Monday Morning Mojo

Monday Mojo: What are you going to get rid of in your life?

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What are you going to get rid of in your life?

What are you going to stop doing in your job?

What are you going to give up?

Yes…you heard me right, what are you going to give up?

What bad habit, crap in your office, clutter at home, food in your cabinet, or unproductive thing in your schedule are you going to either get rid of or stop doing?  Because before you can start doing something good, something right, something that is going to get you what you want, you need to start by giving something up. Not only will it clear room for what you need to do to CRUSH IT, but usually the thing you need to give up is in conflict with your goal.

For example – you want to lose weight, but the cabinets are filled with cookies, Cheetos, crackers and other garbage. You need to get rid of the crap and fill the cabinet with healthy food so you can begin to achieve your desired weight.

You want to get organized and under control with your home life or at work, but when you walk in your house or office it looks like a bomb just went off. Grab a roll of garbage bags and if you don’t absolutely need it either throw it away, sell it on Craigslist, or donate it.

You want to finally start saving some money for the future, but you can’t seem to save a dime because you have NO extra money. But somehow you can find the money to hit Starbucks or Peets once or twice a day. Start with brewing your own cup of coffee instead. It will save you $25 – $50 a week or $1,250 – $2,500 a year depending on how frequently you go. Oh, and don’t forget the taxes you pay on each cup of coffee. So if you combine the cost of the coffee and taxes on each cup, that may be as much as $2,000 -$5,000 a year you could invest in your 401K or IRA instead, tax free! Invest $5,000 a year into your retirement account and if it earns a 10% return, that’s close to $300,000 in 20 years.

You want to get to the gym to get fit and healthy and feel good, but you are spending all of your time on Facebook playing Mafia Wars and Farmville games. Stop the Facebook game addiction and hit the gym instead!

Enough said. To get more of what you want, give it up. Get rid of it. Stop doing it.


Monday Morning Mojo: The Circle of Success

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The key to achieving your dreams is making the choice to. The most common difference between those who have an AWESOME life and those who don’t are simply the choices they make every day.  It’s not their circumstances, the way they were raised, or their education.  Most people who are not accomplishing their dreams in life are those that have chosen not to. These people just aren’t willing to do what is necessary to have a life that good.

Think about your life for a moment, what do you want and what does it take to get it?  So, why haven’t you been doing what it takes to get it?

Before you start with all of the excuses, ask yourself – if you really had to do it, could you?  Let me make it clear how this is a choice – I don’t even like to think these thoughts, but it will help you understand that you can do it, if you want it bad enough.  If the person or people you care about the most lives depended upon it, could you do it? We both know the answer. Of course you could and would.  Life is a series of choices – I call them the Y’s in the road.  In most cases if you take the easy path – the one most people take – you will experience short term gain and long term pain. On the other hand if you have the courage to take the other path – the one most will not take – you will have some short term pain, but long term gain. So, make the right choice and have a life of pure magic!

Start by making the choice everyday to FEEL GOOD.  Because when you FEEL GOOD you are ATTRACTIVE. When you are ATTRACTIVE, you have AMAZING PRODUCTIVITY. When you have AMAZING PRODUCTIVITY, you have EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS. And when you have EXTRAORDINARY RESULT, you feel even better! It is the circle of success.

Make it a GREAT week and make the right choices.


Monday Mojo: Poor planning on YOUR part does NOT constitute an emergency on mine

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Poor planning on YOUR part does NOT constitute an emergency on mine.  I love that quote!

We start our day with the best of intentions to get all those important things done on our list. We plan on doing all the things to get us closer to accomplishing our goals and dreams.  Then, before we know it the day is over and nothing on that list got done, but we are exhausted from a busy day-a busy day of doing the urgent, not the important.

How did that happen?

Because we let others dictate how our day will go instead of taking control. We let other people’s urgent issues, a result of their poor time management, poor planning, their drama, and their procrastination, take priority and control over ours.  Remember, poor planning on THEIR part does NOT constitute an emergency on your part.

Most of us are doing the urgent and that is why we never seem to get closer to our goals and what we want to accomplish.  The key is being disciplined enough to brush off the urgent and do the important. It is probably one of the biggest keys to success.

