Today is December 1, 2009. January 1 is right around the corner and already resolutions are being declared. Never have I been fond of the new year and all the hoopla over the whole deal. Although it’s a good reason to throw a party and have a bit of fun with friends and family and renew relationships with some enemies, there are 364 other days to do this. It’s the least favorite of all the holidays.

Furthermore, I find it a huge hurdle people try to cross when setting goals. People set life changing expectations for themselves: Lose weight, save money, quit smoking, spend more time with family, get fit, get out of debt, get educated. There are more.

Why do people weight for January 1 to get started? They have failed year after year and they are back at it again. These are huge changes that require planning. So while the rest of the mainstream world is making the exact list as you, the clock ticks and it simply becomes casual conversation leading you to Curves, or LA Fitness where you sign your hard earned cash away and attend maybe one or two months at the gym and lose a couple of pounds only to return to your lifestyle that you really are unwilling to change.

If you are unwilling to commit now, you won’t commit January 1. Write a plan. Set long term goals. List objectives. Change your life. Do it NOW!

1. Eat lunch with others—share a meal with colleagues. Eating alone at your desk might seem productive, but it won’t expand your career-advancing network. Make good use of the lunch hour with people inside and outside your organization.
2. Seek high-profit areas—low-margins equal dead ends. Most of the praise and promotions go to people who work in high profit areas of companies. Learn the high performing (and high potential) parts of your business. Focus on getting a position in one of those areas.
3. Develop your elevator speech—your brand travels by word-of-mouth. Decide what you would want people to know about you in a sentence or two. Maybe it’s that you have an MBA from a prestigious school or an in-demand skill. What makes you different in a positive way?
4. Be the answer—figure out how to get things done. Your boss has enough on his or her plate without having to walk you through solutions. If you get an assignment, find a way to deliver the right response without wasting your boss’s time.
5. Make the big play—assume some risk. Playing it safe won’t likely take you very far. You don’t need to constantly put yourself out on a limb, but you do need to be an aggressive change agent. In the end, it’s really the only way that you and your organization will prosper.
6. Loosen the reigns—recognize others’ skills and potential. Being a control freak won’t help you develop the strong people you need around you. Set goals and provide resources as well as reasonable oversight, but give others the freedom to find their own way of accomplishing it.
7. Play to your strengths—get in the right seat on the bus. You always want to be open to learning new skills, but you also need to understand what you really love to do and what you’re really good at doing. The faster you identify this, the more quickly your career will advance.
8. Learn to measure—metrics will get you everywhere. Like it or not, senior executives are increasingly demanding marketing metrics. Don’t abandon creative thinking or softer measurements like customer feedback, but also make a point to improve your analytic proficiency.
9. Know the right people—invest your limited time wisely. Right or wrong, whom you know means a lot. Choose people who are successful themselves, appreciate your accomplishments, demonstrate a sincere interest in you and have a strong circle of influence that would benefit your career.
10. Have some fun—lighten up now and then. There’s some truth to the “all work and no play” adage. You certainly don’t want to be the office clown, but finding humor in situations and being an enjoyable colleague will make you and everyone around you happier and more productive.

Successful Marketing Campaigns Won’t Hurt Either.

To help you along, we recently published The Little Book of Marketing Do’s & Don’ts. It’s a collection of the eight most viewed “Do’s & Don’ts” published by our Print Strategist newsletter to date. Simply send Print Strategist Larry Bauer your postal mailing information and we’ll send you a complimentary copy. Then relax, turn off the digital devices and enjoy a wonderful holiday season.

