Archive for December, 2009

Monday Morning Mojo: Don’t Make Life a “Crash Diet”

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Applying the “crash diet” method to anything in life simply doesn’t work.

Life is a marathon. Make sure you are going at a pace you can maintain so you finish the race.

So, many times in life people make commitments they just can’t keep. Often at first those over extended commitments are kept, but only for a short period of time. They simply become too much, too fast and end up impossible to maintain. And if they are maintained it’s usually with compromised efforts resulting in a job poorly done.

We all have goals we want to accomplish in our life and there are lots of different ways we can go about accomplishing them. The one thing I know for sure is we will never accomplish anything if we try and do it all.  We have to pick the few most important, and create a system enabling us to go at pace we can maintain for the long haul.  If we can stick to our plan – we can experience the benefits of “The Slight Edge“.

I know people who one week do this, the next week do that, and the next week are onto something else. They never give anything an opportunity to gain traction all because they make commitments they cannot keep. This type of person ends up living in a life of frustration, anxiety, disappointment, and anger.

Remember it’s the accumulation effect of the small things we do over a long period of time that will make the HUGE difference.  It’s not the HUGE things we do over the short term, and it is not about doing the most. Make a few changes you can commit to for a lifetime, don’t try and jam in too much and you will experience magic. It is why things like crash diets never work. You may lose the 10, 20, 50, or 100 pounds quickly, but I promise you will gain it all back and then some. The key is to create systems and a lifestyle you can maintain for a lifetime – not just a week, a month, or a year.

Check out this book – do what it says, and experience the “Slight Edge” breakthrough:  The Slight Edge

Make it a powerful week!!!!!


Thursday’s Thoughts On Leadership: Leaders aren’t born, they are made

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In last week’s message, I introduced the idea that Intero is a company of leaders. I asked each of you to strive to recognize yourself as a leader. I’m sure some of you responded by thinking, “But, I’m not a leader. I don’t have anyone following me. I don’t manage a company, or an office or even a team. I’m not the leader, it’s just me.” Many of us think this because we are often told, or come to believe that people are born leaders. This may be true in rare instances, but true leadership is not bestowed, it is earned. From whatever position you start from, you can become a leader.

Thomas Watson, the president of IBM from 1914 to 1956 once said, “Nothing so conclusively proves a man’s ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself.” This is your challenge for as John C. Maxwell, the renowned leadership expert said, “ninety-nine percent of all leadership occurs not from the top but from the middle of an organization.”

In everything you do, start with the principal that you alone are responsible for leading the way to a successful 2010. You may in fact be the only one following but that doesn’t diminish your role as a leader, it amplifies it. You set the tone for your own success. You create your business plan and you follow it. You create your goals and you meet them. You create a vision for your success and you alone decide if you attain it. There is no more vital leadership position, even when you turn your head YOU are the only one following.

At Intero, you are surrounded by excellent leaders from which to draw on for experience, motivation and training, but you alone lead your personal success. And in doing so you join the ranks of leaders at Intero.


Enter the New Year With a Light Heart & Body

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Over the last several weeks I took a challenge with a close friend which grew to involve close to 20 more friends. The challenge was to not have added sugar (sweets/ sugary foods) until the Sunday past Thanksgiving day. Since then, this challenge has now stretched to January 1, 2010 (not for all 20, but for many).

The first week wasn’t easy (I love my little chocolate treat daily) but because I had those close to me also committed to the challenge, the team work and accountability made it so much easier. Who wants to nibble at a piece of cookie when you know there are 20 others who are nibbling on a carrot stick because you talked them in to it?!!

The idea behind this was to begin (or now to “end”) the holiday season with strength and ending the year as healthy as possible; a metaphor of sorts towards how I want to enter into 2010. Although the holidays are fun, exciting, loving and special, the word “stress” and “indulgence” are at the forefront of the month of December. Carving out how to take care of yourself so you feel strong and healthy is vital towards enjoying the real tradition of the season. Not just running from obligation to obligation.

Think about it; if you can go through this next month staying (or becoming) healthier, you’ll have stepped in to a New Year feeling stronger than past years! You will be 10 steps ahead of where you were last year and you’ll have an amazing sense of accomplishment in respecting your body and your inner strength.

Your challenge doesn’t have to be no “sweets” (course, you know you have a strong group rooting for you if you DO choose that)! It can be anything which in past years has caused you to feel worse when the New Year turns the corner.

If you decide to try this, announce it and know others believe in you and will help you when you struggle! These commitments don’t have to be forever. But testing your willpower will help you give love back to your body and your spirit so you can focus on the other matters of the season which help you enter the New Year with a light heart – and body!


Monday Morning Mojo: Be One of the Few to Have the Best Things in Life

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I want this…

I want that…

I want to look like…

I want my relationship with _____ to be…

I want my bank account to be…

I want my job to…

I want my health to be…

I want my weight to be…

I want my life to be…

I don’t care where we are in life, in business, in health, in faith, in relationships, in our bank account. I think we are always looking for ways to make it better – right?  As we head into the holiday’s and start thinking about how next year is going to be different, and how we are going to get more of what we want, here is what we all need to remember.  The best things in life are hard to get and require a lot of discipline and accountability to get them otherwise everyone would have them.

