3/26/07

Good Morning MOJO,

When the going is the hardest, just keep on keeping on, and you’ll get there sooner than someone who finds the going easy. If you think achieving great heights of success will be easy, you either don’t understand at all how the process works or you have your sights set too low. Reaching the top of any field is difficult, time-consuming, and often tedious. The reason it isn’t crowded at the top is that most people won’t do the things that are necessary to achieve success. They are all too willing to give up when the going gets tough. If you need inspiration to persevere, read the biographies of men and women who have achieved greatness in their lives. You will find that they prevailed because they refused to quit. They continued to toil alone long after the masses had given up and gone home.

Make it a GREAT week!!!!

"There are people who strictly deprive themselves of each and every eatable, drinkable, and smokable which has in any way acquired a shady reputation. They pay this price for health. And health is all they get for it."

Tom Tognoli
COO, Founder
Regional President
Direct: 408.342.3001
Fax: 408.904.7762
Email: TTognoli@InteroRealEstate.com
Website: www.InteroRealEstate.com

3/19/07

Good Morning MOJO,

I know what they're telling you…”You're nuts, crazy, a dreamer, and it's just not possible to do what you've got in mind”.

I know that's what they're saying because that's what they always tell anyone who tries to do the unthinkable and make their dream happen…Always!!!!! Because you're not supposed to want your dream....you're supposed to want their dream...the one your parents keep pushing, your culture supports, your friends chase. The one the media keeps insisting is "right".

So they all swear "you're crazy!" when you tell them what you want and what you're going to do. They argue you're wrong, criticize you, and line up critics and anyone else they can find to convince you to "knock it off!" because "you're making such a huge mistake!" And they come up with penalties and punishments to make sure you hurt like hell if you dare try and break free, dare try and be different from the herd...and they plead with you to "come to your senses!"

"Be happy with what you've got," they whine, "it's not so bad. Enjoy it! This is as good as it gets! Come on, just go along and be like everybody else...there's nothing you can do about it anyway...this is just the way life goes so get with the program!" they say, half-smiling...hoping they have scared you and stopped you from ever doing that "crazy thing" you keep talking about doing, that "crazy thing” that nags at you and drives you crazy and will keep driving you crazy until you finally do it.

That crazy thing they do not want you to do because if they can't stop you...you'll be free. Running your own life and controlling your own destiny. And they'll lose any control they have over you and who you are and what you do. That's why they tear you down and tell you you're crazy and try and stop you…that and the fact that they're scared to death to do their own dream, to be different, to go for what they really want. And it's a lot easier to tear you down and keep you in the same old box they're stuck in than deal with their fears and get themselves free.

You know that dream you've got?...yeah, that one. Trust me...it's in your head because it's supposed to happen. And no, you're not crazy to go for it...you'd be crazy if you didn't. The crazy people are the ones who keep telling you to play it safe.

But life's way too short for that and you know it...because your days are going by in a blur and your weeks are disappearing into months…your months into years. Don't put off what you know you've got to do to be happy. Do it, now, while you still can. And while you're making it happen, imagine the look on their face as they tell you, in all seriousness, "I always knew you could do it!"

Make it a great week and make it happen!!!!

"There are people who strictly deprive themselves of each and every eatable, drinkable, and smokable which has in any way acquired a shady reputation. They pay this price for health. And health is all they get for it."

Tom Tognoli
COO, Founder
Regional President
Direct: 408.342.3001
Fax: 408.904.7762
Email: TTognoli@InteroRealEstate.com
Website: www.InteroRealEstate.com

3/12/07

Good Morning MOJO,

This is a great one which one of you sent me…MAKE it a GREAT week!!!

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it:

I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whom ever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say.

"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's "dance recital" he continued. "Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."

"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.

"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part.

It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays." "I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear."

"Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight."

"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time."

"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 Year old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work for a few hours this morning...then I was going to work on my endless list of to-do’s around the house.

Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast." "What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles...

A friend sent this to me, so I to you, my friend.

Make it a great week!!!!

"There are people who strictly deprive themselves of each and every eatable, drinkable, and smokable which has in any way acquired a shady reputation. They pay this price for health. And health is all they get for it."

Tom Tognoli
COO, Founder
Regional President
Direct: 408.342.3001
Fax: 408.904.7762
Email: TTognoli@InteroRealEstate.com
Website: www.InteroRealEstate.com

3/5/07

Good Morning MOJO,

“When I grow up, I am going to be the President of the United States”…“I am going to be a professional football player”…”I am going to be a professional golfer”…”I am going to be a movie star”…”I am going to run my own company”.

Remember when you where a kid and anything was possible and nobody told you “no you can’t”? So, what happened to your dreams? Somewhere along the way we stop dreaming and start doing…and that is when it all stops…that is when our lives start to lose purpose….that is when we stop growing. Those dreams we had as kids where like a magnet which pulled us to what we wanted in life…they made us excited to go for it everyday. When is the last time you truly thought about what you want to be “when you grow up”? I am not talking about growing in height, weight and age, but growing in who you are going to become. It does not have to stop…we can breakaway and get off the hamster wheel anytime…start moving forward again like when we where kids. We just have to take time to dream, believe….breakaway from the pack and go for it…don’t blend in…be different.

It is uncomfortable at first when you step outside of your comfort zone and get off the hamster wheel where it is safe, but if you have the courage there is still a lot more you can accomplish in this life.

If you need a little inspiration to break free from your hamster wheel and go for it, check out this video…don’t let fear stop you: http://www.youtube.com/v/Rd8AJdcnw4A.swf

Go for it and make it a GREAT week!!!!

Motivation is from the mind, but commitment is from the heart and is much less fickle!!!

Tom Tognoli
COO, Founder
Regional President
Direct: 408.342.3001
Fax: 408.904.7762
Email: TTognoli@InteroRealEstate.com
Website: www.InteroRealEstate.com