Posts Tagged ‘Tom Tognoli’

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Monday Morning Mojo: Purely Water

By Tom Tognoli | February 6th, 2012 0 Comments

Do you know what percent of our body is water?  We BEGIN life as a fetus at 99%.  When we are born, it drops to about 90%. Then the average human body settles in around 70%. So, from a simple physical perspective, we are all made up of mostly water!

Let me ask you a simple question – if you had a choice to drink from a body of water, which would you prefer – a river or a pond? Why?

Water in a river remains pure because it is moving, and it is generally agreed that the quicker it is moving, the more pure it is.  When water is stagnating, trapped, or immobile, what happens?  It collects a lot of crap and becomes polluted.  Right?

So, what is the message we all can learn from water?

That it is critical for us to continue moving fast and forward if we are interested in improving.  Otherwise we could be in danger of becoming idle, polluted, and turn into crap.  It is interesting to note that as children, we are expected to grow and improve every year mentally, physically and emotionally. This is why we have different grades in school and have to improve each year to continue on.

Then we graduate and what happens?  Most people’s growth process stops or slows down drastically.  The unfortunate thing is when we stop growing, we don’t stay the same.  We actually start to move backwards year after year.

What are you doing to improve every day in your F5 (Faith, Family Friends, Fitness and Finance)?  Are you reacting to life or are you attacking and taking from it?

Let’s all make a commitment to keep in action, keep moving, changing, flowing – mentally, physically, and emotionally.  It is going to help purify who we are.  Let’s choose not to turn into crap.  Let’s choose to continue to become more pure!

Side Note:
Be sure and drink lots of water since 70% of our body is made up of it and we don’t want it just sitting in our bodies stagnant like a dirty pond – purge the old and replenish with new fresh clean water every day.

Like most of you, one of my New Year’s resolutions for 2012 was to get healthier.  Gino, JT, myself and a few others have been doing food and fitness logs that we text to each other EVERY DAY.  Every day we send each other what we did to improve our fitness and we also include everything we ate/drank for the day, everything!  It is amazing how much of an impact this little exercise has on our daily eating habits.  I can tell you that a few people in the group have already had a massive transformation.  If you are looking to improve in any area of your life, do the same with a group of friends or colleagues.  It will have a huge impact.

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Change or Die?!

By Tom Tognoli | January 30th, 2012 0 Comments

What if a well-informed, trusted authority figure said you had to make difficult and enduring changes in the way you think and act?

If you didn’t make those changes, you would die soon. A lot sooner than you had to.

Could you change when change really mattered?

Yes, you say? Try again. Most likely you wouldn’t change.

Don’t believe me? Let me share with you the odds – 9 to 1. That’s 9 to 1 against you.

Do you realize a SMALL percent of the population consumes the VAST majority of the health care budget for diseases that are very well known, and by in large behavioral? We are sick because of how we choose to live our lives, not because of any environmental or genetic factors beyond our control. They say it could be as much as 80% of our health care budget is consumed by these behavioral issues – smoking, eating, drinking, stress and lack of exercise.

Could behaviors be driving issues in more than one area of our lives? Could we ultimately be in control of the aspects we felt were a product of conditions outside our control?

Do you want some more proof of the challenge we all face in change?

There was a study done back in 1995 of people who went through bypass surgery (open heart surgery). Of those studied, within 2 years from surgery 90% went right back to their old unhealthy lifestyle. So, if the fear of DEATH doesn’t initiate change – is there any hope? More importantly how do we get our stubborn brain to stop resisting change so tenaciously. Why do we fight it even when we KNOW if we don’t it will kill us?

Well, knowing that motivating people with the fear of death wasn’t the right approach because 90% went right back to where they were before, the study tried a different approach. They decided to change the patients focus. Have any idea to what? The joy of LIVING.

The study took 300 patients and put a 100% daily effort into focusing their minds on all the daily things that make life great. They coached them on their mindset, their attitude, their daily habits, and surrounded them continually with the RIGHT influences. It was this change of focus – taking it away from the fear of death and into the joy of living – that allowed 77% of the patients to sustain the lifestyle changes.

What changes do we need to make? Where is our focus – in fear or in joy?

It’s time to make some changes now!

Download and read Alan Deutschman’s complete Change or Die article, my inspiration for today’s Mojo. It’s an eye opener – definitely worth taking the time to read.

Make is a GREAT week and a GREAT life!

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Morning Mojo: Embrace the Pain

By Tom Tognoli | January 16th, 2012 0 Comments

Embrace the pain…it is where the growth and success are hiding.