1. Eat lunch with others—share a meal with colleagues. Eating alone at your desk might seem productive, but it won’t expand your career-advancing network. Make good use of the lunch hour with people inside and outside your organization.
2. Seek high-profit areas—low-margins equal dead ends. Most of the praise and promotions go to people who work in high profit areas of companies. Learn the high performing (and high potential) parts of your business. Focus on getting a position in one of those areas.
3. Develop your elevator speech—your brand travels by word-of-mouth. Decide what you would want people to know about you in a sentence or two. Maybe it’s that you have an MBA from a prestigious school or an in-demand skill. What makes you different in a positive way?
4. Be the answer—figure out how to get things done. Your boss has enough on his or her plate without having to walk you through solutions. If you get an assignment, find a way to deliver the right response without wasting your boss’s time.
5. Make the big play—assume some risk. Playing it safe won’t likely take you very far. You don’t need to constantly put yourself out on a limb, but you do need to be an aggressive change agent. In the end, it’s really the only way that you and your organization will prosper.
6. Loosen the reins—recognize others’ skills and potential. Being a control freak won’t help you develop the strong people you need around you. Set goals and provide resources as well as reasonable oversight, but give others the freedom to find their own way of accomplishing it.
7. Play to your strengths—get in the right seat on the bus. You always want to be open to learning new skills, but you also need to understand what you really love to do and what you’re really good at doing. The faster you identify this, the more quickly your career will advance.
8. Learn to measure—metrics will get you everywhere. Like it or not, senior executives are increasingly demanding marketing metrics. Don’t abandon creative thinking or softer measurements like customer feedback, but also make a point to improve your analytic proficiency.
9. Know the right people—invest your limited time wisely. Right or wrong, whom you know means a lot. Choose people who are successful themselves, appreciate your accomplishments, demonstrate a sincere interest in you and have a strong circle of influence that would benefit your career.
10. Have some fun—lighten up now and then. There’s some truth to the “all work and no play” adage. You certainly don’t want to be the office clown, but finding humor in situations and being an enjoyable colleague will make you and everyone around you happier and more productive.

Successful Marketing Campaigns Won’t Hurt Either.

To help you along, we recently published The Little Book of Marketing Do’s & Don’ts. It’s a collection of the eight most viewed “Do’s & Don’ts” published by our MondoBeat newsletter to date. Simply email your postal mailing information and we’ll send you a complimentary copy. Then relax, turn off the digital devices and enjoy a wonderful holiday season.

• Draft Provincial Resolution No. 2009-11-169
• “A Resolution Declaring May 2010 as Ilocos Norte Bike Month”
• Filed on : November 2009
• Status: Calendared for 1st Reading on 7 December 2009
• View this document on Scribd

I tend to read a lot of different blogs from time to time.  You can get a lot of different viewpoints on a lot of different topics and a lot of them are very interesting.  And I have to admit that more than a few of the blogs I read are motivational in nature, written by so many of these life coaches that try so hard to sell you on all their programs to improve your life….and supposedly to make six figure incomes.  A lot of what they write is geared toward women, is pretty woo-woo and pretty out there for me.  I don’t buy into a lot of it.  But every once in awhile, I’ll read one that really resonates with me.

Recently, I read a series of blog posts by readers of Christine Kane’s blog that were written in December of last year.  The idea was that, instead of coming up with resolutions for the new year, these people chose just one word to be their theme for the year. A pretty interesting concept to be sure.  We all know how successful most New Year resolutions are!  It’s not something I’ve ever done.  These folks chose a word and made it their mantra, posted it all over their worlds and made it a part of everything they did for the year.  And they had remarkable success in bringing their lives in line with their chosen word.  So, I looked at some of the words Christine suggested or her guest bloggers had chosen.  Most of them were, to put it nicely, trendy: clarity, authentic, gratitude, abundance, release and a lot of other words or concepts  like that.  Pretty woo-woo.  They may work for some of these folks, but they’re not really my style.

One word on the list though struck a chord with me: Trust.  That one I liked.  That’s one I could understand.  That’s one I could identify with and keep it as a mantra for more than a year.  I need to learn to trust more: to trust in myself, in my abilities, in my decisions, in other people, in opportunities, and last but certainly a biggie for me, in God.  Yeah, I’ve got trust issues that I would like to work on.  As I sat and thought about it, Trust could be my word for 2010 and the new decade.  I liked it a lot.  It felt comfortable….but maybe too comfortable.  Like maybe it wasn’t enough of a challenge.

