Mark Matteson

New Years Resolution don’t work. There, I said it and I am glad. We need to wake up! According to Newsweek December 24, 2012 article by Oliver Burkeman, “89% of American set Resolutions and only 49% are successful in achieving them six months later!” It’s a trap called “Fresh-Startism”. (This time it will be different.) […]

When my children were young (ages 4 and 8), I asked them two big questions before they drifted off to sleep each night. After we read a book and said our prayers, I asked: 1) What was the most fun you had today? 2) What are you looking forward to tomorrow? The first question demands […]

Like many of you, I have taught my kids how to do a number of things when they were growing up. Teaching starts first at home. From tic-tac-toe, swimming, basketball, to learning to speak english; pick any sport or skill. We all start at the bottom. When Evan was five years old, it was time […]

See if you can guess who said these words. I was 13 years old when he delivered this talk in Dayton, Ohio. I pulled excerpts from his last speech and rewrote them in OTHER WORDS….my own. “Attaining a goal, you have got to pay a price for anything worthwhile and success is paying the price. […]

Recently I was assisting a friend clarify her goals on paper, 3 x 5 cards. We listed WHAT she wanted to achieve in 2011. Five goals. We prioritized them. We chose ONE GOAL that was most important and re-wrote in personal, positive, present tense, powerful language. We listed ten reasons WHY she wanted them. “Read […]

Smile It takes 13 facial muscles to smile, 47 to frown. Evidently, some people don’t mind the extra work! If you smile long enough, you’ll come up with a reason. Is a bird happy because he sings or does he sing because he is happy? Act and the feelings will follow. The late Harvard Professor […]

Form the Habit of Selling Yourself On What You Are Selling Its really believing in your product or service. Its understanding what it can really do for you clients. By developing this level of empathy, it fosters the respect for the buyer’s good sense. Form the Habit of Continuous Study Learning more can help you […]

This week I decided to break tradition and write in the third person. This profile of a sales superstar is too long for one post so I broke it up into two parts. He was born in 1912, one of nine children. His parents fled the ghettos of Russia and settled in the midwest. By […]