It was the end of 2004 when she walked into my office with tears in her eyes. She had tracked me down for an interview. I had recruited her from a smaller firm where her business was not going all that well. When she joined our firm I gave her a list of what I call “success activities” and told her that if she put them in her schedule and did them every day sun or shine she would be one of the top agents in our company. She has 2 small children and a husband who works full time, but she had an amazing work ethic. She would literally get up at 4:30 or 5 every morning, come in to the office and work until 7am. Then she would go home, get her kids up and ready for school and then come back to the office and bust her butt all day doing the activities. At about 6pm she would leave to go pick up her kids from school, bring them home, have dinner and then go back to work until about 8pm to 9pm. And she did work a lot of weekends as well. She was a woman on a mission. But after probably 6 months and only 1 deal, she was on the verge of quitting and going to get a “real job.” She literally broke down in my office and told me she was not sure this job was for her. She even considered being someone’s administrative assistant. Well, after an hour or so of encouraging her and telling her not to quit, she walked out, got back on her horse and kept going. A year later she was one of the top producers in the office and today she is one of the top producers at Intero. Today she is a success,but if she had quit when the going got tough she would have failed.

If you lift weights or run or do almost any kind of training you know that nearly all of the benefit happens in the last 10% of the exercise…it is in the 12th rep of a 12 rep exercise…is the last 1/2 mile of a 7 mile run. Improvement happens when the pain is at its peak and we think we can’t take it anymore…that is how we get better. Up until that point everything is mostly just maintenance and only helps us keep what we’ve got. But if we can push through the pain even when we think we can’t take it any longer and do just a little bit more, that is where all the gain and opportunity lies. The same thing applies in business and life. So many times we see that super successful person and think they got all of the breaks…everything went their way. I can tell you that is almost never the case. There were set backs and fear and a lot of pain along the way in almost every success story. The difference between those who have massive success and the rest is not only their amazing work ethic, but their ability to push through the setbacks and pain, when most “normal” people quit. Like exercise and fitness, success at anything in life requires discipline, accountability, resiliency and doing “it” when everyone else is sleeping and/or calls it quits. It’s showing up an hour earlier and staying an hour later than everyone else. It is that last rep when lifting weights and your arms feel like they are about to explode. It is showing up and doing it again and again even when you feel like you can’t take it anymore. Push through the pain, don’t quit, and get the reward of Success.

So, who is this Success I am talking about you ask? It is Sophie Tsang in our Cupertino office.

No pain…no gain!

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Morning Mojo: EXPANSION!!!!!!

By Tom Tognoli | January 9th, 2012 0 Comments

Every quarter when a company reports their earnings, the analysts talk about the company’s earnings as a factor of top line growth or expense reduction. Is the company expanding, innovating, and doing more business so it can thrive in the years to come or is it just cutting and slashing expenses, holding on for dear life, to hit its profit numbers for investors? During any crisis or recession all smart companies will cut expenses and become more conservative, however, the best companies know that to succeed in the years to come it is about being innovating and doing more…not less. Actually the best companies not only know how to survive in challenging times, but they know how to capitalize on them and propel them to even greater long term success. They know the best time to expand is when everyone else is contracting.

This does not only apply to business but it really applies to everything in life. So, my question for you as we get 2012 rolling is do you have an expansion mindset or a recession mindset? Are your fired up about the possibilities or terrified about the “what if’s?” Over these last few years of uncertainty and recession I know firsthand, the natural instinct is to hold on and become much more conservative about everything in life. The term hunker down and take cover comes to mind. And although when we are in the midst of attack we need to be smart and do whatever we can to survive and not get slaughtered, we can’t stay in the proverbial bunker forever. At some point we need to take what we have learned from the struggle then get back on the horse and ride it again. Because as we all know the longer we wait the harder it gets. The economic and world turmoil we have experienced these last several years has really taken its toll on so many people’s physique, confidence, health, families, friendships, faith and of course their pocket books…mine included. I see so many people still completely paralyzed…people are literally afraid to make a decision and do anything because they are so focused on the worst case scenario and not the potential opportunities. Unfortunately they did not get back on the horse soon enough and now years later even the sight of it causes them to sweat.

Look…I know…I am not sitting here on my soap box telling you that I have not experienced some of this myself. I have had many sleepless nights these last few years…lying in bed staring at the ceiling running through all of my potential disaster plans and how I would survive if this happens or that happens. But if you have not shaken it off by now and gotten back to being focused on the possibilities and become expansion minded, now is the time. We can’t simply hold on to what we have and think that is good enough. Things never stay the same in our F-5 (faith, family, friends, fitness, and finance)…either they are getting better or they are getting worse. Life does not stand still and the only way it will get better is if you get back in the game of life and start taking some risks and really GOING FOR IT!!!!!!! Kind of like your New Year’s resolution to lose weight and exercise more…right? If we don’t do anything we know what will happen. No action really means negative action.