But then another word came to me.  This one wasn’t on anybody’s list.  It wasn’t trendy, that I know of.  It definitely wasn’t woo-woo.  It’s a manly word.  This one REALLY spoke to me.  The word is GUTS. You know, the whole John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Dirty Dozen type of thing. GUTS.  It’s what Mrs. Pickford told me I had in the fifth grade.  As in having the GUTS to do what needs to be done.  Having the GUTS to live my life the way I know I should.  Having the GUTS to do those things that I don’t want to do, but know I must.  Having the GUTS to believe in myself.  Having the GUTS to go after those things that I want.  Having the GUTS to stand up for what I believe in.  In short, having the GUTS to be the man I am and the man I’d like to become.  And then there are all those little things that require a certain amount of GUTS too.  Like having the GUTS to make that phone call.  Having the GUTS to speak in a crowd.  Having the GUTS to take that photograph or try that new technique.  Having the GUTS to set limits.  Having the GUTS to set a price and stick to it.   Yeah, I found the word  for me, one that can be my mantra for the new year and the new decade, one that says it all for me….GUTS! That’s my goal: meeting my life head on with GUTS.  The Duke and Mrs. Pickford would be proud of me. And if I can approach every day of my life with a certain amount of GUTS, so will I.

So, while the rest of the world is makng their resolutions for the new year, I’ll be seeing how I can inject my new word into my life. It will be all over my life.  I’ll post it on my wall.  I’ll make it my screen saver.  I’m going to put it anywhere it can remind me to live my life with GUTS.  And I’ll question myself about whether or not I’ve met every situation with a certain amount of GUTS.  It’s gonna be my word for the year.  I can see some pretty big changes coming in the next year, if only I have the GUTS to make them happen in my life.  Heck, it may become my word for the rest of my life.  Check in with me periodically to see what effect it’s having.

And maybe next year I’ll be writing a guest post for Christine Kane to tell her readers how having the GUTS to make it my word changed my 2010. Should be an interesting year.

I’m taking on a challenge.

“The beauty of Christianity is the beauty of holiness.” David Vaughan

My problem: I see my life lacking in the pursuit of holiness.

My inspiration: Jonathan Edwards.

My goal: To glorify God with my life. (The ultimate desire of every believer should be the glory of God.)

My action plan: To study and put into practice Edwards’ 70 Resolutions. (As a result of my studies, I plan on jotting down a few thoughts about each resolution; particularly as each one relates to Biblical application, exhortation, and wisdom.)

What I am NOT trying to accomplish:

• Works-based salvation. (I have been saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone! My efforts in this challenge are meant only to shape me more into the image of Christ.)
• Painting a pretty picture about myself. (I am a wretched sinner, albeit saved by grace. My intent is to find the many areas in my life that I can improve in. I recognize God’s sovereignty and I am deeply humbled by the standard found in Christ’s perfect, sacrificial life.)
• Daily checking off a moral to-do list. (The resolutions are not intended to be “completed” like a list of short-term goals. Holiness (Christlikeness) is a life-long pursuit. My intent is to become more disciplined in my pursuit of Christlikeness throughout my daily Christian walk.)

What I AM trying to accomplish:

• Compile a written record of knowledge gained, joy experienced, difficulties undergone, hope and faith established, etc.
• Establish an informal accountability. (My intent in posting my thoughts publicly is, in a way, accountability. For those who know me in person, I would hope you would approach me when I am not living up to the clear commands of Scripture. Much of what I post I realize may never be read by another person. My goal is certainly not to impress anyone with my words. If anything, I pray any readers will be encouraged and/or exhorted to pursue holiness and the glory of God.)
• Provide a resource for other believers to be edified and spurred on to pursue Christ every day.
• Present a venue for readers to post relevant thoughts and comments pertaining to the pursuit of holiness.

My current resources:

• “The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards,” by Dr. Steven J. Lawson
• The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards (provided by Desiring God Ministries) – Resolutions

I hope God will bless this practical journey toward holiness. To any readers out there, I hope you’ll be encouraged by this challenge I am undertaking. May God also bless your pursuit to be more like Christ!

The silly season is upon us again. I find it interesting that although we all know Christmas comes at the same time each year, stress and disharmony still comes to many for the month. This is followed by a year ending and new one beginning, and many resolutions lying where they were conceived – still at the start of a year!

