Banter Without Borders

Tips for the overextended international and domestic traveler

Globetrotters, World Travelers, Road Warriors, Jet Setters, International Business agents, we've all heard the terms and have worn the banners in today's business environment.  I am sure many of you have the additional battle scars of long nights, delayed flights, long international flights and jet lag and wall as important time away from your homes and family.  Long gone is the 8 hour business day and today's technology makes us work 24 x 7 x 365 and sometimes x 366 days a year.  Your body takes a tremendous toll and the wear and tear, often, goes unnoticed until it's too late.

So how do you stave off the accelerated aging process, the added weight gain, the shear exhaustion that wreaks havoc with your biological clock?  There are steps you can take to ensure you maintain your health and maybe, even more importantly, improve your health.  Yes, it's true; you can actually improve your health and well being with a few precautionary steps and most importantly, remain consistent once you develop this routine.

First things first, create a budget.  Create a budget?  You will need to sit down, push all your work aside and admit there is a problem.  We've been there, in the hotel room or airport lounge with a few minutes to spare and more often than not, you get that glazed look and fall into a trance listening to...nothing.  TV background noise or music fills the room which just numbs the senses.  Or, sometimes you just sit there blankly thinking, "What am I doing here?"  It's ok to feel that way.  What you discover is that this a great time to think about your health budget.  It's really fairly easy and may add years to your life, bounce to your step, and sometimes increase you overall well being.  But, the key is, you need to admit there is a problem and you want to do something about it.

            On your budget, how much time will you allocate for exercise and more importantly, what type of exercises will you do.  Here is a hint, keep it simple, but start.  Starting is always the hardest part. 

Your Routine

1. Once you roll out of bed and get a bit warmed up, do a set of sit-ups. Initially, only do one set of 10, if you can. Don't be embarrassed, no one is watching, but more importantly, you're trying. You can increase the repetitions later as you gain strength. http://www.wikihow.com/Do-Sit-Ups
2. Leg Raises: Complete one set of 10 leg raises. While you are lying on the floor from doing sit-ups, you can transition into leg raises. Remember, do them slowly, deliberately and maintain proper position. http://www.wikihow.com/Do-Leg-Lifts
3. Crunches: While still lying on the floor, complete one set of 10 torso crunches. You do this by putting your hands, laced, behind your head and then do a sit up and bring your knees up at the same time to meet your elbows. Do not pull your head up with your hands. This is a bit more difficult and will fell awkward at first, but it's a great exercise for the abs. http://exercise.about.com/cs/abs/ht/Crunch.htm
4. Let's get up off the floor and do some torso twists. Compete one set of 20 torso twists. With your arms extended slowly twist in one direction, and then twist as far as you can in the other. Do these SLOWLY and deliberately at first. You can increase speed and intensity at a later date once you gain more strength and elasticity. http://www.ehow.com/how_2283064_do-torso-twist-core-exercise.html
5. Moving to the legs, do some squats. About 10 will do for a start. If you haven't done these in a while, you may want to position yourself next to a chair to help you with your balance. Do about 10 squats. http://exercise.about.com/od/exerciseworkouts/ss/howtosquat.htm
6. Find a large book, usually a thick phone book will do and place your front part of your feet on this book and do some calf raises. What you want to do is stand straight and lower your heels to the floor. Then, slowly rise up on your toes. This extends and flexes your calves. Do about 10 reps of those. http://www.wikihow.com/Do-Calf-Raises
7. Let's move to the upper body and arms. Let's work your biceps. Do you have a briefcase or large purse? If so, use that for weight resistance and complete a set of 10 bicep curls, again maintaining the proper position and movement. http://exercise.about.com/cs/weightlifting/l/blsamplebicep.htm
8. Reverse bicep curl. Instead of your palms being in an upward facing position, do bicep curls with your palms facing down. It's feels weird at the beginning, but it works the muscle group differently and you now have pretty much hit that bicep from all directions. There are other variations, but let's keep it simple.
9. Triceps extensions. This nicely tightens up that flabby floppy muscle under your upper arm opposite the bicep. Do this one very carefully. With your weight resistance, raise the briefcase, or other item, over your head and then lower it behind your head to about neck level. Then, slowly raise it about your head and repeat for 10 times. Ouch...feel the burn. You will if you haven't done this one before. http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/standing_triceps_extensions.htm
10. Ok, return to the lying position. This is a nice one to finish with. These are simple bench presses. They are good for your chest and a bit of your shoulders as well. Grasp your briefcase/bag firmly with both hands. Hold it about your chest, lower it to your chest and press it up again. Do this in slow deliberate motions. Take your time and remember form is important.

