Posts Tagged ‘sucess’

Monday Mojo: In for the long haul

By Tom Tognoli | February 14th, 2011 1 Comment

We leave someone a voicemail and they don’t get back to us within a few hours so we start freaking out.

We send someone an email and they don’t get back us within an hour so we’re pissed.

We send someone a text and they don’t get back to us within 5 minutes and we come unglued.

We IM someone and they don’t reply immediately so we think they are mad at us about something.

This is the society we live in today…we are accustom to getting everything instantly…we are an Instant gratification society.

Unfortunately being part of an instant gratification society makes us impatient.   Now, those of you who know me know I love how technology helps make me more efficient and on top of things. I know some of you are laughing right now, because I am describing myself.  My ADHD/OCD personality makes me want to get things done and get them done NOW!!!!!!!

The downside to this is we all start to think that everything in life works this way.  I will pray really quick and find faith…I will spend a few minutes with my kids today and we will have a great relationship forever…I will work out at the gym for a week and I will be fit for life.  Yeah…right?  That is not how life works.  For the big/most important things in life, instant gratification does not apply. The key to success is being passionate while at the same time be patient for the long haul.

I made a challenge to our sales people last week which I think is a good example of this.   I challenged them to make just one call every day to a past client or friend…not 5, 10, 50…just one.  If someone can discipline themselves to do this small activity everyday for their entire career they will make 365 contacts a year and I promise you that will turn into more sales.  I also know once they start and begin to get positive results, that one contact will turn into 2, then 5, then 10…  Now, there is no instant gratification here…you can’t make one call just the first day or two and expect it to turn into sales.  It is the accumulation effect of doing it for a long period of time that will create success.   Now this one small activity is not going to make you a top producer, but do this along with a few other activities consistently and POW!!!!!!  It really is that simple to do…unfortunately it is also that simple not to do.

The key to success is never quitting.  I see so many people doing the right things, but quit just before they experience the breakthrough.  They do it for a few days, a week, or a month and get little or no results so they just quit.  It is like the person who is 100 pounds overweight that goes to the gym and eats healthy for a month but only loses a few pounds so they quit because working out and eating right does not work.  No instant gratification.  We all know if they stick with it for the long haul it will definitely work.  Again it is easy to do, but also easy not to do.

We live in an instant gratification society, but to be truly successful at anything we need to be passionate, be consistent, be patient and stick with it NO MATTER WHAT!

Cheers.

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Monday Mojo: Make the final two minutes count

By Tom Tognoli | November 29th, 2010 0 Comments

I was watching a little football over this Thanksgiving weekend and it’s interesting how two teams can play for 58 minutes, but in the end, most of the time, the game is decided by which team is best in the final two minutes. It is the teams that can suck it up when they are beaten up and tired that end up being the winners.

Just like football, it’s the final two minutes that determine the winners and the losers at almost everything in life. Everything we do up until that last two minutes just keeps us in the game and gives us a chance to win.

Well, we are in the final two minutes of 2010, and the winners of 2010 will be determined by what we do between now and the end of the year. I know everyone is tired and everyone needs a break, me too, but it’s those few who can dig deep, remain disciplined and push through the pain that will finish up 2010 the winners.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am all for spending time over the holidays with friends and family, I am all for having some fun, but I just see so many people take their foot off the gas at Thanksgiving and coast into the end of the year. And then when January 1st hits, they are at a dead stop. Then it’s really not until the middle or end of January before they are back into “game shape”.

As I said, I am for taking some time off over Thanksgiving, taking some time off over Christmas and taking a couple of days off over New Years, but I am not for taking off the entire 4th quarter of the game. I am up for finishing the game of 2010 strong! This applies to everything in life from our jobs, to our health, to our faith, to our relationships…everything!!!!! The beautiful part is, if you are one of the few who choose to finish the game of 2010 strong, there will be a lot less competition because everyone else will be sleeping, everyone else will be taking the final two minutes off. And because there are a lot less people in the game in the final two minutes of the year, it makes it a lot easier to score.

Have a powerful week and finish 2010 STRONG!!!!!!!

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Monday Mojo – Let Go

By Tom Tognoli | October 11th, 2010 0 Comments

Do you ever go to the gym and see those people who have the treadmill, elliptical, or stair stepper cranked up and holding on to the handles for dear life? Looking like if they let go they are going to fall off a cliff?

