~ The Service Professionals Resource ~ 
October 7, 2015 
Volume 11, Issue 10                                                                                                          $3.95
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Mark Matteson publishes his Sparking Success EZine Street newsletter on the first Wednesday of every month. The next newsletter will go out on November 4, 2015

A simple choice
Freedom From Fear Forever

freedom from fear
Freedom From Fear Audio CD
Audio CDs
Sales Success Stories
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Mark Matteson gives over 75 presentations each year. Book him now to secure the inspiring message that will spark your group's success! To watch Mark's demo video, go to: www.sparkingsuccess.net . Call 206.697.0454 or e-mail him at mark.enjoythejourney.matteson@gmail.com.
  
Zipline Zero Hour?
by Mark Matteson

I was ten years old. My sister and I were at Windsor Castle in England. I stood on the edge of the tower looking down when she grabbed my arm and exclaimed, "Aren't you scared? That's a long way to fall!" Up to that point, I hadn't been scared. Have you heard the expression, "she put the fear of God into him"? That is exactly what happened. After that moment, I was afraid of heights.

 
Because of that incident, on more than one occasion, I "chickened out" on activities that required being way up high. Have you ever experienced High Anxiety (an old Mel Brooks movie) and been so Frozen with Fear that you couldn't move? The Twin Towers freaked me out in 1992. Seattle's Space Needle gave me butterflies in 1995. The Edge in Melbourne, Australia turned my stomach into knots in 2012. When you write a book entitled Freedom from Fear, people have specific expectations. I was down and out Down Under.
 
F.E.A.R. is an acronym: False Evidence Appearing Real. Perception is reality. "Thinking will not overcome fear, but action will," W. Clement Stone once said.
 
Earlier this week, I conducted a team-building seminar in Plain, Washington with the Tri-City Association of Realtors. (THANKS, Lola Franklin!!)
 
In nearby Leavenworth, Mountain Springs Lodge had just installed a five-tier zipline. I signed up. There were eleven of us; this was a team-building activity. The distance and height increased with each tier. By the time we got to the fourth tier, the distance was 600 feet and it was over 200 feet high!  
As the Magnificent Eleven waited to zip, I wondered if the past tense of zip is zapped. The wait felt like an eternity, especially since I was ninth in line. Some of the old feelings reared their ugly heads and whispered to me: "That's really high. How safe is this, really? Is there a way I can wiggle out of this one?"
It was now ZIPLINE ZERO HOUR! Zero Hour is defined as the scheduled time for the start of some event, especially a military operation . I told our guide, Jolyn, (all 5' 2" and 95 pounds of her), "I don't want to do this."
 
She looked up at me and said in calm and confident voice, "Mark, you can do this. It's a piece of cake. You will be so glad you did it when you are done. Trust me." It was her tone of voice, her aspect, and her assuring words, so sincere and heartfelt, that brought me back to center. She had done it hundreds of times.  
"Okay," I said, "let's do it!"
 
My teammates cheered for me all the way down! When I reached the other side, everyone gave me high fives. I was exhilarated beyond anything I had felt in a long time; I was juiced, jacked, pumped, and grateful. One friend said to me, "All of life can summarized in one word-PERCEPTION!" Mine had changed, forever.
 
Henry Ford said, " One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do."Napoleon Hill wrote, "Fears are nothing more than a state of mind." Marilyn Ferguson said, "Ultimately we know deeply that the other side of every fear is freedom. "
 
My zipline hero, 21-year-old Jolyn Karnes, taught me: "She is never too young to teach, and I'm never too old to learn, grow, and overcome." She did the opposite of what my sister had done. It only took me 47 years to change fear to faith, doubt to delirium, and can't to can! I had a new moment. Action cures fear! Stretch your comfort zones. Form new habits. Take some risks. Say yes!
 
I need to visit Windsor Castle again; I wonder if my sister wants to come. 
Mark Matteson gives over 75 presentations each year. Book him now to secure the inspiring message that will spark your group's success! To watch Mark's demo video, go to: www.sparkingsuccess.net . Call 206.697.0454 or e-mail him at mark.enjoythejourney.matteson@gmail.com .  
BOOK OF THE MONTH:

Magnificent Obsession
By Lloyd C. Douglas

 
I heard legendary coach John Wooden speak in 1993. When I asked him what his favorite book was, he replied, "
Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd C. Douglas." He said it in such a way, it was almost like a secret he was sharing with me. I wrote it down. After reading it twice, I was inspired to write my first book , Freedom from Fear .
 
Rereading it recently, though somewhat dated in its language and references (it was written in 1929), it is easy to see why it did so well.  The hero in the story, Dr. Hudson, declares, "He must live above fear! If a man harbors any sort of fear, no matter how benign and harmless, it percolates through all his thinking, damages his personality and makes him landlord to a ghost."
 
It's a fascinating story, a unique concept, and hidden within its pages is some fantastic advice on how to become a world-class professional in your chosen field. It's obvious to me now, the book's ideas and suggestions explain Coach Wooden's unprecedented success as a teacher and coach. It's more than a novel. If you are ready for its message, it will change your life.
asked him what his favorite book was, he replied, " Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd C. Douglas." He said it in such a way, it was almost like a secret he was sharing with me. I wrote it down. After reading it twice, I was inspired to write my first book , Freedom from Fear .
 
Rereading it recently, though somewhat dated in its language and references (it was written in 1929), it is easy to see why it did so well.
The hero in the story, Dr. Hudson, declares, "He must live above fear! If a man harbors any sort of fear, no matter how benign and harmless, it percolates through all his thinking, damages his personality and makes him landlord to a ghost."
 
It's a fascinating story, a unique concept, and hidden within its pages is some fantastic advice on how to become a world-class professional in your chosen field. It's obvious to me now, the book's ideas and suggestions explain Coach Wooden's unprecedented success as a teacher and coach. It's more than a novel. If you are ready for its message, it will change your life.

To order my new e-book, You Don't Have To Be Sick To Get Better, go to  Kindle at Amazon.com .
 
Mark resides in Edmonds, Washington and takes great pride in the fact he flunked high school English. To watch Markʼs demo video, go to:  www.sparkingsuccess.net  

Mark Matteson gives over 75 presentations each year. Book him now to secure the inspiring message that will spark your group's success! To watch Mark's demo video, go to: www.sparkingsuccess.net . Call 206.697.0454 or e-mail him at mark.enjoythejourney.matteson@gmail.com .