Archive for the ‘commitment’ Category

Small Steps Gets a Giant Donation from Intero

By Kristen Para | November 23rd, 2009 0 Comments

In our blog below, Gino Blefari, founder and CEO of Intero Real Estate Services, discusses the Intero Foundation and the $1,367,365 donation to local charities.  A lot of Intero Realtors have donated large sums for the Intero Foundation to decipher which nonprofits will be most receptive and deserving of the funds.  The Foundation has made an impact close to home, and I was lucky enough to see the benefits that it brings to the community.

Serving over 375 children with help from over 400 volunteers, Intero Foundation donated $15,000 to Hollister’s annual nonprofit Small Steps Shopping Trip.  Every year before the chilly weather starts kicking into full gear, underprivileged children get the opportunity to shop at Hollister’s Target and Payless Shoe Source to find shoes and a jacket within a budget.

At 6 AM I was all registered and lined up with the other shopper volunteers waiting to be paired up with a boy or girl ranging from all ages under 18.  I was matched up with a grateful 7th grader from a local middle school, and he was very prepared with a list of items he wanted to get with correct sizes.  He scooped out the stores the night before with his mom to see all that he can buy and get out in a jiffy.  By the end of our trip he was beginning to look like Santa Clause with his shopping bags full of two pairs of shoes, two pairs of pants, a winter jacket, and two packages of socks.  He was prepared for a cold winter, but you can tell his heart was warm with love and thankfulness by his smiles.

After we parted ways, you cannot help but get a warm fuzzy feeling inside that makes your eyes teary.  I might not have been able to donate $15,000 for Small Steps to impact hundreds of children, but I sure made a difference to one child.  I want to thank the Intero Foundation for not only making such a generous donation to a repeating successful event, but for the opportunity to personally change a life.

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Monday Morning MOJO

By Intero Real Estate | December 28th, 2008 0 Comments

My New Years Resolutions…will this year really be any different?

Happy New Year MOJO,

As we start a New Year this week lets all make a commitment to turn up the heat at least one more degree in 2009 and see what happens. So many times in life the gap between what we have and what we want seems so far apart…but most of the time it is not nearly as far apart as we think. Click this link, watch the video and then turn up YOUR heat at least one degree to make 2009 your best year yet!!!!

http://www.walkthetalk.com/the212movie.php?refsource=vm212prairie

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!!!!!!

Happy New Year,


Monday Morning MOJO

By Intero Real Estate | November 9th, 2008 0 Comments

At one point in their life wrote a blank check Made payable to The United States of America for an amount of “up to and including my life??

Good Morning MOJO,

Tomorrow is Veterans Day and for this week’s MOJO I would simply like to thank all of our Veterans for their service and sacrifice.  With all of the stress and uncertainty many currently feel, it is not even close…

This is a great story…

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat.  It was going to be a long flight.  “I’m glad I have a good book to read.  Perhaps I will get a short nap”, I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me.  I decided to start a conversation.  “Where are you headed?” I asked the soldier seated nearest to me.  “Chicago…to Great Lakes Base.  We’ll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we’re being deployed to Iraq”

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars.  It would be several hours before we reached Chicago, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time.  As I reached for my wallet, I overheard soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch.  “No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch.  Probably wouldn’t be worth five bucks.  I’ll wait till we get to Chicago”.  His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other soldiers.  None were buying lunch.  I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill.  “Take a lunch to all those soldiers.”  She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly.  Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me.  “My son was a soldier in Iraq…it’s almost like you are doing it for him”.  Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated.  She stopped at my seat and asked, “Which do you like best – beef or chicken?”  “Chicken,” I replied, wondering why she asked.  She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class.  “This is your thanks.”

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room.  A man stopped me.  “I saw what you did.  I want to be part of it.  Here, take this.”  He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was  not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of  the plane.  When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, and said, “I want to shake your hand.”   Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain’s hand.  With a booming voice he said, “I was a soldier and I was a military pilot.  Once, someone bought me a lunch.  It was an act of kindness I never forgot.”  I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs.  A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine.  He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed in Chicago I gathered my belongings and started to deplane.  Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word.  Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base.  I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars.  “It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich.  God Bless You.”

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers.  As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return.  These soldiers were giving their all for our country.  I could only give them a couple of meals.

It seemed so little…A veteran is someone who, at one point in their life wrote a blank check Made payable to The United States of America for an amount of “up to and including my life”. That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.

Make it a Powerful week and remember to thank and show respect to our Veterans who have made the life we live possible.


Monday Morning MOJO

By Intero Real Estate | July 13th, 2008 0 Comments

He’d done it…finally gone for his dreams and it was working!!!!!!!