 

This should get you started in a good routine and budgeting your time for you.  Slowly but surely you will start to see improvements.  Your stamina and energy level will increase.  Remember this is a start and you will need to increase reps, weights and duration over a period of time.  And, as always, check with your personal Physician before starting any exercise program.  

The other important thing to do is alter your diet.  Eat healthier, smaller portions.  And, you will find out that you can actually eat more often, if the foods are those which are higher fiber.  Increase fruits and vegetables.  Decrease your intake of...snacks.  What you will learn is to budget your intake of foods and you know which ones are the right ones.  We all do.  In short, follow your exercise plan, change your diet and do it logically and moderately.  If you take the time, you will find yourself rejuvenated and your family might discover a new you as well.  Remember, draw up your budget, make your plan, implement the plan and do it comfortably.  The bottom line is that you will see physical as well as mental benefits from your plan.  This doesn't make the trips any shorter, but you will find, once you return home you'll recover a bit quicker and find time and energy to do the more important personal things in your life.   

Last, but not least, check out some of the other travel sites for additional tips on security, relaxation, stress, jet lag, expenses, hotels, offers, and all the hotel and travel freebies and benefits.  http://www.roadwarriortips.com/

The Death of the Brand Manger

In the October 12, 2009 edition of Advertising Age, Jack Neff posted a column entitled "Why It's Time to Do Away with the Brand Manager." http://adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=139593. I was shocked...yes, shocked! How could this be? Having grown up in the golden age of "brand management," it was universally accepted that a centralized manager was needed to oversee all aspects of the brand including: a point of consensus, how initiatives were executed and overall accountability. This was the central core of consumer marketing; the hub of the wheel, if you will.

Through all this, the "gold standard" in brand management was and has been Procter & Gamble. Impervious to change over the decades, P&G has been the stalwart of maintaining the status quo, at least in the concept of brand management and its function. And so how does Neff's opening sentence begin? "Managing a brand has always been a slightly odd concept, given that consumers are the real arbiters of brand meaning, and it's become increasingly outmoded in today's two-way world." What? What is a two-way world? What does P&G think of this, or Unilever or other global marketers? Well, as it turns out, they're embracing it...yes really. They're embracing the new concept of "brand advocate" as opposed to the historical concept of "brand manager". So what does this mean? Have I been wrong all my working life, or at least most of it? The answer is "no," but going forward it's "yes," I guess. What's changed?

What's changed is "Digital." In a report issued by Forrester Research entitled:  "Adaptive Brand Marketing: Rethinking Your Approach to Branding in the Digital Age," Forrester suggests... strongly suggests...that the brand manager of today will need to become much more consumer-centric, more nimble and more real-time focused. Digital now has allowed marketers to get to the "Holy Grail"...one-on-one marketing and an opportunity to create a direct dialogue with the consumer. And, that requires different skill sets and a different marketing organization set-up.

From the perspective of the global marketing director, (i.e., the super brand manager), this presents a paradox...more interaction with the consumer in local markets and rapid adaptation of local marketing initiatives by local marketing teams to better adapt to the consumer's needs. Rapid-fire analysis and immediate execution becomes the norm. But, this will have to be balanced with the need to control global brand equity and strategy. Global team building will take on new dimensions and the communications process between the global marketing director and team members will need to be streamlined; think virtual communication. Welcome to the digital world, and congratulations, you are no longer a brand manager; you're now a brand advocate.