So, how can we do that when all of our time is spent just dealing with the crap and people coming at us all day – their urgent stuff, you ask?  Learn to say NO! It will be tough in the beginning, but after a while of saying NO and not letting yourself get dragged into other peoples drama, into their urgent and out of control life, eventually they will just stop screwing up your goals and take it to someone else or better yet, figure out how to deal with it on their own.

So, to get your important stuff done, make a conscious decision every day not to get caught up in the drama of everyone one else’s urgent life. Learn to say NO!


Monday Mojo: How come kids are so smart?

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TognoliLast Sunday was little league baseball try outs and my son Nick was so fired up, he absolutely LOVES baseball. Nick has no doubt that come time for college he will be playing baseball at UCLA, and soon thereafter will be drafted by the New York Mets.  You have to love kids.  They know anything is possible and they dream big.

Here is what Nick, who is only 10 years old, told me just before his tryouts – “Dad did you know your dreams can come true as a long as you give it all of your effort?”  How come kids are so smart? We all know Nick’s revelation is true. Unfortunately, as we get older all too often, not only do we stop dreaming, but we stop giving it all of our effort.

This week’s Mojo is short and sweet, but I think Nick hit the nail squarely on the head.  Dream big and give that dream 100% of your effort – this is the recipe for success. I also think it’s the recipe to remain fired up and young at heart throughout your life.

Thanks Nick.


Monday Mojo: How Many Things Are We Missing?

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Grab your cup of Joe and watch this video first (double click on the image below)…then read this week’s MOJO.

Scott violine

A violinist playing in the Washington DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx two thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the till as she quickly walked by.

6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:
A 3 year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly, as the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head while he walk away. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced them to move on.

45 minutes:
The musician played.  Only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.
He collected $32.

1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.

The questions asked:

  1. In a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
  2. Do we stop to appreciate it?
  3. Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments…

How many other things are we missing?

Listen to Joshua Bell’s complete Metro Station performance.


Monday Mojo: Masterminding Your Way to Success

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This week, I’m pleased to bring to you some “guest MOJO”, from our very own J. Shoop.

Many of you know of J. Shoop as a top-producing loan officer with LoanSource/Intero Mortgage, but you may not know that he is also a Certified LifeSuccess Consultant, licensed to teach the coaching material produced by Bob Proctor. (You may recall Bob Proctor from the highly-acclaimed movie, The Secret).

We welcome J’s insights for this week’s installment of Monday Morning MOJO!


Contributing writer – J.Shoop

Recently, I was having a conversation with one of Intero’s founders, Tom Tognoli, and we were discussing the benefits of participating in a Mastermind group. We agreed that many are missing out on the benefits of masterminding because they either lack a clear understanding of what a Mastermind group is, or they simply don’t know how to find one to join.

The common definition of masterminding is “The coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony.”

But what does that really mean?

Super Bowl Sunday is coming soon. If you think about it, a football team is really a sort of Mastermind group. When all of a team’s knowledge and effort is combined in a spirit of harmony, working toward a definite purpose, their odds of winning increase significantly. A sense of magic or destiny is often created, and the team appears to be “in the zone”.

Contrast that approach with a less-successful team, say the Raiders (hey, I’m a fan so don’t hate on me!) – But let’s look at their results… For many years they have shown that having elite, talented individuals is not enough. They may all share the same goal (to win a Super bowl), but internally they suffer from their own self-created chaos.

When you are lacking in harmony, you won’t win, no matter how badly you may want to. Or if by chance you do win, the wins will be inconsistent and unsustainable.

So how can we apply this awareness in our lives and businesses?

The idea of masterminding is certainly not new, but it’s probably the most misunderstood and most under-utilized concept in business today. The primary benefit of participation is connecting with a select group of like-minded people interested in helping you succeed.

You’ve likely heard the expression before that “two heads are better than one”. This is because there is a unique energy created when two or more like-minded individuals are connected, and this synergy can be quite powerful.