Good Morning MOJO,

He’d done it…finally gone for his dreams and it was working!  Slowly, surely, the puzzle pieces of his new life were falling into place as he called the shots, did what he knew had to be done, and made his new life happen one step at a time…and that’s, of course, when it happened.  There, in the midst of his growing success is when the old thinking that’d kept him boxed in all his life came roaring back, determined to take control and slam him back into that life he’d escaped from not all that long ago.  I knew that’s what was happening because he kept asking himself the same questions we all ask ourselves after we’ve made a big change in our lives and gotten to that next Choice Point…where we’ve got to choose, once again, whether we’ll stay committed to our dreams, or give up and crawl back in our box.

Been asking yourself…"Have I lost my mind? What have I done? What was I thinking? My God, I could lose everything…how am I ever gonna make this happen?"  Good…that’s a pretty sure sign you’re making progress!  Yes, you’ll be scared and confused, and yes, it’ll get hard because you are stepping out on the edge.  Out to a place you have never been before….and you’re taking very real risks and overcoming very real fears that keep most everyone else hiding in their old life forever…as you choose, instead, to do what it takes to make your life worth living!

Remember that the next time the old you struggles to make a comeback and turn your life into Sucksville. Tell it to take a flying leap!!!!  You’ve got better things to do…you’ve got a kick ass life to live!

Make it a GREAT week!!!!!

"Life is an occasion…rise to it!!!"  

Tom Tognoli
COO, Founder

Intero Real Estate Services
Direct: 408.863.3000
Email: TTognoli@InteroRealEstate.com
Website: www.InteroRealEstate.com

Intero Story Video: Intero Story

Intero Foundation Video: Intero Foundation

Intero Resorts Video: Intero Resorts 

Intero Boot Camp Video: Boot Camp

Intero Locations: Intero Offices

Monday Morning MOJO Blog: MOJO


Monday Morning MOJO

By Intero Real Estate | June 16th, 2008 0 Comments

Nothing shapes our life more than the commitments we choose to make. Our commitments develop us or they destroy us, but either way, they define us. Tell me what you are committed to, and I will tell you what you will be in twenty years. We become whate

Good Morning MOJO,

They are stuck in infancy, remaining in diapers and booties.  The reason is that they never INTENDED to grow up.  You have to WANT to grow, DECIDE to grow, MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO GROW, and be PERSISTENT in growing.

Nothing shapes our life more than the commitments we choose to make.  Our commitments develop us or they destroy us, but either way, they define us.  Tell me what you are committed to, and I will tell you what you will be in twenty years.  We become whatever we are committed to.  Unfortunately, many are afraid to commit to anything and just drift through life.  Others make half-hearted commitments, which leads to frustration and mediocrity.  There is a difference between commitment to something and just doing it.

To change our life, we must change the way we think.  Behind everything we do is a thought.  Every behavior is motivated by a belief, and every action is prompted by an attitude.  So, be careful how you think…our life is shaped by our thoughts.  Here is an example of that:

  • Imagine riding in a speedboat on a lake with an automatic pilot set to go a specific direction.  If you decide to change direction and go the other way, you have two possible ways to change the boat’s direction.  One way is to grab the steering wheel and physically force it to head in the opposite direction from where the autopilot is programmed to go.  By sheer willpower you could overcome the autopilot, but you would feel constant resistance.  Your arms would eventually tire of stress, you’d let go of the steering wheel and the boat would instantly head back the way it was programmed to go.

This is what happens when we try to change our life with willpower…we say “I’ll force myself to eat less…exercise more…quit being disorganized and late.”  Yes, willpower can produce short-term change, but it creates constant internal stress because we haven’t dealt with the root cause.  The change doesn’t feel natural, so eventually we give up…go off your diet, quit exercising, stop showing up on time and stop keeping organized.  There is a better and easier way than forcing the change…change the way we think.  Change always starts first in our mind.  The way we think determines the way we feel and the way we feel influences the way we act. 

So, how do we change the way we think?  There are two parts to doing this.  The first half of this mental shift is to stop thinking immature thoughts, which are self-centered and self-seeking.  Babies by nature are completely selfish.  They think only of themselves and their own needs.  They are in capable of giving…they can only receive.  That is immature thinking.  Unfortunately, many of us never grow beyond that kind of thinking.  The second part is to start thinking maturely…which focuses on others, not ourselves.  Thinking of others is a sign of maturity.

Make it a GREAT week!!!!

"Things will come to those who wait, but only those things left over by those who hustle"  Abraham Lincoln

Tom Tognoli
COO, Founder

Intero Real Estate Services
Direct: 408.863.3000
Email: TTognoli@InteroRealEstate.com
Website: www.InteroRealEstate.com

Intero Story Video: Intero Story

Intero Foundation Video: Intero Foundation

Intero Resorts Video: Intero Resorts 

Intero Boot Camp Video: Boot Camp

Intero Locations: Intero Offices

Monday Morning MOJO Blog: MOJO