Posts Tagged ‘Tom Tognoli’

Monday Morning Mojo: Do It, Delegate It, or Delete It

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Do It, Delegate It, or Delete It

By Tom Tognoli
COO, Founder
Intero Real Estate, Inc.

Come on….You have 1,000, 5,000, 10,000 emails in your inbox.   Like you are ever going to go back to email number 3,498 and deal with it.  I know we have the best of intentions to go back and deal with it, but you are dreaming.  It is not going to happen or by the time you do, it is going to be too late and the person who sent you the email is going to feel like you have blown them off.

I find it completely mind bogging the number of emails most people have in their inbox…not to mention the number of saved voicemails. I know some of you may find this sick, but I go to bed with my email and voicemail inboxes empty everyday…and I get over 300 emails and probably 20 voicemails a day.   I know this may not be a typical Monday Morning MOJO topic, but this is truly one of those things I see holding so many people back in life and business.  People are completely overwhelmed and behind because they fail to act and instead procrastinate…not just on email, but on everything.  Ladies and Gentlemen, today with the amount of information we have coming at us each and every day we need to be able to evaluate information quickly and act on it…not procrastinate on it.  Because if we do not evaluate and act we continue to bury ourselves deeper and deeper until we eventually suffocate ourselves, our businesses, and our lives.

We are in the information age, and information is coming at us like a rushing river.  It is never going to slow down…it is only going to increase and get faster so get over it and quit complaining.  Embrace it and look at it as an opportunity, not a detriment to your business and life.  To succeed in business and life we need to DEAL WITH IT!!!!  I hear many people say if you really need something call me, don’t email me.  Give me a break.  I am sure the same thing applied when the phone was first discovered.   People would say if you really need something jump on your horse and come see me or send me a letter, but don’t call me.  Does that make any sense today. No Way.  Neither does not doing it, deleting it or delegating it NOW.

Here is a little trick I do to keep on top of my emails.  I focus on deleting the not so important emails and spam throughout the day.  I don’t necessarily try and deal with everything that needs my attention immediately.  I simply try and whittle down my inbox throughout the day so that when I do sit down to work on replying and dealing with my email I can focus on things that really need my attention and not the junk or the things that I am simply cc’d on that do not require a reply…I just simply scan those throughout the day so I know what is going on and then delete them in the spare minutes I have between calls, meetings, and other stuff.  Reality of it is of the 300 emails I get a day probably only 30 to 50 require some kind of a response.   The rest are junk and/or things I am getting cc’d on.  I am sure the same thing applies to you.

Information is power, but only if we do it, delegate it or delete it.

Make it a great week!!!!!!


Monday Morning Mojo: I am so busy you can count on me to get it done

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You ever notice when you really need someone you can depend on…someone who you know will come through no matter what, it is the busiest person.  The person who on the surface seems like there is no way in the world they can handle one more thing.  You know why?  Because the idle ones have too many excuses…to many substitutes…too many shortcuts.  Almost everything in life is that way. Unfortunately most of us will never know our true capacity for achievement because we never challenge ourselves to perform at our best every day.

This is most obvious when we are presented with an opportunity that really interests us.  No matter how busy we are, when there is something we want to do…something we like to do, somehow we will find the time to pursue it…right?  On the other hand, those things that we don’t like or those things we don’t want to do are easily postponed and eventually forgotten.  Successful people are not procrastinators…the most successful and effective people have a sense of urgency.  They just grab a hold of it and get it done!!!!  They set deadlines and force themselves to establish priorities by what is most important and not by what they like to do the most.  Deadlines….that is the magic word.  Unfortunately, way too many people never set a deadline to accomplish those things which are most important.  They put it on the proverbial “list”.  You know “the list” I am talking about.  The one you write crap down on that you never have any intention on doing.  Because those things we don’t put on “the list”, we usually just dive in and get done…usually before the deadline…right?