Mastermind groups bring resources and connections into your world that you would have never had access to on your own. Additionally, you benefit from differing perspectives, input, and feedback, combined with accountability and inspiration, enabling you to maintain focus on the achievement of your goals.

In our lives careers, we are usually solely responsible for our results. Subsequently, we often feel that we need to do everything by ourselves. Yet intrinsically we know that no significant achievements are ever accomplished without the help of others.

And let’s face it. Business can be hard. We sometimes get so wrapped up in the details and the day-to-day “stuff” that we often miss opportunities for valuable feedback that could make an enormous positive impact in our lives and in our careers.

As a benefit to your subscription to Monday Morning Mojo, I’ve put together a Mastermind Coaching series that is available to you at NO CHARGE. (MOJO has picked up the tab.)

We’ll help you to focus on your goals while educating you on the information and principles contained in the book “You Were Born Rich” by Bob Proctor, and introduce you to other authors, lecturers, and speakers who’ve written about these subjects.

For more information on how you can participate in an upcoming Mastermind group:

Send an email today at jshoop@jshoop.com, with Mastermind Coaching in the subject line. We have several time slots available, and we’ll email you some dates for you to choose from. You can participate from anywhere, as we have both live and teleconferencing options available.

I’m looking forward to helping you to further develop your MOJO in 2010!

J. Shoop
www.coachshoop.com


Monday Mojo: Burning the Boats

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As we start the 3rd week of the New Year, now is when it really starts to get hard to keep up with those resolutions. When I went to the gym over the weekend, I was shocked by the number of cars in the parking lot. I’m not sure why, I shouldn’t have been, it was the same thing last year. There must have been 10 times the number of people there compared to last month. Over the last two weeks gyms all around the world have been flooded with millions of additional people. The unfortunate thing is, it’s the same millions of people who were in the gym the first week of January last year….and the year before that…and the year before that…and the year before that…and by February 1st it will be back to the old regulars.

So, why can’t we keep it up?

Whether it is going to the gym, spending more time with our kids and/or spouse, eating healthier, whatever it is – what can we do to keep those resolutions and make them changes for a lifetime, not just a week or a month? The answer is good old discipline and accountability. If we are truly committed to having a better life, we need to tell everyone we know about our resolutions and ask them to help hold us accountable. We have to burn the boats, so to speak, and not give ourselves a way back to the old us – the one who hits the snooze bar. Because if we don’t burn the boats, so there is no going back when the going gets tough, we are simply going to revert back to all our old bad habits.

Now, when you are too tired to keep your commitments, too tired to keep inspired, too tired to keep being disciplined and accountable, play this video and ask yourself, what would Lance say to you?

Lance Armstrong


Monday Mojo: My Big Audacious New Year’s Resolution…Easy Does It!!!!

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Today marks the first full week of a New Year and a New Decade. It is an opportunity for a fresh start on whatever it is that we have wanted to accomplish with our health, faith, family, business, and finances. We just need to remember it is the beginning and not the end, so we need to pace ourselves. Don’t let what happened to your last year’s resolutions happen to this year’s resolutions. Be realistic and don’t burn out.

We all have these big audacious things we want to accomplish in life, but remember, if it is really worth doing, it is probably not going to get done in a day, in a week, or in a month.  If it could be done quickly, we probably would have already done it. For the most part, most New Year’s resolutions are life changes we need to make – not day changes, week changes, month changes, or year changes. We need to look at our life or our resolution like running a marathon. We cannot wake up one day after not running our entire life (or for years) and expect that we are going to knock out running 26 ½ miles.  But, if we start small, perhaps with something as easy as a 1 mile walk and build on it, anyone can do it. It is about committing ourselves to something we know we can maintain and building upward – not choosing something that is going to bury us.  It is also important that we have “mini goals” so we are experiencing success/winning along the way to that big audacious goal.

Using the metaphor of running a marathon – start with lightly jogging or walking one mile everyday and over a month or so, build that to lightly jogging 3 miles a day. Then over the next month build it to lightly jogging 3 to 5 miles, then 7 miles, then 10 miles, then…before you know it, if you are consistent, you will be ready to run that 26 ½ mile marathon. You will be accomplishing whatever your Big Audacious Goal is. The coolest thing is once you have that under your belt, can you can begin to imagine what next year’s resolution is going to look like – talk about big and audacious.