I was surprised to hear today that everyone likes to get things right the first time. I actually didn’t know that. So if that were true, how many people do not achieve the goals they set at the beginning of the year? Is that we are afraid of achieving our goals? Are the resolutions stale from being set year after year? This year I’ll quit smoking, this year I’ll slow down and spend more time on me, this year I’ll lose weight, this year I’ll achieve balance…and this year I WILL achieve it!!

I wonder if instead of setting goals, having a well formed outcome for how you will be different at the end of 2010, what will you be doing, and how will you have got there? Integrate the outcome with your neurology and it will become an arrow of behaviour for achievement. There are many NLP processes that can be utilised to assist you and yours to achieve your desires. As practitioners, gift these processes this Christmas, so the ghost of resolutions past may rest in peace.

xoxo
Monmons

Today I scheduled 2010.  From January to November of next year I now have a specific something to achieve every month, with December as a holiday.  12 months; 52.1775 weeks; 365.2425 days; 8,765.82 hours; 525,949.2 minutes; 31,556,952 seconds.

Tad overwhelming to be honest.

Well, I say I’ve scheduled 2010… I mean I haven’t got every tick of every clock set in stone.  What I should say is that today I drafted the initial 12 month business plan for my soon-to-exist Repertory Theatre Company (more of which to come… eventually).  If all goes to plan then this time next year (to the day) I’ll be finishing a 6 month run of weekly rep devoted to classical theatre and new writing.  Bizarre.

I can honestly say that I’ve never attempted anything like as ambitious as this project, and have never put so much time or effort into developing or implementing  something.  Is this finally maturity?  Is it just boredom?  Ego?  Does it matter? Does the impulse behind something necessarily effect the outcome?  Is the creation independent of the creator?  What hold does a writer have over the story once it’s written?

I wonder where I’ll be in a year’s time.

On top of the Theatre Company I started a preliminary list of 2010 Resolutions (never managed to stick to any yet…):

1) Learn to appreciate opera
- (I’ve got a book and a CD and everything)
2) Write a blog entry every day
- (already annoyed with this commitment)
3) Write a children’s book
- (yeah, I don’t know where that one came from…)
4) Finish writing my Greek Tragedy trilogy
- (sounds dull.  Maybe it is.)
5) Make a start on my Ira Aldridge bioplay
- (if you don’t know who this is then either look him up on Wikipedia or wait a coupla years for me to finish the script… either way he’s pretty awesome)
6) Ditto the Sherlock Holmes play
- (you’ll find out about this one soon enough…)
7) Theatre Companyas
- (as I said, more on this eventually)

So far, so good.  Consequently, if all goes to plan, this time next year I’ll have founded and lead a succesful theatre company, produced and performed in six months of weekly London Rep, written the first draft of a children’s book, finished three plays and started two others.  I’ll be able to listen to opera and enjoy and understand it on a whole new level, and will have almost four hundred blog posts up with all the thoughts and feelings in each thought out and solidified for review.

Ambitious indeed.

The difficulty, I reckon, will not be so much in the doing, but rather in the not not-doing… if you get my drift.  I don’t know about the rest of you, but I find it far too easy to just… Not Do.  When you throw in all the mindless television that balms and soothes (referring to the lowest common denominator here), the various social networking sites that bite at everyone’s heels (again, the majority, not the all) and quick, fatty, soulless takeaway meals… well, it really is far too easy to just… Nothing… to laze and stagnate and laugh at the Grotesques on X-Factor… to find out which 80’s movie star you’d be on Facebook… to fill your jaw with processed meat and MSG…

I’ve spent weeks, months doing nothing.  Hell, if you tot it all up we’re probably talking years.  Drifting along.  Nothing.

There you go: I’ve been on the phone for an hour since writing that paragraph, just talking about bugger all: Nothing.

In ‘The Stars Tennis Balls’ by Stephen Fry (an absolutely wonderful version of The Count of Monte Christo set in the 80’s) the main character makes a vow; something along the lines of: “He would no longer be a passive victim of events – from now on things would not happen to him.  He would cause things to happen to others, and fear would have no place in him”.  Or something along those lines, I don’t have a copy in front of me.