Remember, we are not naturally wound to do all the things we need to do to be successful in life…personally, professionally…health…etc.  Because usually those things required to be successful at any area in life, involve doing something we don’t naturally like to do…at least not in the beginning.  Otherwise everyone would be getting everything they want in life…right?  Here are a few examples…

  • Exercise versus Watching TV
  • Saving Money versus Spending Money
  • Salad versus Cheeseburger and fries
  • Showing up first and leaving last versus Showing up last and leaving first
  • Getting up early versus waiting until the absolute last minute like the rest of the world
  • Making that tough phone call versus blowing it off until…

Here is the interesting thing though…if you make a commitment to do what is required to be successful, you will eventually become addicted to the success and then the pain of doing what is required will actually become something you thrive on.  I think it takes 90 days to make this happen.  At 90 days, it has been my experience that is the point when you go from feeling good that you accomplished it to the point that you feel like crap if you don’t.  That is the key and that is when you know you have changed that area of your life.  It’s at that point when if you don’t do it, it would be like not brushing your teeth or taking a shower…that just would not happen.  At least I hope!!!!

When you see other people that have what you want…it is not that they are more gifted…it is that they are more disciplined and accountable to doing those things required to be successful.  So, here is what we all need to do…if there is something we need to get done, even if it does not require a deadline, SET ONE!!!!!!  You will be amazed at how much you can accomplish in a short amount of time if that is all the time you have.  Remember, work/life expands to meet the time allotted.  We all have the same 24 hours in a day.

JUST DO IT!!!!!!!

Have a Powerful week!!!!


Monday Morning Mojo: It’s Contagious

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You ever notice that people who are negative, down and have low energy tend see the negative in everything no matter what…they see the glass half empty?   While those who are positive, upbeat and fired up about life see the positive in almost everything…they see the glass half full?  If you had to take a guess, which group do you think is right…the positive ones or the negative ones?  The answer is both.

They are both right, because you get what you focus on and you attract people into your life who are like you.  So the good news is, if you are positive, upbeat and fired up…you attract positive, upbeat and fired up people into your life….and the more people you attract into your life like that the better your life gets…it gets better exponentially.  The downside is, if you are negative, down and have low energy, you attract negative, down and low energy people into your life…and the more people like that you attract into your life, the worse your life gets… it gets worse exponentially.

For a minute, just think about some of the people you know.  Not necessarily those who are your best friends, but just acquaintances.  What are the common characteristics of the positive ones and what are the common characteristics of the negative ones?  What energy do they give off…do they smile or frown…do they laugh or do they yell…do they fire you up when you see them or suck the energy from you…do they complement or do they criticize…  You ever notice that we don’t see the positive ones and the negative ones spending much time together, except when absolutely necessary?  Why is that?  Because the positive ones naturally spend time with optimistic people and find ways to improve in all the areas of their life, while the negative ones seem to always spend time with the basket cases and seem to always be looking for ways to sabotage all the areas of their life…not intentionally, but subconsciously.  The positive ones tend to do things which are good for their physical, mental and spiritual body, while the negative tend to do negative things which are bad for their physical, mental, and spiritual body.

So, how do we get out of the funk and into the fired up?  One of the most important things we need to do is stop spending time with other people in a funk and start spending time with people who are fired up…or if you are fired up, find other fired up people to spend time with…or better yet, find people more fired up than you to spend time with. Both groups are like magnets and either we are going to get sucked down into a hole with the “my life sucks” group, or we are going to get pulled up into the clouds with the “my life is on fire and awesome” group.  You can’t beat it, because it is like any fight.  No matter how tough you are, if you are outnumbered you are going to lose.  If you are trying to be positive but hang out with negative people, you are going to get your ass kicked.  The good news is if your negative, but hang out with positive people, you are also going to get your ass kicked.

Remember, everything in life is contagious…hang with people who have the fired up plague and catch it!!!!!

Make it a GREAT week!!!!


Monday Morning Mojo: Purely Water

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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.


Change or Die?!

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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!


Morning Mojo: Embrace the Pain

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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!


Morning Mojo: EXPANSION!!!!!!

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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!!!!!!!!


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

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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.

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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 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!


Monday Mojo| Amy’s Inspiration

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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.


Review your goals before moving forward.

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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!!!!