Get in action NOW!!!!!!!!

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Morning Mojo: Never Put Off Until Tomorrow What You Can Do Today

By Tom Tognoli | September 19th, 2011 0 Comments

Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today…

I never really understood the value in that advice until the day I met John.

It was an early Saturday morning in October, and I was driving to a charity golf event up in Northern California. I was really looking forward to playing in this event, and I was even more excited because in order to get there, I’d be driving along one of my favorite stretches of asphalt in El Dorado County, called Latrobe Road. It’s a ten-mile drive that connects Highway 16 with Highway 50, and if you can imagine someone scribbling on a map with a crayon, that’s what Latrobe Road kinda looks like.

As I turned onto Latrobe, I floored it like a NASCAR driver getting the green flag! If you’ve ever had the experience of driving a sports car down a two-lane country road, then you know what I’m talking about. I had the wind in my hair, the gas pedal down, the music cranked up, and all I was thinking was “THIS IS MY DAY!”

But in a moment, everything changed.

As I rounded a blind corner, I came upon a man frantically waving his arms in an attempt to slow me down. (Talk about raining on your parade!) But what I hadn’t realized is that this guy was the driver of an SUV that had just been in a head-on accident with a motorcycle, and I was one of the first people on the scene.

For a moment, my mind was saying, “GO… JUST GO!” “Let someone else deal with it!”

But something inside me said, “STOP!”

So I pulled over, dialed 9-1-1, and simultaneously jumped out of my car to see how I could help.

The scene wasn’t pretty.

The motorcyclist was face down in the middle of the road, and there was twisted metal and debris everywhere. The impact from the collision had caused the rider’s helmet to come off, and his injuries were severe.

As I knelt down to try to revive him, I witnessed what I believed to be his last breath.

The 9-1-1 operator instructed me to turn him over and administer CPR. By this time, a couple more people had arrived and offered to help. As we gently turned him over onto his back, the hopelessness of the situation became very apparent.

Sadly, our efforts to revive him were futile, and as the paramedics showed up and took over, all that was left to do was to cover his lifeless body with one of those familiar yellow tarps.

I found out later, his name was John. He was a husband, a father, and by all accounts, he was a really good guy.

And he was my age.

That got me thinking about my own mortality. And I’m pretty sure that John did not leave his house that day thinking, “today is my last day.”

But what if today was your last day?

What have you been putting off until tomorrow?

I decided, in that very moment, that I would no longer put off until tomorrow what I can do today. I decided to begin taking the advice of my coach and mentor, Les Brown, who encourages us to, “Live full, die empty.”

This life is not a dress rehearsal, my friends. We only get one shot.

Please repeat these words out loud: “No more excuses! Today is MY day!”

Thank you for the opportunity to share these thoughts with you, and make today great.

J. Shoop – Contributing writer
www.coachshoop.com

For more information on how to connect with J., send an email to jshoop@jshoop.com.

**********
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 one of our top producing Area Sales Managers for Western Bancorp, but you may not know that he is also an author, coach, and aspiring professional speaker. He recently released his first co-authoring project and we’re happy to have him as part of our team!

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

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Monday Mojo| Amy’s Inspiration

By Tom Tognoli | August 29th, 2011 0 Comments

It’s been 5 years since my cousin Amy passed away from breast cancer at the age of 41. In the final year of her life she received Monday Morning MOJO every week and loved it. We shared thoughts back and forth via e-mail many times after I would send it. This is the MOJO I wrote after she passed away on my flight back home from her memorial service. I have made a commitment to send this out as a Monday Morning MOJO every year at this time as a tribute to Amy and her life. I think there are great thoughts in this MOJO that one can never hear too often.

I walked into my home on Saturday night from one of the most emotionally draining experiences of my life.

Attending and presenting a reading at the funeral of my 41 year-old cousin, Amy.

Amy was beautiful, healthy and living the American dream. She had a storybook marriage and two beautiful daughters (12 and 14) when tragedy struck sixteen months ago.

In the words of her daughter, “It was a clear blue spring day -well, at least it was outside, because inside it was raining. We felt sadness and disbelief from the bad news. Not just regular bad news – but the kind where your life seems to fall apart in just two simple minutes. We listened closely to mother as she whispered, ‘Its cancer,’ and immediately feelings of shock, anger, and fear rushed through us all.”