Anyway, I read that a year or so ago and it struck me as something special; something important and necessary.  I think I’m finally ready to put it into practise.

Guess we’ll find out in a year or so’s time.

2010 is coming ♥

Today, I am sharing resolution number thirty nine to forty five  of Jonathan Edwards

The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards (1722-1723)

Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake.

Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week.

39. Resolved, never to do anything that I so much question the lawfulness of, as that I intend, at the same time, to consider and examine afterwards, whether it be lawful or no; except I as much question the lawfulness of the omission.

40. Resolved, to inquire every night, before I go to bed, whether I have acted in the best way I possibly could, with respect to eating and drinking. Jan. 7, 1723.

41. Resolved, to ask myself at the end of every day, week, month and year, wherein I could possibly in any respect have done better. Jan. 11, 1723.

42. Resolved, frequently to renew the dedication of myself to God, which was made at my baptism; which I solemnly renewed, when I was received into the communion of the church; and which I have solemnly re-made this twelfth day of January, 1722-23.

43. Resolved, never henceforward, till I die, to act as if I were any way my own, but entirely and altogether God’s, agreeable to what is to be found in Saturday, January 12. Jan.12, 1723.

44. Resolved, that no other end but religion, shall have any influence at all on any of my actions; and that no action shall be, in the least circumstance, any otherwise than the religious end will carry it. Jan.12, 1723.

45. Resolved, never to allow any pleasure or grief, joy or sorrow, nor any affection at all, nor any degree of affection, nor any circumstance relating to it, but what helps religion. Jan.12 and13.1723

Today’s ‘Live Better With Willie Jolley’ Tip: Yes You Can Win!

This is part two of the great poem about how your thinking impacts your long-term success.

If you think you are beaten, you are.

If you think you dare not, you don’t.

If you like to win but you think you can’t,

It’s almost a cinch you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost.

For in this world you will surely find

Success being with a person’s will,

It’s all in the state of mind.

Think Big and your deeds will grow,

Think small and you’ll fall behind.

Think that you can and you will,

It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you’re outclassed, you are,

You have to think big to rise.

You’ve got to be sure of yourself,

Before you can win the prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go,

To the strongest woman or man,

But sooner or later the person who wins

Is the person who thinks they can!

Just try it. You’ll be surprised at what you will find.

Visit my website at www.williejolley.com for free motivation and make this a great day!

I don’t know what to think about the weekend. Was it good or bad? No idea. It certainly was good to stop and think about myself. I realised a lot about myself and now know better where I stand and where I want to go. That’s definitely positive.

But a big part of the weekend was communicating to others about those realisations. We were divided in little groups (3 participants and 1 or 2 leaders) to talk. And I just really wasn’t comfortable about sharing with those people. They were nice, honest people, but that didn’t really matter. Which of course made me wonder why I wasn’t comfortable with sharing.

So I don’t know. Was it a good weekend? Probably. There were a lot of specific questions, which made me think about things I would otherwise never think about. But on the other hand, I feel like I only scratched the surface, as if the weekend could have been much better if I would have been more comfortable with sharing. Which leaves me wondering if I should go again in March and just make myself share.

I would love to go, but it scares me too. What if I’m not comfortable sharing in another group? That would mean I have another serious problem. And really, at the moment I feel already overwhelmed because of everything that’s going on and how I feel about that.

To go or not to go, that’s the question.
Which leads me right back to my last post. Am I running in circles or just marking time?

I did it!  I finally did it!!!!  It’s not that great, but it’s 50,000 words and a completed NaNoWriMo novel!!!!

My story?  A collection of Christmas short stories.  Merry Christmas to me!

It’s time for a pinch. Just a quick one to make sure I’m not spinning at 33 1/3 in a long play dream. Well I felt that. I recommend going light on the unsupervised pinching. I’m still here, looking out the home office window at a drizzle day. Our new babe Lila-Jeanne has been home from the hospital for a week. She’s a big hit with the whole family.

So here I sit in the midst of luxury, a new baby in the house and nine months of parental leave beckoning me. The wealth is measured in the extended period of time I have to spend with immediate family. This is my second go of leave to love babies. The first time was for six months and it was a smash success.

