ll find them just outside your comfort zone.
• Keep the drive alive. Long bombs are exciting to watch, but first downs make small accomplishments add up to big wins.
• Give more than is expected and you’ll receive more than expected. Think big. Go big. Give big. Get big. Then do it again. Bigger.
• Be like Tom Brady. Marry a supermodel and live with her in a brand new $17 million mansion.

OK, that last one was just to make sure we don’t take ourselves too seriously. Taking yourself too seriously is never any fun. Especially if you’re a Patriots fan.

From the Blog

• HAPPY 2013!!! (A pre-hindsight look at 2012)

Health News Highlights

• This Will Amaze (and should frighten) You
• The Single Best Thing You Can Do for Your Health
• CEO Outlook 2012…
• Is Employer-Based Health Insurance Worth Saving?
• America’s Obesity Problem Weighs Down Business
• How About Better Parents?

Video of the Month

• Human Factor: A goal is a direction, not an end.

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People rightfully talk about the value of hindsight. True, nothing like the rearview mirror of hindsight unearths the woulda, coulda, shouldas of life’s missed opportunities. So let’s jump ahead to the end of 2012 for a moment and use a little “pre-hindsight” to look backwards into the coming year.

The first thing I see is that the rewards of 2012 went to those who worked, not wished for what they wanted. Hard work perennially favors those who relish most deeply the opportunity of America, and 2012 was no exception. Once again history repeated itself, revealing that America’s enviable strength continues to be nurtured by those who maintain the sobriety of self-reliance amidst the stagnation of entitlement.

Technology accelerated her tenacious penetration into every crevice of modern life. From medicinal nano-robotics to deep space exploration, 2012 provided the largest window ever into how much we know about how little we know. Just as Edison and Einstein hewed a path for Jobs, Branson, Kamen and Gates, so did 2012 Sherpa the way for our next generation of technology’s trailblazers.

Of course our evolutionary journey can not be disgorged from its past, and 2012 was no exception in our painfully slow march to the brighter edges of humanity. For those hoping differently, I regret to inform you that our many accomplishments over the next 12 moons were not divorced from the crime, war, neglect, intolerance and disregard which accounts for such bulk in our behavioral forensics. But undaunted, we forged ahead nonetheless.

It is not by accident, but through perseverance, that we made it to the end of 2012. And it is not through indifference that we will make it much farther. The best news of all in our pre-hindsight review of 2012 is that in the ongoing battle between indifference and perseverance, perseverance won once again. For every instance of self-destruction both around us and within us, so too did arise the opportunity to remain fearless, unrelenting and undeterred in our appreciation of the gift life. I did not give up. And you did not give up. And that is ALL that will matter, in hindsight, some 362 days from now.

So as it must be, the year 2012 will be like none before it, a bittersweet experiment from the almanac of time. And as it can be, if we choose, the greatest days of our lives.

From the Blog

• A Date That Will Live in Infamy

Health News Highlights

• Did I Read That Right?
• First the Good News
• Now the Bad News
• The High Cost of Alcohol Abuse
• You’re Never Too Old to Run a Marathon
• Holiday Gift Idea for Fitness Fanatics

Video of the Month

• The Business of Well-Being

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Billy the Coach’s Body Manager’s Bulletin is packed with tips, insights and motivation that will dramatically improve your exercise, nutrition and lifestyle management skills. Sign up today to receive the BODY MANAGER’S BULLETIN in your inbox monthly.

“Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”

These were the first words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt announcing the attack by Japanese forces on U.S military facilities at Pearl Harbor. December 7th, 2011 will be the 70th anniversary of this epic event in American history. This historic milestone reminds us how dramatically the world has changed in 70 years, but also how fortunate we are that some things remain the same.

In 1941, it was truly a different world from the one we know today. The average American earned a salary of $2,050. You could buy a car for an average price of $925 and fill it up with gas for under three bucks.

The first McDonalds Restaurant would not show up until 14 years later in 1955. And not for another 10 years would the first company offer health insurance benefits to its employees. Think about how many corporations AND health care policy-makers would like to get a do-over on that one.

It is surprising for most people to learn that the origins of our decades old employer-based health care system had little to do with health, having been designed primarily to evade restrictions of wage controls imposed during WW II. In the beginning this system functioned fairly well, but as technology-driven medical care became increasingly sophisticated, the costs became increasingly expensive. If you follow these breadcrumbs forward a half-century, they will lead you directly to today’s health care entanglement of soaring medical costs, unaffordable premiums and employers struggling to remain competitive on the global gridiron of business.

While much has changed since that “date of infamy,” some things remain the same and always will. We still face daunting challenges as a nation both domestic and abroad. That which was designed with the best of intentions can still result in the most unintended of consequences. But as long as we respect our legacy of victory at any cost, nothing is going to stop us.

One other famous quote from the Pearl Harbor era might provide a valuable reminder and a much-needed boost of confidence as America faces her current challenges. Though some controversy surrounds its authenticity, Imperial Admiral Yamamoto, Commander in Chief of the Japanese Imperial Combined Fleet was quoted as saying about attacking Pearl Harbor, “We have awakened a sleeping giant and have instilled in him a terrible resolve.”

You’re damn right Commander. You’re damn right.

From the Blog

• For Some… The Weight is Over

Health News Highlights

• 7 Billion Human Beings
• Strength Training… The Closest Thing to a Fountain of Youth
• Antidepressant Use Soars 400%
• Americans Talk Skinny, Eat Fat
• Deutsche Bank’s Richard Byrne… One Bad-Ass Banker
• Your Family’s Health Care Costs: $19,393

Video of the Month

• Your Greatest Weapon & Worst Enemy

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But at the same time, an unprecedented and powerful phenomenon is taking place among a small yet growing minority of Americans. Beneath the clamor of tired excuses for why “It’s not my fault,” there is an emerging segment of Americans who see physical fitness as a means of proving to themselves and others that the American spirit is alive and well. For them, the weight is over.

While most Americans search for excuses for their misbehaviors at McDonalds, these pioneers of the 21st century have recognized that survival of the fittest has given way to survival of the smartest, and that true prosperity in this age of caloric abundance will belong to those who demonstrate the discipline and self-reliance that formed the very bones of our great country.

Pioneers you might question? Absolutely. Never before have Americans had to navigate an environment where food is so abundant, and physical strength is so optional. Never before has such a web of governmental and institutional accommodations existed to cater to the needs of the most egregious offenders of obesity, diabetes, caloric excess and chronic laziness. We are the pioneers of health in the age of technology, and most Americans don’t have, or worse don’t want, a clue.

The greater consequences are obvious. When enough individuals blow a personal responsibility tire, the resulting drag on everything from parenting to gross national product gets caught in the entitlement crossfire. From far too many Americans, you’re likely to hear “This is what I want” rather than “This is why I work.”

Good luck with that.

I will never surrender my place with those who still see America as the greatest opportunity any human being has ever had. To be expecting no one other than myself to carry my water if I expect to drink. And to be forging ahead as did those pioneers of our past, welcoming the challenge of new horizons, and knowing that it is up to me to get me there.