Under her tears her daughter said faintly “Just never lose faith. Nobody knows what it’s like until it happens to them. And when it’s YOUR Mom how you view the world begins to change. You look at the mountains and now see their magnificence, just as seeing my Mom smile became everything to me. I started to appreciate life so much more. During those final months we would spend time gazing at the night sky, and I treasure everyday what she would say, ‘I love you more than all of the stars in the sky.’ Looking back at how it used to be, and how it would have been, and how it’s going to be without her by my side – truly it will never be the same.”

Her words I repeated over and over in my mind. It felt as though someone had shook me – forcing my eyes open to see the world for what it really it was. Forcing me to take a hard look at the ultimate truth, the truth that has the power to wake us up and make us live before it’s too late.

“Amy is gone,” the truth told me quietly, “and someday you will be, and so will all the people you love – it’s just a matter of time.”

So I ask you – are you doing what you want to do right now with your life, or are you putting off living your hopes and dreams because you think there will always be a tomorrow? If my cousin were here she’d tell you differently, she’d say “there will come a time when tomorrow doesn’t come, and you are wasting your time if you are not loving and laughing and enjoying your days now, while you can.”

This leaves us with a choice – we can delete this message because we find it too depressing, or we can let this message be a force that pushes us over the tipping point into the life we dream of. That is most often what it takes, something so strong it carries us past our fears and doubts and the terrors that come when we think about finally doing the things we’ve been dreaming about for so long.

Let Amy be your inspiration this morning. And realize she had a great life, doing the things she loved, with the people she loved – and she would want you to do the same.

I’ve heard it all; it’s just not possible, I’ve got obligations, responsibilities, and don’t forget the economy, and of course the- I can’t just DO what I want – I’ve got a job, bills, yada yada yada…

All those excuses mean nothing when your time comes, and who knows when that might be. All I know is the days are passing quickly and now is the time to do what YOU KNOW you need to do. Don’t put if off, or you may just be too late.

We will miss you Amy.

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Review your goals before moving forward.

By Tom Tognoli | August 22nd, 2011 0 Comments

Here is a great question…Where will you be in ten years from now if you keep going the way you are going?  Reflect for a moment on last week and ask yourself this question…”if I do exactly what I did last week, every week for the next 10 years where will I be personally…professionally…spiritually…in my relationships with those I love and care about the most…how will my health be…what will my bank account look like in 10 years from today?

So many people fail to realize that success at anything in life is the result of little successes achieved over a very long period of time.  Truly successful people are long-term thinkers.  They know that they must build upon each achievement and constantly learn new and better ways of doing things.  A regular review of your progress is essential part of goal setting.   A goal is a little more than a wish unless it has a timetable for completion.  Make sure your plan for your life includes short, medium and long term goals.  Revise your goals as things change…check them off when they are completed and set new bigger goals for yourself as you grow.  And take time to reflect often to make sure you are on the right track.

Make it a GREAT week!!!!

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Monday Mojo: Tell me to kiss off, but don’t blow me off

By Tom Tognoli | August 15th, 2011 0 Comments

Earlier this month my close friend, who is a VP for a company here in Silicon Valley, and I went with our families on vacation together to Maine. While on the trip, I was talking with my buddy about some of the keys to being successful in life. We decided that if you want to know one sure fire way to completely sabotage your growth and success in business it would be to blow people off.

One of the biggest things that drive successful people crazy is when people blow them off or give them the old “well…maybe” brush-off. What makes successful people successful is they are DESISIVE and they hate it when they leave someone an email or a voicemail (sometimes 2 or 3 of them) and it is like their messages vaporize into space. It is why most people have hundreds or in some cases even thousands of emails in their inboxes. These types of people don’t want to deal with situations that may be uncomfortable so they blow the sender off instead of just dealing with it. If you want to make a simple job seem a lot harder then just keep putting it off. Most people are people pleasers and they may not have the courage to deliver bad news directly. They will duck dive around the issue at hand instead of just saying NO. They will just reply with” maybe”, “I will get back to you later” or they will blow the matter off all together. I am here to tell you that procrastinating your decisions in life is a death wish for your business and relationships.

If you want to make more money, be more successful, create not only better but also lasting relationships, be more respected, and downsize the amount of stress in life, find the courage to just say it like it is. Don’t avoid it. The person you are dealing with will not always like your answer, but trust me, even if your answer is NO, they will appreciate not being put through the ringer and they will respect you more for it. Tell them “yes” or tell them “no”, but do not tell them “maybe” or worse yet, don’t blow them off just because you don’t have the courage to say NO.

