This fall has been my busiest ever. I have logged more air miles in the past two months than I can remember. As I pause and take a big deep breath I am so grateful for all the wonderful new (and old) friends. Pardon me while I count my blessings.....
 

What are you grateful for? Take a few minutes and write in your journal or on a 3X5 card the five things (or people) you are grateful for.
 

 Road Improvements  

 
“Rip and Read”

As the legend goes, Bill Gates and Paul Allen were at Harvard playing cards instead of studying or going to class (Gates was taking Econ 301 as a freshman and never went to class, rather he crammed the last two weeks and passed the class by acing the final). Paul Allen saw a copy of Popular Science magazine (January 1975) and it had a picture of the Altair 8800 on the cover. ($395 as a kit - no monitor, no keyboard, no disk drive, no printer - just switches and lights)


He devoured the article and then quoted Shakespeare:
There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.

They convinced the owner and designer of that Stone Age machine to let them write the code for it…before Bill or Paul had even got their hands on an Altair...the first PC software….

Many years ago, a mentor, Tom Peters said to me, “I read five daily newspapers and 20 to 30 magazines a month.” I fell out of my chair. “How,” I asked with an incredulous tone. “Oh, I don’t read them cover to cover. I skim, scan, I am searching,” I was writing as fast I could in my journal. This was good stuff. “I am searching for topics, issues, trends, people, companies I am interested.” He paused, looked at me writing and smiled. “When I travel, in the airport, I grab five magazines I don’t subscribe to or normally read. Then I rip and read.”

You see, what he didn’t say was newspapers, magazines, don’t take much time to write…so take much time to read them. Like a variable speed motor that automatically adjusts its speed to meet the demand, increase your speed for light reading, slow down your speed for great Business Books, Technical Information, How to Books.

Ripping and Reading affords you the opportunity stay abreast of trends, ideas in your industry, region or community. One client, a TV executive, began reading industry magazines on his stationary bike at the gym each day. In six months, he told me over lunch, he knew more about what was going on in his industry than almost any other GM he would meet at trade gatherings. He was hooked on the value.

I sit down once a month and read two or three articles from each magazine. I read them at odd moments in waiting rooms, banks, friend’s homes. I have become like Tom Peters, I will read almost ANY odd magazine. Law, Construction, Dental, Trucking, Insurance, Banking, Restaurant Magazines. I can usually find at least one interesting article….I am especially fond of the NY Times on Sunday. THAT is like a reading a great book.

Charlie Tremendous Jones, author, speaker publisher says "All leaders are readers."  Dr. Stephen Covey writes “Those people that don’t read are no better off than those that can’t read. It is a sort of chosen illiteracy.”  Business philosopher Jim Rohn says, “Don’t just read the easy stuff. You may be entertained by it, but you will never grow from it.”

What are you reading and why? Would you like to ascend in our industry faster than any of your peers? Rip and Read on a regular basis and watch out. You will be astonished at the quantity and quality of ideas that come out of you over time.

Say, can I borrow that Popular Science magazine?

 

 One for the road

As we mentioned, this months best read is Swen Nater's newest book.

You'll find it here: click here

 

  Watch "The Road" Buddy!

Matteson Avenue is changing and growing. We have a new site search tool on the Site Map page to help you better find resources.

The E-zines are now subtitled.

This month we needed a little more humor.

 

 The Boulevard

This months site is a bit off the usual. It's the site for Larry Winget. He calls himself an "Irritational Speaker". If you have a few minutes, check out his sample video. We think you'll agree he is different but good. www.larrywinget.com
 

 The Wire's Conduit

This months Wire tip is about PowerToys. No - not the little battery powered kind. This is a deluxe set of tools that are complements of Microsoft. Most people know about the Windows "registry". It's that spooky place inside windows where you can do all sorts of trick things.

Tweak UI will safely get you and out of the registry and allow you to change settings such as the Mouse, Explorer, Desktop and other aspects of the look and feel of XP. Tweak UI by itself would be a great tool but MS also has Image Resizer, HTML Slideshow, Power Calculator and others.

Here's the link: click here

MS doesn't support these tools but hey - they also don't charge for them.

I rate this a 8 on the value scale (1-10 - 10 being best)
I rate this a 6 on the complexity scale ( 1-10 - 10 being hardest)

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 End Construction  

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