Earlier this week I was talking with a buddy of mine who had just gotten back from the doctor and was a bit rattled with how high his blood pressure and cholesterol was.  He is about to turn 55 and his father had passed away at the young age of 56 from a heart attack. Here is what I shared with him - this applies to anything in life, not just your health.

“Big Man – 12 months from now, let’s see you at 175 lbs., with a 170 cholesterol, and your blood pressure at 110/75 – on no medication and no booze. You will be inspiring your children, inspiring your family, inspiring your friends, and inspiring the world! Remember the best things in life are hard to get otherwise everyone would have them – be one of the few that does. Work hard on this and you will find a peace and success you never thought was possible.

Trust me – I know firsthand. Remember when I weighed 210 with my cholesterol level at 310, 180/110 blood pressure – I was stressed-out, frustrated, and unhappy.  I WILL NEVER GO BACK TO THAT! Unfortunately most people live their whole life like that and never experience the freedom and relief.  Don’t be one of them, be one of the few. JUST DO IT!”


Thursday Thoughts on Leadership: Creating a Company of Leaders

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As we head into the New Year; full of promise despite these challenging times, I look forward to sharing with you, each Thursday some weekly leadership thoughts. Ralph Nader once said, “I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” At Intero, we strive to embrace this concept. It is always with great pride that we share with all of you, the remarkable growth and pre-eminent position Intero has achieved since it was established in 2002. Central to that success has been our principal of empowering people, more specifically, our agents, employees and customers.

A quick peek at our website to read the bios of our Executive Leadership demonstrates a well rounded and dynamic class of leaders from the Chairman to our Managing Officers. Just because these men and women hold titles that are associated with leadership, that does not prevent each member of the Intero family from becoming a strong and effective leader in their own right.

At Intero, we are blessed with incredible leaders, recognized around the country and in fact the world, for their expertise and accomplishments in the Real Estate industry, but our true strength is in the leadership exhibited by each of our agents.

The truth is that at each client visit, as you sit across the table from your prospective client, you are the face of the organization. You are in charge. The success of the organization lies in the result of those individual meetings. Our market share is an impressive number but it is only impressive because it is built on the very real victories realized by each one of you one client at a time.

Your presence and participation at conferences and training events locally, regionally and even nationally allow each of you the opportunity to represent Intero. It brings to life the ideals of continual forward thought, always investing in the future, and always looking for innovative opportunities that make it possible for Intero to grow.

Thousands of times over each year, you are leading Intero.

If you embrace this principal, that each of you can be a leader, you will find within yourself a greater desire to succeed and to perform at a higher level because you represent something larger than yourself. My hope is that each of you has your most successful year ever in 2010. Strive to make it so and recognize yourself as a leader in this company; a company of leaders.


Intero Cool Apps: Fast & Free Property Info – Text INTERO to 59559

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Have you ever been searching for property and come to a home with NO flyer? Or fell in love with a neighborhood and wondered, are there are any homes on the market close by? You’re interested, don’t have a lot of time, and want some information fast.

Now with your mobile phone’s texting feature text INTERO to 59559 and receive immediate information such as – number of bedrooms and bathrooms, square feet, lot size, and asking price, on any one specific property. One step better – if you are an iPhone or Droid user, and your phone is GPS enabled (most are) our system maps out the five surrounding closest properties for sale, to you.

View the following video as I explain the exciting features and benefits of our NEWEST Intero innovation-


Healthy Holiday Solutions

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No matter how you celebrate the holidays, this is the time of year that exudes parties and indulgences!

When we start to think about the potential weight gain during these festivities, a little here and there can add up to a lot on the waist line! 

Some of the foods which unknowingly can get us in trouble are:

  • Dips
  • Salad dressings
  • Cheese plates
  • Pasta/potato recipes with butter/cream

 A little bit of added fat to the recipe can add up to hundreds of calories in no time. 

Recently, I played around with some traditional dips and prepared some yummy alternatives!   These 3 favorites were created with a food processor and were well received at Thanksgiving:

Instead of hummus (traditional with a lot of Tahini)

Edamame Hummus dip
Ingredients: 
1 12 oz package frozen shelled edamame (thawed)…organic preferred
1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp of rice vinegar
Tiny bit of sea salt to taste
¼ cup to ½ cup water
1/3 cup chopped parsley leaves

Place thawed edamame in a food processor, add all ingredients and blend until smooth.  The texture should be slightly thin and pasty.  Add parsley leaves and blend until well incorporated.  Serve with all kinds of veggies!  This freezes well too!

Pesto
Ingredients:
2 cups basil leaves tightly paced
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
1-2 tsp crushed garlic
Tiny bit of sea salt
1/8 cup raw pine nuts (chopped very finely) or raw almond slivers (chopped finely)

Place basil, olive oil, garlic and salt in an S blade in food processor.  Add nuts after basil is chopped well.  This is delicious with meats/fish and by itself!

No Avocado guacamole
Ingredients:
12 oz package of frozen green peas (thawed)
4 limes (squeezed)
7 oz of nonfat Greek yogurt
2 handfuls mint leaves
1-2 cloves garlic

Blend together until smooth.  Add tomatoes after blended if desired.  This freezes well and can be used with anything you like guacamole with.  It’s great as a sandwich spread too and a lot less fat!

ENJOY eliminating extra calories and enjoy your new recipes!!