My message is simple this week. Be decisive and have the courage to communicate your decision. I promise it will have a huge positive impact on your life and business.

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Monday Mojo: Activity versus Productivity

By Tom Tognoli | August 8th, 2011 0 Comments

A while back I was having a conversation with one of my partners and Chairman of Intero, Bob Moles. He made a comment which is so basic and so true, but so many of us over look, “There is activity and there is productivity. They don’t pay the same per hour.”

It does not matter whether you are building cars, building computers, selling houses or running a company, there are always people in every organization that get paid more and climb the ladder of success faster than others. They are the 20% of the 80/20 rule. They have the same 24 hours in a day and they don’t necessarily work more; in many cases they don’t work as many hours as some of the others. But they have figured out how to be productive with their time. So, when they show up to work they work and do the most productive activities even if they don’t like it.

Let’s use sales as an example. Who likes cold calling and prospecting? Let’s be honest, no one likes it. Who likes making those calls and hearing no over and over again and having people hang up on you? No one. Yet, in sales that is what successful people do. If you aren’t in sales and don’t like sales people, remember that sales is one of the most critical components to any business, even if you are Google, Apple or Facebook. They focus on prospecting and generating leads or generating money from investors. The other sales people tend to sit at their desk and do what I call reactive activities or use the hope and pray approach. Playing on the internet, chatting with office mates, drinking their cup of Joe and staring at their phone wishing it to ring, please ring. They are the 80% of the 80/20 rule.

My challenge to everyone this week is find the most successful person in your organization no matter what you do and find out what they do with each day from the moment their feet hit the floor until the moment they go to bed. Remember it is probably not just what they do at work that makes them successful. My guess is it won’t be as glamorous and easy as you might think. Then compare it to what you do every day. Make the necessary adjustments and go for it!!!

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Monday Mojo: Today I Will Make A Difference

By Tom Tognoli | July 25th, 2011 0 Comments

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

Many of you know J. Shoop as one of our top producing Area Sales Managers for Western Bancorp, but you may not know that he is also an author, coach, and aspiring professional speaker. His first co-authoring project is set to be released on July 15th, and is available now on Amazon.com!

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

Every day we are faced with a multitude of choices.

In my opinion, one of the greatest freedoms human beings enjoy is the freedom to choose our thoughts. We can choose to focus upon and think about what’s right in our world, or we can choose to focus on what’s not.

One of my favorite inspirational authors, Max Lucado, wrote a book over 15 years ago called “On The Anvil.” The excerpt below is from his book.

Today I will make a difference. I will begin by controlling my thoughts. A person is the product of his thoughts. I want to be happy and hopeful. Therefore, I will have thoughts that are happy and hopeful. I refuse to be victimized by my circumstances. I will not let petty inconveniences such as stoplights, long lines, and traffic jams be my masters. I will avoid negativism and gossip. Optimism will be my companion, and victory will be my hallmark. Today I will make a difference.

I will be grateful for the twenty-four hours that are before me. Time is a precious commodity. I refuse to allow what little time I have to be contaminated by self-pity, anxiety, or boredom. I will face this day with the joy of a child and the courage of a giant. I will drink each minute as though it is my last. When tomorrow comes, today will be gone forever. While it is here, I will use it for loving and giving. Today I will make a difference.

I will not let past failures haunt me. Even though my life is scarred with mistakes, I refuse to rummage through my trash heap of failures. I will admit them. I will correct them. I will press on. Victoriously. No failure is fatal. It’s OK to stumble…I will get up. It’s OK to fail…I will rise again. Today I will make a difference.

I will spend time with those I love. My spouse, my children, my family. A man can own the world but be poor for the lack of love. A man can own nothing and yet be wealthy in relationships. Today I will spend at least five minutes with the significant people in my world. Five quality minutes of talking or hugging or thanking or listening. Five undiluted minutes with my mate, children, and friends.

Today I will make a difference.

One of the many reasons that Intero Real Estate continues to be such a successful company and brand is because of their never-ending commitment to creating an environment of optimism and enthusiasm. While much of the real estate community is still asking “What happened?,” Intero is making things happen!

I’d like to encourage you to start each day reading aloud the words above. I assure you that you will notice an immediate impact in your attitude, and it will fortify you for the day ahead.

Thank you,

J. Shoop
www.coachshoop.com

For more information on how to connect with J., send an email to jshoop@jshoop.com.

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