Christmas Day NBA Games

NBA Christmas Day Games:                                               December 26th 2009

It's the day after Christmas, and after a day of unwrapping presents and spending time with loved ones things are settling back to normal again.  One thing that did bring back memories beyond my Christmas time childhood ones was having a couple of NBA games on TV.  The Boston Celtics went up against the Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers outplayed the Los Angeles Lakers.  I've never been a huge sports fan, especially the type that plops myself down in front of the big screen wasting away countless hours.  Even when I was a professional athlete I seldom spent time that way watching game after game.  We spent enough time watching game film with the irritating voice of one of the coaches narrating throughout.

I do remember playing an NBA game on Christmas day on a couple occasions through my career.  It was at the early stage of my career when I was with the Seattle Supersonics and both games were against the regional rival Portland Trailblazers.  I can still remember now how the players and coaches would grumble about having to play on Christmas Day.  I was just a young whippersnapper and didn't have any family or kids to devote a lot of time to, so I didn't mind it as much as some of the older guys who had family.  I do remember how difficult it was to emotionally get yourself up to play the game, simply because day games (especially on a holiday) have a way of throwing you off your rhythm and out of sync.  It was fun for the fans, as they would stream into the arena, fresh from unwrapping Christmas gifts and spending the morning together.  But we as players; were either spending time in a hotel room if we were the visiting team, or dashing out the door first thing in the morning after seeing everyone open their presents and heading off to the arena to get ready for the game.  Christmas Day games are typically in the early afternoon, so that means you’ll be arriving at the arena at least by noontime.

I don't blame the NBA (and all the other major league sports leagues playing on holidays) for trying to capitalize on having people either come to the arena to watch the game or tune in by the millions from the comforts of home.  I just read an article in regards to the Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy stating that the NBA ought to abolish Christmas Day games.  He mentioned he spent 15 minutes unwrapping presents, kissing the wife and kids goodbye and heading off to the arena to get ready for the game.  He has a point there, but as long as the almighty dollar dictates the schedule and TV coverage for major league sports, that's the way it's going to be.

The life of a professional athlete is one in which he or she is used to live in our hotel rooms, keeping one bag packed and being ready to respond to the call of duty.  I guess I shouldn’t make it that serious; it is after all just a game and entertainment.

James Donaldson is the author of “Standing Above The Crowd” (A Success Roadmap for High Achievement in Business, Athletics, Community Involvement and Life).  He is also an accomplished motivational/inspirational speaker in which he shares his strategies and stories that he has utilized to become a “High Achiever” in lengthy (20 years) careers in professional sports and being a small business entrepreneur with The Donaldson Clinic www.donaldsonclinic.com .  He recently ran for the office of Mayor in the City of Seattle and has been passionately involved in various communities around the Seattle metropolitan area since graduation from Washington State University ’79.

If you’re interested in having James come and speak to your group of young adults, business entrepreneurs, aspiring political and community leaders, and athletic teams, please contact him at jamesd@standingabovethecrowd.com  and or leave a personal message for him at 1-800-745-3161.  Keep up with him and read about how he is reaching out and making a difference in the lives of so many around the world at  www.standingabovethecrowd.com  

Sexual Affairs

Sexual Affairs:                                                                          Thursday, December 24, 2009

I was watching the Chris Matthews Hardball show yesterday and he was giving a rundown of the top 10 political events of the decade.  Of course, he jumped right in with # 10 being sex scandals.  I know he did that just for ratings, and to get our attention, but it does.  Here's his list that he composed, and these are just the ones that made major headlines: (all the rest of them are doing their best to keep it under cover!)

-        Senator Edwards

-        Governor Sandford

-        Senator Ensign

-        Governor Spitzer

-        Senator Craig

-        Senator Vitter

-        Governor McGrevey

-        Congressman Condit

-        Congressman Foley

I don't condone any of the actions of any of these elected officials, and actually I am getting to the point now where it barely raises an eyebrow on my forehead.  I lived around the world in several countries where elected officials and prominent businessmen having affairs is just a common everyday occurrence.  I know that people are voyeuristic by nature, and we love doing “the rubberneck” at the scene of any car wreck.  I'm glad that we as Americans; still maintain a high sense of what is moral and what is valued in society for the most part.  I'm glad that we make a big deal out of extramarital affairs and keep pressure on each other to continue doing the “right thing”.