Easy does it…

Let’s make 2010 our best year yet!


Monday Morning Mojo: 5 Tricks to Achieving Your New Year’s Resolutions

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As we start a New Year this week lets all make a commitment to turn up the heat at least one more degree in 2010 and see what happens.  So many times in life the gap between what we have and what we want seems so far apart, yet most of the time it is not nearly as far apart as we think.  Click here to watch the video and then turn up YOUR heat at least one degree to make 2010 your best year yet!

Here are 5 Simple Tricks to Achieving Your New Year’s Resolutions. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

1. Get specific

A vague goal is as useful as no goal at all. General ideas about what you want give you nothing to work with and nowhere to go. It’s only when you get specific about what you want that the path to success is revealed. Take time to narrow down your resolutions into specific ideas and turn your vague goals into crystal-clear goals.

2. Spread the word

Don’t keep your goals all to yourself. The more you share your goals with others, the more life you give to those goals. It gives them the chance to grow and gain momentum.  So, tell at least two other people about your goals, and be sure not to make the mistake of giving without receiving; spend just as much time listening to ideas as you did in sharing your own.

3. Buddy up

When it comes to living a better life, few things are as powerful or persuasive as a living, breathing human being.  Books, tapes, etc. can help you along, but nothing can compare to one-on-one interaction.  The buddy system is one of the most effective goal-achievement tools you can use. By partnering with a goal-seeker, you’ll have all the support you need to achieve anything you set your mind to.

4. Burn the bridge

While preparing his next book, a famous writer listed his weight at fifty pounds lighter than reality. Not only that, but he did so knowing full well that only months after publication he would be paraded in front of thousands of his biggest fans. Why?  To burn the bridge of easy escape. He knew he needed to lose the weight, but he also knew he would give up on the goal without any pressure to follow through. By promising his public a fifty-pound weight loss, he had no choice but to achieve the goal.  What steps can you take today to burn the bridge of an easy escape and commit yourself to living a better life?

5. Do something – NOW

As they say, there’s no better time than the present, and when it comes to living a better life, they couldn’t be more right.  The true power of taking one small step comes not in the small step of progress you’ll make, but in the act of doing something about the things you want.  As you know, getting started is often the most difficult part of the process. Millions of people dream, but few actually ever take action…and that is why it is critical that you do something today. Think of one small step you can take right now that will bring you closer to accomplishing your goal and once you have it in mind, DO IT! Don’t think about it, don’t consider it – JUST DO IT NOW!


Monday Morning Mojo: Get More of What You Want in 2010

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Merry Christmas and thank you. Thank you for the gift of opportunity to share Monday Morning MOJO with you. By having to think, research and create ideas to share every week it has forced me to reaffirm what is important to me in my life.  By writing Monday Morning MOJO I have also attracted into my life more of the things which are important to me, my family, my friends and our company.  As we have discussed in past Monday Morning MOJO’s, one of the best ways to get more of what you want in life is to help others get more of what they want. I hope I have been able to help you do just that - you have certainly helped me. You have been my best accountability partner in 2009. So, don’t forget to get more of what you want next year – help others get more of what they want. You have to give to get!

So, what do you want Monday Morning MOJO to provide you for Christmas?  I have been sending out Monday Morning MOJO now for over a year and I thought I would ask you what you are struggling with in life, what breakthroughs are you wanting to accomplish but just can’t quite seem to make it happen? What questions do you want Monday Morning MOJO to help with? Do you have an inspirational story to share – one which you think can make a difference for the thousands of people who receive Monday Morning MOJO?  It’s the stories of real experiences which truly make the difference and have the largest impact.

My gift to you today for Christmas is MOJO.

What exactly is MOJO you ask?
MOJO defined is:

  • A magic charm or spell
  • The art or practice of casting magic spells
  • An object, as an amulet or charm that is believed to carry a magic spell
  • MOJO is me sending you success, health, and happiness.

Merry Christmas and click here to enjoy a holiday slide show.