They do it because they think the higher the incline and the faster it goes the better the work out. Well, I would agree, but not if you hold on.

Did you know when you hold on, you actually burn 25% less calories? It not only turns walking into “make-believe walking” and running into “fake-running,” but it ruins posture and body alignment, does nothing to build balance, and it doesn’t help flatten your stomach – ouch!!!!

Well, holding on doesn’t only apply to when you are on a treadmill, but with anything in life. When we hold on – or hold back – we don’t give it 100%.

When we play it safe and give ourselves a net to catch us if we fall, we don’t make as much progress – we don’t push ourselves as hard – we trick ourselves into thinking we are making more progress than we actually are.

The key to going from good to great is not being 100% better or 1000% better – it is just being a little bit better. The key to being just a little better is letting go and not holding on.

We need to get rid of the proverbial net and force ourselves to go for it and do whatever it takes to WIN.

Do as Julius Caesar did centuries ago – he had long wished to capture the British. He sailed to the British Isles, quietly unloaded his troops and supplies, and gave the order to burn the ships. He then called all of his men together and said, “Now it is win or perish. We have no choice.”  With that single order, he guaranteed the success of his campaign.

He knew that people who have no other alternative – always win.

Make it a powerful and productive week.

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Monday Mojo: Clear Your Runway

By Tom Tognoli | May 10th, 2010 0 Comments

Could you imagine a jet taking off on a runway full of junk? There is no way in the world you would ever step foot on a jet attempting to do that, yet that is the way most of us run our lives everyday. Like a jet trying to take off on a runway full of garbage, our runway to success is the environment we live and work in every day.

Everyday you go to work look at your workspace, your inbox, your voicemail, and your brain as your runway. Would you take off using those things as your runway – no way! If your desk if full of crap, if your inbox has hundreds or thousands of messages you have not dealt with, if you have crap running through your mind, you are destine for disaster.

Here is the easiest and most difficult thing we all need to do to achieve success both personally and professionally – clean up our runways. That’s it.

  • Make sure your desk is spotless when you go home every night. You can throw away 80% to 90% of the crap on your desk – think about it, you haven’t touched it in weeks or months. If you do end up needing it later, just Google it or ask the pack-rat in the desk next to you for it.
  • Make sure your inbox is empty every day when you go home. Either reply, delete, or save it in a subfolder. Deal with it and get it out of your inbox. Quit the procrastination!
  • Get it out of your head and write it down on a list. Our brains are made for creating ideas, not storing them.

The same things apply at home. Here we talked about our work runways, but we also have our personal/home runways. Make sure the strip is clean or you will crash there as well.

Clean it up so you can build speed, take off and achieve your dreams!

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Thursday’s Thoughts on Leadership: Planning is The First Act in the Script of Success

By Gino Blefari | February 25th, 2010 0 Comments

Sometimes, it’s the smallest things that make the biggest difference. Those simple, seemingly insignificant details often have the greatest impact.

They lie in the hours, minutes and seconds of our lives.

In his book The Ultimate Sales Machine, Chet Holmes lays out a system for managing our days more effectively. One of his rules is to list the six most important things you need to do each day and, by hook or crook, get these things completed. Every day. No excuses.

To do that, Holmes argues, requires figuring out exactly how much time each thing will take.

Forty Niner coach Bill Walsh was also a master of scripting his way to success. When Walsh coached at Stanford he scripted out the first 15-25 plays of every game. The result? Stanford scored on the first possession 8 times in 11 games – an unheard of rate of success.

I began to understand that this success was not an accident; it was written in a script.

It was with this inspiration that I began create my script – my “Perfect Day.”

Much like a personal playbook, on the surface, this Perfect Day script is little more than a to-do list. Scratch beneath it just a bit, though, and it becomes so much more. Each evening, before going to sleep, I plan out every facet of my upcoming day – from my morning walk to my evening reading.

Each day, I have constants, like going to the gym, eating dinner, and even taking a little free time for myself. Each day has time that’s flexible, but is built in to the same time each day, so that I can tackle important business that mightn’t have been foreseen.

With my script, I know exactly what I need to accomplish each day. I know where I’m going to be and how long I have to meet my goals. This simple plan gives me direction. It gives me focus. It puts me in the mindset to take 100% control of each and every day. In short, it gives me the power to succeed.

You’d be amazed at the power such a simple idea can hold. Take a cue from Coach Walsh and start scripting the plays of your perfect day. Give yourself the power to succeed!

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