I don't really consider extramarital affairs by prominent individuals a “character flaw”, but I regarded as more of a statistical occurrence.  Prominent individuals have many times more opportunities and temptations that come their way, and it takes an extraordinarily strong individual to resist each and every opportunity.

I saw this up close and personal for myself on many occasions in my career as a professional athlete and during my recent campaign run for the office of Mayor and the city of Seattle.  Professional athletes, as we all have witnessed by the recent indiscretions of Tiger Woods, have countless opportunities to not only surround themselves by beautiful and seductive people (both men and women), but to lose sense of what's important, especially if they have spouses and children involved.  I've had my share of indulgences, but I've been a bachelor and have yet to be married.  The thought occurred to me shortly after declaring myself as a candidate for office in Seattle; that sports and politics aren’t much different in the types of public adoration from adoring fans that it attracts and the sense of power that it gives an individual.  I thought to myself, “I thought sports have a lot of groupies and hanger-ons, but it's nothing compared to politics”.  In sports, the athletes at least tend to be fit, young, beautiful and charismatic.  But politicians come in all sizes and shapes, and for many of them, this is their first taste of power and the first time many of them have been in a position where people want something from them and they're willing to do just about anything to get it.  It's enough to give anybody a swelled sense of ego that you can easily get carried away with.

So as we close out this decade, and enter into the next, we'll probably see more and more high-profile people take a tumble from the high perches that they occupy in society.  I feel that my career in sports prepared me well to live in a “fishbowl” and under constant public scrutiny.  But that's okay, I feel totally at ease with it and I realized that with a wonderful opportunity and privilege that I have attained over the years that there is a sense of responsibility that goes along with it.  I only hope and pray that the rest of the folks who find themselves in high-profile positions can keep that in mind.

 

James Donaldson is the author of “Standing Above The Crowd” (A Success Roadmap for High Achievement in Business, Athletics, Community Involvement and Life).  He is also an accomplished motivational/inspirational speaker in which he shares his strategies and stories that he has utilized to become a “High Achiever” in lengthy (20 years) careers in professional sports and being a small business entrepreneur with The Donaldson Clinic www.donaldsonclinic.com .  He recently ran for the office of Mayor in the City of Seattle and has been passionately involved in various communities around the Seattle metropolitan area since graduation from Washington State University ’79.

If you’re interested in having James come and speak to your group of young adults, business entrepreneurs, aspiring political and community leaders, and athletic teams, please contact him at jamesd@standingabovethecrowd.com  and or leave a personal message for him at 1-800-745-3161.  Keep up with him and read about how he is reaching out and making a difference in the lives of so many around the world at  www.standingabovethecrowd.com  

 

Scanning Documents

Scanning Documents:

Several years ago, long before it was in fashion, I began the (at that time) very tedious process of scanning documents from scanner into a computer. I remember when I began scanning documents (at least 15 years ago) I had a very rudimentary scanner that would only scan one page at a time, and only in black-and-white.

Things have progress tremendously since then, and now you can get scanners that give a fantastic performance at a very reasonable price. I run and own a physical therapy clinic here in the Seattle area, so you can imagine the reams and reams of paper that we go through just keeping track of patient charts. One of the things I found out early on was that it's so much easier to retrieve a patient chart if it is scanned into the computer and turned into a digital file. Of course, we still keep a storage unit full of paper files on hand (an industry and government requirement) that date back several years, but this saves everyone (usually me!) from having to dig through box after box, and shelf after shelf, usually in a dark in storage unit with a flashlight trying to find a patient chart.

Now, any time that we have a request for a patient chart, we've simplified the task of finding a chart by having it digitalize and saved securely on our computers. It saves a lot of time, and a lot of backbreaking work of trying to search back several years to find a patient chart.