Big sister and big brother light up when the little one is awake. They can’t get enough of cute, beautiful baby sis. Whenever Nellie-Rose sees either maman, or myself without le bébé in our arms, she immediately asks in a probing, semi-alarmed voice, “Where is Lila-Jeanne?” Lila is on Noah-David’s mind too. Just the other day he pipes up right out of the blue from the back seat of the car and says, “Dad, you know why I like this time of the year, this Christmas time?” When I told him I didn’t know, he replied, “It’s because I can buy a gift for Lila Dad, that’s why.”

Smells like a heady blend of pre-school, toddler and new born spirit to me. Their spontaneity swirls about in unique and unpredictable ways. Their mindfulness is compelling for its generosity, tenderness and absence of guile. There is plenty of learning here if I look and listen carefully. This stepping out of an adult centric world and falling into imagining play is a gift of gargantuan proportions. I want to be the turtle – slow, steady and in the race. Winning is not important.

I’ve never experienced anything quite like this before. My previous parental leave started when Nellie-Rose was six months old – a whole different dynamic than getting in on the ground floor so to speak. There is no vacuum in the absence of the paid job. The day is pretty much filled the entire time my head is not on the pillow.

For now it’s like Christmas, New Year and vacation all wrapped up in one, a kind of holiday mash up. There is loads of anticipation and excitement watching Lila-Jeanne day by day. She is the gift, like all my other children, that just keeps on giving. There is the relaxation and freedom to embark on mental walkabouts that’s associated with the temporary release from the 9 to 5 world. Then there is the planning, the resolutions of how best to make use of this gift of time. No matter how many times I cut the deck, I come up aces.

I want to spend scads of time with the kids learning together, teaching where I can, laughing, trying to see what they see. I want to write, to tell our story, to remember these moments before they fly away.

Don’t get me wrong, we’ve got shitty diapers and runny noses here too. From time to time I might attempt to wax eloquently about the earthiness of domestic bliss, that banged head on the cupboard door, or dishpan hands that can still be restored à la Madge.

Seems Madge even made it to Australia – no end of degradation in that hot water environment.

The dishes, parenting, cleaning house – this is the kind of work that’s been undervalued for years. Parental leave puts a monetary value on the table for this kind of work for a short period of time. It’s a great beginning. The enhanced leave that came into effect on December 31, 2000 is having a positive impact on Canadian families according to a summative evaluation carried out by Human Resources Development Canada in 2005.

More about babies, toddlers, pre-schoolers and domestic bliss in upcoming installments.

OK, so here are my resolutions for the week, kind of an online to do list…

1. Make something other than teaching resources everyday, even if it’s just for 5 mins
2. Think about things that make me happy and that I can achieve not the things that I can’t achieve
3. Take photos everyday of stuff
4. Don’t procrastinate… do what needs to be done and move on.

Tough last one.

I started a crib quilt for sweetpea, my neice today. It’s the first quilt I will have made and I’m already stressing about it. I thought I’d have a go at doing it quickly without getting the grumbler (my sewing machine) out. So I got out this:

The mini machine

Oh ho. What fun. Not the quick solution I had hoped. It was sew a seam, break a thread, sew a seam, break… you get the picture. The grumbler is coming out after my husband returns home. I, on the other hand, am going to mark THE BOOKS. Joy.

Yes, I realize that there are still 32 days left in 2009.   But, I’m more than ready to bid farewell to this year.   2009 has been a challenging year, and not just for me, but for everyone I know.

Job losses, divorces, break-ups, financial difficulties, deaths, etc., etc., etc.   Sure,  none of these are spectacularly devastating.  For the most part these are all daily occurrences.  But going through them FEELS devastating.  Going through one of them is challenging, but multitasking these things is almost unbearable.

BUT – the worst thing I or anyone can do is give up.  There is ALWAYS  hope.  There is always JOY to be found.  And that’s what this blog is about.  A record of  our (me and mine) hopes, dreams, set backs, changes, accomplishments, loves, laughs and delight in the details.

This blog  is my proof that joy does still exist in the world.

Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world.
We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.

CH 1860 Aigle / Switzerland

+41 24 468 58 11 fax +41 24 468 58 12
www.uci.ch
INTERNATIONAL CYCLING UNION
To National Federations
Aigle, 27 November 2009
Ref.: Road and Technical Department /
MC / sp
Earpiece radios
Dear President,
After a thorough reflection on the subject of the use of earpiece radios in races, the UCI Management
Committee decided during its meeting in Lugano (Switzerland) on 23rd September to forbid gradually
the use of earpiece radios for all categories of rider. This decision has been taken on the basis of a
very careful study, in particular taking into account the will of the majority of those involved in cycling.
We would remind you that this ban is already in place for the Junior and Under-23 categories.
The ban will be gradually introduced in accordance with a timetable, the first stage of which will be:
· 2010 season: ban for Men Elite and Women Elite Class 2 events of the UCI international calendar,
events of the national calendar as well as the UCI World Championships
We are therefore asking you to take the necessary steps so that you can implement this measure of
ban at all national races registered on the national calendar of your Federation. We are also relying on
you to inform your club teams, your national commissaires and other licence-holders.
Thank you for your cooperation on this matter.
Yours faithfully,
Marc Chovelon
Sports Coordinator – Road

I’m not going to win this year but I will reach 25K, halfway. And I will work on this book for the rest of the year. And I will let someone else read it. Yesterday I was feeling very New Year’s Resolution time, a month early. Other resolution: make sure Caper gets 45 minute walk every day so she is less of a barky menace.

So did i mention i de~activated my facebook account a week ago..only to still log into it everyday, from someone else’s account ? . did i also mention i have the biggest exams of my life coming closer everyday and i haven’t even started preparing for them yet. did i mention that when i get miserable marks in them, im going to end up as a good for nothing in a good for nothing college !!!.. im quite surprised at my own level of procrastination right now, amazed really …so amazed that im going to do something about it ! .

i will update this blog more often only when im in a good college with more interesting thing’s to talk about..rather then updating it for the next three months everyday and then have the most miserable things to write about for the next three year’s.

I’ll probably not be able to stay off and be back tomorrow,

but for now, with the best of intentions for myself…good bye zilch and good riddance,, i’l get back to you someday. ! .

Related articles by Zemanta

• Reading the great Getting Started with Disruptive Business Design – John Sviokla – HarvardBusiness.org (fredzimny.wordpress.com)
• Change by Design – a Book for You (chrisbrogan.com)
• Agreeing with Duffy’s POV: Demystifying Design: An Argument for Simplicity (fredzimny.wordpress.com)
• Warren Berger’s talking about his new book Glimmer: about the power of design to transform the way we live. (fredzimny.wordpress.com)
• Why Design Thinking Matters – BusinessWeek reviews Roger Martin’s book (fredzimny.wordpress.com)
• Bruce Temkin: Infuse Emotion Into Experience Design as Customer Experience Matters (fredzimny.wordpress.com)
• David Armano Revisited Social Business by Design (already a classic) (fredzimny.wordpress.com)
• Why Design Thinking Won’t Save You – Peter Merholz – HarvardBusiness.org (fredzimny.wordpress.com)
• Design Thinking (freshcreation.com)
• Simplifying Complexity (liveactivecultures.net)

One of my historical heroes is Jonathan Edwards. Every time I sit down and pick up one of his books I am reminded how small and weak I really am. He was one of the greatest thinkers of his day and easily one of, if not the, most influential pastor and theologian in early American Christianity. Years ago I stumbled upon a list known as “The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards,” which served as an ongoing reminder in his life of what he hoped to accomplish by God’s grace. He began with this introduction,

Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake.

Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week.

What followed were 70 specific resolutions, or pledges, if you will. They were written and public commitments on behalf of Edwards, designed for the purpose of establishing direction and accountability for his life and what he aimed to accomplish for the Kingdom. It was the most peculiar thing when I first found this list. Sure, we live in a very goal and task oriented culture that loves to strategize and plan for what’s ahead. But when I first read Edward’s Resolutions there was something very different, something raw, something authentic about them that superseded everything else I knew of. So years ago I decided I would attempt to create a list of resolutions for myself, much like Edwards long ago.

