In the New Year, I want to be like Noah.

"Start a huge, foolish project
Like Noah.

It makes absolutely no difference
What people think of you."

-- Jelaludin Rumi
13th-century Sufi saint & mystic

This is the time of year when everyone is making their New Years Resolutions.

Get in shape, loose weight, eat better food, drink less beer, join the gym ... Ho hum ... This list goes on.

This year I want to be more like Noah. I need to establish for myself an absolutely magnificant -- and seemingly foolish -- goal. Over the past few years I've made (and kept) a number of the more mundane goals. I've started to practice aikido. I've lost weight and added muscle via eight consecutive BFL challenges. I've sneaked up to the edge of the abyss and peeked over. I've backed up and took a running start; but then failed to take that leap of faith.

This year I want to be more like Noah.

It is time for a truly magnificant transformation!

It is time ...

It is time ...
- to surrender to the discipline and eat six small balanced meals per day.
- to workout intensely and really push to hit those high points.
- to drink water as my beverage of choice while weening myself from coffee until I don't suffer from caffeine withdrawals.

In short, it is time to truly cross the abyss and see just how much a transformation can be achieved over the next 12-weeks.

Just how much is enough?

The thought for the day which I found on my office calendar read:

"Remember that enough is better than too much."

This is a very powerful concept. It has applications in many aspects of our daily lives; for example:

* Nutritionally speaking ... We need just enough protein, carbs, and essential fats to fuel our transformation. Not too much and definitely not too little.

* Exercise-wise ... We need to tax our systems to the point of momentary muscular failure during that very last rep in that very last set for any exercise we're doing with any particular muscle group. Too little effort (read: too light a weight) and we don't hit our 'high points.' Too much weight and we screw up our form and risk injury.

When practicing aikido, my sensei instructs that, "we are not to fight nor flee; but rather, we are to flow." I'm thinking that this is just enough effort to bring our opponent / partner back into harmony with the universe.

It is my desire in 2005 to do enough to continually improve.

True satisfaction ...

"Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment; full effort is full victory."
- Mohandas Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian Spiritual Leader

Every day I learn something new -- or at least I try to.

Today I "learned" or "discovered" that I treat myself to a cup of cafe mocha at the office just about every morning. Am I sabotaging my physical fitness transformation? Sabotage by chocolate? Am I rationalizing my behavior by saying this is but one cup and doesn't matter? In other words, am I telling myself 'rational lies'?

If I hadn't stopped to read the BFL Guestbook this morning and also stopped to review my fitness & meal log ... Hmmm! ... Sometimes you have to stop along the way not only to smell the flowers but also to examine just what it is you're placing in that coffee cup.

The butterfly effect ...

... states that the 'wind' caused by the fluttering of the wings of a butterfly might cause some more powerful weather effect elsewhere in the earth's stratasphere. Well I'm not certain this is scientifically based. Some say this is some how related to chaos theory but that's not the point of this blog post.

... Rather, I was totally blown away by a couple of e-mails received over the course of the week. One person said that she had cut and pasted a quotable quote from the BFL guestbook and placed it on her refrigerator for inspiration. Now that's cool. I didn't ever think about someone being so moved by a quote I'd written about. But WOW ... What a humbling experience!

... Another e-mail spoke of how they'd signed up for the President's Challenge (www.presidentschallenge.org) and had earned their Bronze, Silver, and Gold awards. They had credited their success to some small project I had started months ago.

... So what's the point? Such "butterfly effects" remind me that everything we do is important. We may not think so at the time. But there are others in this world who are taking notice. They are watching us. We have the opportunity to set an example -- particularly when we think no one is watching.

... The boxer Mohammed Ali (a.k.a., Casius Clay) once boasted of "floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee." I must remember that the butterfly has a more lasting effect and that the bee that stings actually kills itself.

Winter is the Season for Making Plans ...

I believe it was in one of Denis Waitley's book where he outlined that winter is the season for making plans: short-, mid-, and long-term plans. Many of us call these New Year's resolutions. Others use the "quiet" days (and weeks) over the holiday season to map out strategies, goals, objectives, and/or review our ambitions or career/personal achievements.

I've got a number of government clients who are trying to get their projects up-to-date before the holidays. These are hectic days not only because of the urgency of such projects but also because of an increase in parties, shopping, decorating the house/home, etc., etc. But I see a window of opportunity when this pace will lessen a bit. And I've blocked out this time to review my goals and objectives and to think thru the resolutions worthy of my attention.

I've been at this BFL program for just over two years. New Year's resolutions for 2003 and 2004 have morphed from "good intentions" to SMART plans to daily and weekly entries in my fitness log. So let me wrap this blog entry up and say that 2005 will most likely have more of the same listed in it. Some call me a "lifer" -- I say that anything that is truly worth doing is worth doing again ... and again ... and again ... for life.

Be careful with the resolutions your choose. And good luck with deciding which are worthy of your time and efforts.

'Tis the season

'Tis the season to remind myself why I first started following the BFL program ...

You see, it all started a few years ago when some friends of our were hosting a Christmas party and someone had to play the role of Santa Claus.

You guest it ... Everyone thought I'd make a perfect Santa. After all, I was a dad, liked kids, could laugh real loud ... Ho! Ho! Ho! ... And would most easily fill the suit.

It was then that I decided that I didn't ever want to be the "first pick" for playing Santa again.

What's in a name?

Achieving "victory over oneself" (masakatsu agatsu) or a "correct victory" is what this blog and my BFL-inspired transformation are all about.

It is said that the best way to learn a new skill -- in this case: how to blog -- is to just do it.

So here you'll find an occasional post of ideas, comments, and insights that I'm willing to share with others.