New Year Stuff

I am doing things differently this New Year. I have decided to go for three New Year resolutions and to make them public. I am (sort of) following tips from How to keep your New Year’s resolution | 59 Seconds.

Anyway my three New Year resolutions are:

1. To blog every day on my cycling blog: 42Bikes. See I’m Bike posting every day in 2011! « 42 Bikes.

2. To Lose 15kg by end of July 2011. Covered in part in this post: Bike challenges for 2011 « 42 Bikes.

3. To read through the Bible in a year following a reading plan on YouVersion.

So looking at these in the light of the advice at How to keep your New Year’s resolution | 59 Seconds.

1. Break goal into a series of steps.

• Blog each day: Easy, each day makes one step.
• Lose 15kg: Be 0.5kg lighter at the end of each week. Use www.thelinediet.com to track.
• Read the Bible: Each day makes one step

2. Tell friends and family about the goals.

Well this blog post and Bike challenges for 2011 « 42 Bikes cover that. Please feel free to encourage and hassle me to keep these resolutions which are:

• Blog every day
• Lose 15kg by end July 2011. i.e. Lose 0.5 kg each week
• Read the Bible in a year

3. Regularly remind yourself of the benefits.

So a quick list of some of the benefits are:

• Blog each day: Helps encourage me to ride everyday which helps my weight & fitness. I enjoy it. Encourages me to think about what I do and why i.e. part of being a reflective practitioner. Saves me money as I think about things before buying them and as I drive less.
• Lose 15kg: Good for my health and general well being. Makes life more enjoyable. Means I can do more and feel less tired. Means I can feel and look better.
• Read the Bible: Practising what I teach. A fitting celebration of the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. Through living more in the Word I become more the person I want to be. My faith is supported and encouraged.

4.  Expect to revert to old habits from time to time.

• Blog every day: Nobody gets hurt if I fail. I can pre-write posts. I can get ideas from The Daily Post at WordPress.com
• Lose 15kg by end July 2011: I know weight will fluctuate and that I can if needed lose more than 0.5kg in a week if I need to catchup. Thanks to  www.thelinediet.com I'll know where I am each day and can take corrective action quickly. For motivation I am going to use quantter to go public with how I am doing each day on twitter.
• Read the Bible in a year. I am looking at being able to tweet progress. I can read the bible anywhere thanks to the youversion android phone app and I can do catchup if required. This one should be embarrassing if I fail so hopefully that will keep me going on it.

Then Richard gives another 6 sub-tips.

1. Make only one resolution.

My excuse is that mine are in different areas of my life.

2. Don't wait until New Years Eve.

These have been bubbling in my mind for a while and I took time to consider a variety of options. I have thought about the support tools to keep them.

3. Avoid previous resolutions

I did not make any resolutions last year. None of these are repeats.

4. Don't run with the crowd.

I guess weight loss is a common resolution. By connecting it to cycling it is related to many things I really want to get out of life.

I would love it if reading the whole Bible in a year became a crowd thing rather than only a few recognising how significant the Bible is for us.

Blogging is no longer a crowd thing. I do it because I enjoy it and enjoy sharing something that is so positive for us and the planet.

5. Give myself rewards

H'mm, I have not thought much beyond the intrinsic rewards yet. Maybe some bike upgrades :-)

6. Make the plans concrete.

Hopefully all the virtual stuff I am doing covers that one for me.

So here we go then. Onwards and upwards :-)

• Blog each day
• Lose 15kg by end of July 2011
• Read the whole Bible in 2011

Chase me!

 

Comments

[Murray Smith]

Thanks for your encouraging example for starting the New Year. I read the King James version (in more than a year!)
Had a break at Nehemiah! Thanks for the info about 4th century anniversary. We owe so much to those translators. Wishing you, Jane and family much blessing in the New Year and the satisfaction of completing the resolutions.
I wonder, should I go out and buy a bike?
God bless you. Eileen and Murray

[Dave]

Hi Murray,

Good to see you this morning.

We will be looking at Bible translation and the importance of the KJV as well as the translations that came before and after as part of Bible Fresh this year.