Road Improvements  

“What Was the Most Fun You Had in 2006”
By Mark Matteson

Several years ago, I was talking to a stranger in line at a Starbucks. He like me had two young boys. I told him, “Every night, after reading to my boys for 20 minutes, I ask them (Colin was 8 and Evan 5) a simple question, ‘What was the most fun you had today?’ smiling, feeling a little smug, like I was father of the year, I told him of my simple ritual. He replied, “What if you added, ‘What are you looking forward to tomorrow?’ ” Wow! So I did. It became the new ritual. It had a profound effect. As the years went by I incorporated the discipline and story into the seminars I taught and the articles and books I wrote.

What was the most fun you had in 2006? What are you looking forward to in 2007? This time of year, everyone and her brother are creating lists. Here is mine for 2006:

MY FAVORITE BOOKS IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

BUSINESS

• Good Enough Isn’t Enough by Alan Weiss

• One House At a Time by John W. Schaub

• Positive Impact by Charlie Tremendous Jones

• Permission Marketing by Seth Godin

• Good to Great by Jim Collins

• Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

• Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt

BIOGRAPHIES - AUTOBIOGRAPHIES

• My Life by Burt Reynolds

• On the Edge of Nowhere by James Huntington

• It Ain’t Easy Being Me by Rodney Dangerfield

• Fantastic (Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Bio) Laurence Leamer

• Ball of Fire (Lucille Ball) by Stefan Kanfer

• Copy This (Founder of Kinkos) by Paul Orfalea

• Untouchable (Robert DeNiro) by Andy Dougan

SELF-HELP

• Becoming a Humor Being by Steve Rizzo

• Improv Wisdom by Patricia Madson

• 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself by Steve Chandler

• Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

• Why You are Dumb, Sick and Broke by Randy Gage

• How to Win Friends… by Dale Carnegie

• Freedom from Fear FOREVER by Mark Matteson (www.mattesonavenue.com ) “Okay so I am a little biased!”

E-BOOKS

• 101 Simple, FREE and Low Cost Ways to Quickly Build a Massive E-Mail List by Alexandria Brown

• Short and Sweet by Mark Matteson (www.mattesonavenue.com ) “Unassertive Sales People have skinny kids!”

• Speaking for Millions by Fred Gleeck

• 5 Cool Ideas By Michael Angelo Caruso

• Who’s there? By Seth Godin

MOVIES

• The Departed

• The Illusionist

• Little Miss Sunshine

• Stranger Than Fiction

• Pirates Of the Caribbean (Dead Man’s Chest)

• What the BLEEP Do We Know?

BUSINESS IDEAS

• Hire for ATTITUDE, Train for Skill

• Train your Sales Team; Help them grow or let them go (purge the bottom 15-20% each 12-18 months and invest the money saved in rewarding and recognizing your top 20%) NOT doing so guarantees mediocrity

• Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you and that have complimentary skills and disciplines (admit your weaknesses and outsource those areas)

• Pay for Performance and make certain it’s more than the competition does (spoil your stars)

• Go the extra mile with your Internal Customers by recognizing them with innovative and ongoing acknowledgment

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT IDEAS

• Read the NY Times each Sunday cover to cover (go to work on expanding your vocabulary, I am especially fond of Word Power in Readers Digest)

• Raise the bar with your mentors each year by continually finding people who have done what you want to do and been where you want to go

• The Dashboard Decree = ONE Goal on a 4 x 6 card declared aloud 5-50x a day (see my Special Report on the Home Page at www.mattesonavenue.com)

• Rip and Read Industry Trade Magazines every month for two hours pulling at least one article per periodical up to 20 magazines a month

• Keep a journal of your learning from Seminars, Conversations with Mentors, Books, Magazines, Lessons Learned from work and your personal life

QUOTES

• Only the mediocre are always at their best!

• If you sit in a barbershop long enough, you are bound to end up with a haircut.

• It may not be your fault for being down, but it’s got to be your fault for not getting up one more time.

• Baby Steps. You can always make something better, but it’s always Baby Steps, little by little. - Will Ferrell, Actor, Comedian

• I want to be thoroughly used up when I die. For the harder I work, the more I live. George Bernard Shaw, Author, Playwright, Philosopher

• Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. Tom Edison, Inventor

• I am a student of patterns in the universe. When you see the patterns of success, and model them, you put yourself in the position to get lucky. If I promise myself I will run 3-miles, I run 5-miles. - Will Smith, Actor, Singer, Comedian

• The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts. - Marcus Aurelius

SUPERFOOD RX

• Blueberries

• Broccoli

• Salmon

• Green Tea

• Oranges

• Oatmeal

• Grapes

• Strawberries

• Walnuts

DESTINATIONS

• Campbell’s Lodge, Lake Chelan, WA

• Renaissance Hotel, Aruba

• Don Cesar Hotel, St. Pete’s Beach, FL

• Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, CO

• Ritz Carlton Hotel, Amelia Island, FL

• Heathman Lodge, Vancouver, WA

• Wynn Hotel, Las Vegas, NV

I will admit this is a partial list and is very subjective. But hey, it’s my list! Send me yours! May the best of 2006 be the worst of 2007 for you, your family and your business….Enjoy the journey; the best is yet to come!

1. What was the most fun you had this year?
2. What are you looking forward to next year?
 

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