So I'm a big fan of scanning documents and reducing my stacks and stacks of papers that have a tendency to pile on my desk. Once you get the hang of it, it's easy to create new files and keep things organized on your hard drive (be sure you always back up your hard drive before you shred your documents for good).
My favorite scanners over the years have been the Visioneer office scanners. They're very reasonably priced, and they provide great customer service and technical support. You can find out more about the at their homepage at www.Visioneer.com

During this holiday season, a new idea has come upon me and that is to scan in all my Christmas cards that I'm receiving in the mail at this time. I'm sure I'm like everyone else, in which I receive a slew Christmas cards and after it's time to take them down from the mantle I just put them away in a box somewhere. But I find that if I scan them, and I make a short notation on who it's from and when I received it, it'd be much easier to retrieve and will reduce my paper clutter around the house. Plus, if I want to share it with anyone else, I can create a PDF file and send it off in an e-mail.


James Donaldson is the author of “Standing Above The Crowd” (A Success Roadmap for High Achievement in Business, Athletics, Community Involvement and Life). He is also an accomplished motivational/inspirational speaker in which he shares his strategies and stories that he has utilized to become a “High Achiever” in lengthy (20 years) careers in professional sports and being a small business entrepreneur with The Donaldson Clinic www.donaldsonclinic.com . He recently ran for the office of Mayor in the City of Seattle and has been passionately involved in various communities around the Seattle metropolitan area since graduation from Washington State University ’79.
If you’re interested in having James come and speak to your group of young adults, business entrepreneurs, aspiring political and community leaders, and athletic teams, please contact him at jamesd@standingabovethecrowd.com and or leave a personal message for him at 1-800-745-3161. Keep up with him and read about how he is reaching out and making a difference in the lives of so many around the world at www.standingabovethecrowd.com

Daily Workouts

Daily workouts: Monday, December 21, 2009


One thing that I've been very religious about over the last 30 years or so is my daily workout. Now I know, that I used to be a professional athlete and it was part of my job description. But, one of the reasons I was able to perform at such a high level for so long is because I really disciplined myself with a solid regimen of daily workouts. Now that I'm in my 50s, I realized that moderation is the key to everything and that unless I'm competing for a “gold medal” and to show the world that I'm the best, I don't have to be quite so diligent and discipline, but just be content with myself to be the best that I can be. So, one of the things I do now is to be sure that my workout consists of a combination of good nutrition, stretching and flexibility, weightlifting and cardio. And when I say “daily”, it really doesn't have to be “daily”, but 4 - 5 times a week will suffice just as well.

One of the tricks that I used as a professional athlete was to at least show up at the gym and go through the routine even on those days where I really didn't feel like doing it. My coaches who were really in tune with the athletes would realize that even for top-flight athletes, it's hard to maintain that physical and emotional demand every single day of the season. So, on some occasions they would have us come in to the gym and forgo the taping of our ankles, and instead of sprinting up and down the basketball court, we would go at a pace just fast enough to get us loose and warmed up before calling it a day. By doing that, we were still able to keep our mental focus yet ease up on some of the physical demands.

So, I found myself doing such today on a rainy, dreary Monday morning here in Seattle Washington. I cut my workout down to about 45 minutes (instead of the usual 1 1/2 hours) and just did some light cardio, stretching, some ab/back work, chitchatted with the few friends (I have to get my social workout in too!), and called it good. That's good enough for today and I'll be right back out again tomorrow, most likely with a refreshed mental approach, and a body that's not running on empty.

Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind in your daily workout approach:

1 - don't make excuses, at least “make it to the gym” (it’s too easy to get out of the routine)

2 - even on those days you don't feel like working out, continue to “go through a shortened routine”

3 - don't feel guilty, at least “you made it” to the gym

4 - get your “social workout in”, because that will make you feel better about being there

5 - realize that you can get back into your regular routine tomorrow

6 - go out and have a great day!

Tiger Woods

As a former professional athlete myself and a person of high visibility in the community I'm used to living my life in the "public spotlight" and where just about every move and every word I utter is closely scrutinized. Athletes and other high visibility people understand this very well. For whatever reason, we as a society and community tend to elevate the status and value that athletes in other high visibility people have in our community. We almost forget, that they are people themselves.

