You've heard that everything is energy. I don't get the science that well but it is clear that feeling higher energy makes you attractive, or even magnetic, while negative energy brings you, and everyone around you, down. People are always asking me how I stay so positive or how do I keep my energy so high. One big factor is that I sleep well at night. Here are 9 things to keep the winds in your sails, so you keep moving forward. (Remember it's a process, Aristotle said excellence was the sum total of your habits, not a one-time event.) Read more »

Successful leaders establish their persona not by describing their attributes and values to us, but by simply living them." Frank Luntz

Expecting other people, degrees or events to deliver your happiness in response to what you say or do is as effective as burning a book when you don't like what it expresses, instead of going to talk to the author of the book. It's like hitting the movie screen when you don't like the movie. Read more »

Regardless of the sport or profession, people hire coaches and trainers to improve their performance. Duh. In the world of business, wealth creation, or even the arts, more performance usually means bigger impact on the community or tribe being served. You know you're only using a small part of your brain, what's more challenging to figure out is how to use more of your own potential for achievement. To paraphrase Albert Einstein, whatever level of thinking that got you where you are today, you can never move forward unless you think at a higher level. One way to do this is to ask probing questions (and answer them!)

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Happy New Year from Mixonian Institute!! Rest assured that 2012 will be remarkable. Here's a brief outline of what I know to be true about goal setting.(True confession: I wrote my first goal list at age 16 and it has framed the life I have lived thus far.) This post is written from the perspective of one who hangs on the belt loops of the giants of human potential research and the mega-successful all over the world.

In a nutshell. Read more »

"Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art." Andy Warhol

I love this perspective on art and business. Here's a great way of defining an artist: "Artists are people with a genius for finding a new answer, a new connection, or a new way of getting things done." Seth Godin, Linchpins. Using Godin's definition of an artist, I know you're one. Maybe not 24/7, but sometimes. Like when you close the deal. Or when the boss is excited about your proposal. Or your kids thank you for something. 

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My son recently read _A Soldier's Story_ by General Omar Bradley and he was so excited about it I got myself a copy from the library. (My son is not too much into extended phone conversations so reading what he's reading helps me stay more connected to him.) The movie "Patton" is based on this book and reading the book makes the movie so much more interesting. What impressed me about Patton is this. Upon taking charge of a large group of American soliders after they had experienced a resounding defeat at the hands of the Germans in North Africa, the first thing he did was to enforce a higher standard of the dress code. Seriously, there is a severe problem with morale and he's making sure the soldiers are wearing ties and helmets (even the cooks and doctors!) Read more »

It's now pre-holiday: exciting! stressful! fun! scary! Go with the flow and you'll get carried away right now into spending too much, eating too much, doing too much. The best defense is awareness and Mixonian is delivering your own rescue information to keep your head clear when making choices and decisions. You can decide right now how you want to experience this holiday season. Read more »

Do you ever feel dread when you see you have 11 new messages on your phone? For the sake of full disclosure, my voicemail box is completely full and I have to talk to Sprint to gain access to my messages. However, first I thought it would be fun to write about voicemail, and fix my problem later. Do you wonder how people feel as they listen to your message? Read more »

Yes, the whole idea of leveraging gratitude sounds rather contradictory, isn't gratitude supposed to be a virtue practiced for its own sake? Probably so, but sometimes it helps to know that the things you do to help the world actually help you back. And gratitude is one of those things. It's a tad early for Thanksgiving Day, but why not take advantage and practice extreme gratitude during the whole month of November? Here's how you can tap into this precious energy of gratitude: Read more »

If you have teenage or preteen/tween girls in your life, you are, by definition, familiar with Justin Bieber. He's just another teenage idol, cute, all his songs sound the same, and girls literally flip out for him. He's not the first young man to soar in pop culture, but a debut song that goes platinum? It's curious to consider why him, why not somebody else? He's self-taught nobody from nowhere, Canada. What's his X factor? If you watch Never Say Never, you can get a glimpse, although hearing this kid ask from the stage "Who wants to be my baby?" was a tad nauseating for me. (The things I do for Mixonian readers!) Note: I'm not suggesting you Bieberize your next talk, but consider what made him successful. Read more »