For reasons unbeknown to me, today is the day I begin this journey.

1. Resolved, to fight for life every day.

You may notice this statement is rather ambiguous. In fact, it was purposefully created that way. There are at least two meanings to this resolution that have burned their way into my understanding of what God has for me.

First, I am resolved to live life to the full. So much of these past few years has been defined by the Lord systematically stripping away the things of this world that I cling to the most. Some were trivial and others not so much. However, they all had one thing in common: my affection. It has been humbling and painful to watch the things I love fall away or be taken from me. At times I have understood the reasons, but at others I have felt alone in the dark. Despite everything I know about God, I continually amaze myself with how little I really understand and apply in my own life.

I have bought into a mythical understanding of what life really is. In many ways, I have been deceived by the schemes of the devil and wooed by what the world has to offer. Looking back, I understand these things to be a lie, but I cannot change the fact that they have robbed me of life. We learn from John that “the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” But Jesus came that we “may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:19). What I mistook for pleasure and happiness turned out to be death and destruction. Part of this resolution includes a commitment to real life; that is life in Christ. He would go on to say later in the same Gospel, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

When I commit to life, I commit to Christ. More importantly, I am resolved to pursuing a Christological understanding in everything I do. It is amazing how the Lord has revealed the ways in which I have been deceived. I see it in the foods I eat, in the way I manage my money, and the way I spend my time. Part of living life to the full includes understanding what life really is. You cannot drink deeply of the “Living Water” unless you know you are thirsty. In the same way, one cannot experience real life in Christ without understanding the foolishness and folly in which they currently walk.

Second, I am resolved to fight until the very end. Even this week I was reminded of how quickly I can give up on real life. There is a recurring pattern in my life that when failures set in, I quickly give up hope. I cannot count the sheer number of times I have simply said to myself or even out loud, “I can always try again tomorrow.” No, I can’t always try again tomorrow because tomorrow might not come. If the Lord does not tarry this very night, I will be judged according to my deeds and if I am being honest, I am not entirely optimistic of the outcome. Sure, I know I have been covered in the blood of Christ and I do not fear for eternity. It’s not about just getting saved as so many churches would lead us to believe, because there is more to life than just making it into heaven. I long to bring glory to him who sits enthroned in heaven. I desire to be used by God in a mighty way. And if these are my desires, I cannot simply give up on today and try again later.

I look forward to the day when I can stand alongside the apostle Paul and say with great joy and humility, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim 4:7). I am not after salvation alone, but true and total victory. Yet everyday I find myself losing sight of what I am striving toward. It would seem the pressures of this world are not as easily shaken as I led myself to believe. And while I have never considered myself to be a quitter, I cannot help but question even that very fundamental assessment of myself. Perhaps I have justified this great inaction all these years, but there will come a day when it catches me and there is nowhere left to hide. If I desire to finish this race, I must learn to run. I must fight for life each and every day as if tomorrow did not exist. Then, and only then, will I begin to experience the fullness previously spoken of because it is only in loosening our hands to the things of this world that we may finally begin to take hold of real and everlasting life today.

Therefore, I am resolved to fight for life every day; starting today.

As 2009 comes to a close, it’s time to start thinking ahead to next year.  I would like to finish “A Change of Briefs” in the coming year but you’d be surprised how hard it is to collect enough stories for a respectable book.  I figure I add about one a week on average.  Since the first book had 101 stories, the next one will probably be in that range as well.  I’m now up to page 34, and probably story 30 or so.  If my math serves me correctly, I’m going to have to average more than one a week to hit this goal, but it’s still the goal.

My second goal is to publish a couple of books from other authors who deserve to be heard.  In the coming weeks I will be publishing Stubbs and Bernadette by Levi Montgomery under the Marvcorp Publishing imprint.  I’m also going to be working on better web sites both for DanMarvin.net and the Marvcorp Publishing site.  Whew!  That’s a lot to work on so I guess I’d better get busy.  Enjoy your holidays and make a few resolutions now so New Year’s Eve doesn’t catch you unprepared!