Some people get to the point too quickly (with no feedforward) and some never get to the point. After a recent talk a manager asked me an interesting question. "My girlfriend says I talk too much but I want to make sure she understands. Do you think I could be talking too much? What should I do?"

Well, if someone suggests that you talk too much, you probably do....out of habit. (Then again some of us have trouble thinking of things to say, which sometimes causes awkward moments at dinner parties.)

Fortunately, there's an easy way to test if you talk too much, or if you're carrying on more than your audience cares to hear. If you hear snoring, you've probably said too much. Here's an easy intervention. Simply stop talking in the middle of your story. Read more »

Which natural resource is vanishing today faster than any other? It's the resource you need to have more impact; it's the attention span of your audience (i.e. your kids, clients, team members, prospects, subordinates, etc.) Distractions have always been there, but today people's attention is constantly challenged by information overload. As you read this post, if you make it through, your mind will probably visit at least 20 different places before you get to the end. Read more »

Meeting people can be awkward, especially when you're not in familiar territory. Or you go to a party and you can't find the people you know. Or you're at a huge networking event and it feels like a meat market! This awkwardness with talking to new acquaintances is especially a factor for introverts (using the Myers-Briggs definition.) However, the truth is, even if you're a flaming extrovert, it doesn't mean you have rapport just because you love talking to people. 

Being comfortable meeting new people doesn't mean you're doing all you can to start that relationship STRONG!

  Read more »

Happy January 2! It's a great day to (finally) be the person you aspire to be. Accomplished. Successful. Confident.

Don't wait until the end of the year to decide If you made it or not.

Who decides whether a person is accomplished, successful, confident? Read more »

We're well into November and I bet there are a few things you wanted to get done this year but didn't have time. Here is help from an unexpected angle -- your communication!. With this handy communication shortcut, you can have more impact and spend less time clearing up misunderstandings and other dramatic situations at work (and elsewhere!)

This is just the first of a achievement-focused series I'm writing to help you end this year with a bang and ease into an even better 2013. Find exercises to get your brain on track and your body moving for performance and productivity, and FUN if you want it. These exercises will first go on Facebook and then I'll put them together on the blog. (Hint: you may want to follow Mixonian Institute on Facebook; click here to do so.) Read more »

If you're like me, you may find it grossly unfair to realize this rather large inconvenient truth: doing your job to perfection, helping others get their work done and being the one to stay late, come in early and put in some time on the week-ends is a clear path to complete career failure. Using this strategy may (perhaps) allow you to keep your job, but definitely it puts you off the map for promotions and juicy assignments. Doing what is expected of you takes you nowhere. I sensed the truth of this early in my career, in my first corporate job in the 6th largest bank in Venezuela many years ago. Being somewhat dense, it took me a couple of decades to figure out what it really takes to gain recognition for your talent and contribution. Read more »

Probably the thing people ask me about most often is "sounding professional." While being professional and sounding professional are NOT the same thing; you do have to recognize that you are a professional before you can sound more like one. In putting together their presentations, a common misconception I find in my clients is that they talk about their topic without mentioning any their personal relationship to to that topic. If you don't have a deep personal tie to your topic, also known as being passionate about it, for heaven's sake, talk about something else!!! Life is too short for just going through the motions. Read more »

What I mean by complaining is pointing out the negative aspect or interpretation of a person, a product, or a situation, in order to get it out of your system. I'm not saying I never complain like that, I am saying complaining never solves anything. That isn't to say you should never give feedback, only to take care in how you do so. It's one thing to let the waiter know your fish was served cold, it's another thing to get angry and pitch a fit about it. Or worse, complain to other people how awful it was, but never letting the people who can actually solve the problem, know about it.

This is a tricky issue, of course, because biting your tongue, if that's the only thing you do, will put holes in your tongue, but not solve anything either. It's not only that you refrain from complaining, the deeper solution is to interpret what you see from a more powerful perspective. Read more »

So as soon as you get your greenlight, you're gonna do it, right? You'll register that business, get that professional photo taken, sign up for that course, talk to a travel agent, get your passport, do a hot yoga class, go to the community theatre meeting or write that donation check. As soon as you're sure. As soon as you have permission. 

Here's the deal. Read more »

Ever go on a diet and gain weight? Ever promise yourself to cut back spending to the bare minimum and find yourself shopping online? Ever find yourself pining over someone you're not supposed to date? The good news is that it's not because you're a weak person with no willpower, no matter what you say to yourself, it's simply that you haven't learned to manage your will power and intention in a way to help you succeed more easily. There's all kinds research to back me up on this....the idea that what you resist persists! Read more »