I was in the grocery store this morning, and the grocery store checker who was scanning my items asked me what "I thought about Tiger". In this particular case, the checker is someone who has become a friend over the years, and felt comfortable enough to ask me this question. I can't begin to tell you, how many times people have stopped me in the streets or whispered something to me in meetings pertaining to Tiger Woods. I mentioned to my friend, the checker (who is a man), at the grocery store, that "Tiger did what most guys dream of doing if there weren't any consequences or repercussions for doing so". Now keep in mind, I mentioned that it was only "a dream", and that most guys know that there's no way that they can actually carry this out in real life. Matter-of-fact, I've been in many conversations in the last couple weeks in which guys are high-fiving themselves and whooping it up because they feel that at least Tiger had great taste and get involved with great-looking women. Tiger, just happened to try to carry out in real life and is going to pay a tremendous price for doing so. Not to mention, the impact is going to have on his family, wife and his young children. I don't condone Tigers' actions, and there's absolutely nothing right about what he did, especially due to the fact that he's a married man. That is the part of all this that most people don't take into account, that there is a young family that is going to be forever traumatized and impacted by his selfish and silly actions.

Athletes and people in high profile positions have always found themselves surrounded by tremendous temptations, be it to stray outside their marriages, or to abuse the power and privilege that they have, or to not live up to the responsibilities that go along with their heightened levels of status in society. I remember years ago, when Charles Barkley made a television commercial in which he stated "I am not a role model", and when tennis great Andre Agassi had a television commercial in which he mentioned "image is everything". I realize that these are just television commercials, but also have to realize the impact these messages have in insidiously spreading throughout our mindset and attitudes, especially of young people who were more greatly impacted than anyone else.

As an athlete, I too was faced with tremendous temptations just about every step of the way. I found that my best strategy in dealing with all temptations (be it alcohol, drugs, women, partying, money, etc.) was just to say "no" (in my case definitely "no" to alcohol and drugs) and to be seriously responsible with any other temptations and realizing that I had a high public profile and reputation as a positive male role model, and that along with that comes responsibility what I wanted it to or not. I continue that mindset to this day and for me (and I believe for everyone) the best way to conduct oneself is to think about the "big picture" and keep that in mind at all times.

This is been an exceptionally crazy year in which we see many many high profile people stumble about an abuse their positions and responsibilities in our community. We've seen elected officials, entertainers, athletes and community leaders of all sorts come tumbling down from the high perches which they occupy due to their indiscretions. None of us are perfect, and we as a community and the nation (and globally perhaps) are very forgiving. I do keep in mind, the old adage, "that to whom much is given, much is expected".

It's great to dream and fantasize, but most dreams and fantasies should remain "right there" and not be played out in real life especially when there are others around you who it will adversely impact.

My advice to Tiger, is to continue making strides towards making amends to your wife and family and children, and then to your adoring public, and then to get back out there and perform at the top of your game as a great role model an athlete that we've known you as over these years. None of us are perfect, and some of us will have a lot more temptations come away than others, but we all need to continue doing our best to be our best and that our actions generally carry serious consequences along with them.

I will continue to do my best to be a respected member of my communities. I realize, especially young people, look upon me as a former athlete and a very visible person in the community, and as someone who cares about them and their well-being. So be careful, and continue doing your best!

Re: The Biggest Shopping Weekend is Here

Here we go with another big shopping weekend and everybody madly dashing and about to and fro in picking up their last-minute Christmas gifts for family friends and loved ones. It's like clockwork watching everyone start to panic under the stress and pressure of it all. I don't know about the rest of you out there but I decided several years ago to free myself from all that pressure and stress. My friends and family and loved ones know that I care about them and it is more important to receive a phone call, a card, or spend some quality time with them that is racking our brains and stress ourselves to the max in trying to find that ideal gift. Besides, it's so much easier to go online and do your shopping from there. I signed up years ago with one of my favorite business endeavors, marketamerica.com/donaldson and it has freed and allowed me to just do my shopping online and then send any guests in purchases directly to the people I bought it for. I'm not a big shopper during Christmas, but it's definitely the way to go, shopping online. If anyone needs any help in that regard, to free to contact me at marketamerica.com/donaldson or give me a call at 1-800-745-3161.

As I'm writing this and looking out of my window, I see what is becoming very typical in traditional site during the holiday season. A car driving by, with a tree strapped to its roof. It reminds me of a bunch of leaf cutter ants as they scurry about carrying it leaves just about as big as they are back to their nests. It's kind of humorous in an ironic kind of way!