Julie, Julia, and Your Life Project

If you haven't seen Julie & Julia, you're missing a treat. Among the movie's themes is the matter of finding a meaningful project, sometimes called a "mission" or your "passion."

Making a living at something meaningful is something to which many of us aspire. Personally, I've never been able to do much work that wasn't meaningful to me -- I just could never stand it (e.g. in my case, administrative work) and never lasted long in those kinds of jobs.

The essence of finding work that moves you is largely a matter of knowing your preferences, and trying things. Just like Julia Child tried hat making, bridge, and then tried French cooking.

Very few people know what they're destined to do on this planet as children. The sad thing is that so many people never discover that work that excite them.

Most of us have this idea that you have two choices: a) you can become a doctor/lawyer/accountant and make lots of money or b) enjoy your work and the poverty that goes with it.

I don't think your choices are that limiting, but finding cool work that pays well is a more intricate and organic journey.

Get clear about all the things you enjoy, the activities that are so compelling to you that time seems to stand still while you're doing them. Don't wait for the lightening to strike you with a divine blue print. Try something and see how it works for you.

Watch Julie and Julia, you might get inspired to write a blog. ;-)

Mixonian HQ Moving to Charleston

Today's post is not about communication; it's a brief version of the story of how Mixonian came to move so quickly and so unexpectedly. If you want a great communication tip, randomly select an old Mixonian post and you will find a message you can use.

This is a lesson in brevity and the use of Occam's Razor. According to Occam's Razor, the best decision is the simplest one. While this may not always pan out for you, certainly when you're in a time crunch, it's helpful. Occam, btw, was a monk. I think he lived in the 14th century.

Background facts:

1. I've been affirming, reminding myself that "I am always at the right place, at the right time, with the right information."

2. I live a super comfortable life, next door to my college-student son, on the same block as two awesome friends, able to walk to work and to the gym....in short, it's comfy here. But on the other hand, I've had this feeling that I don't want to spend the rest of my life in Greenville, NC. I seriously investigated moving to Savannah or Atlanta over the summer, but somehow, I did not feel that my intuition was on board with either of those moves.

3. I've also set ambitious intentions to make more income. I realize how poor-minded I've been (very common in academic circles) and have committed to living an even more abundant life.

4. I've been building an incredible coaching practice, working with amazing women who show up and make things happen in their own lives.

So, here's what actually happened:

In the late afternoon of July 28, I was cleaning out a seldom-used email box, one where I subscribe to a national communication list serve. As I'm massively deleting these messages, I notice a full-time speech teaching position at College of Charleston. Interesting. After thinking about it a few minutes, I decide to send my stuff. And I do.

In talking to my friend Ruben that evening, I shared with him what had happened. He suggested that I call the next morning to make sure everything had arrived. On the one hand, I think, how can they not receive my stuff by email? On the other hand, I called first thing Wednesday morning, just to make sure. (Commitment indicator in action.) They had not received it. So I re-sent it, and got confirmation of receipt.

Thursday I got email asking for a group interview by phone on Friday.

Friday we had the group interview. I had a hard time hearing some of the committee members. It's a normal interview, nothing extraordinary. Within an hour of that interview, I got a call from the head of the department, inviting me down for an extended interview/visit to Charleston the following Wednesday and Thursday (Aug. 5 & 6 ). It was an appropriate time for a happy dance.

Looking forward to my expense-paid visit to the beautiful city of Charleston, I spend the Monday and Tuesday before doing my writing, and preparing for the Fearless Leadership Workshop scheduled for the evening of Aug. 6.

I drove down Wednesday morning, have a fabulous time, staying at the beautiful Faculty House of the College of Charleston. Then I drove back Thursday, not rushed, but certainly knowing I need to be somewhere in a big way by 6 that evening. It is a 5-hour drive between Charleston and Greenville.

The department big kahuna called me while I'm en route. Being a lousy multi-tasker, I pulled over to be able to concentrate on the call. Both sides think it's a good fit. My daughters and I are happily moving there on Saturday.

From the day of sending the CV and stuff until moving day: 19 days.

Chance favors the prepared mind. Preparing your mind means getting clear about what you would like to experience.

The Most Critical 7 Seconds

I just got back from two lovely days in Charleston, South Carolina. I spent a lot of time talking to a few of the talented and super smart professors at the College of Charleston.

In one conversation, the subject of first impressions came up.

I was reminded of a really important aspect of your presentation. It's a total deal breaker if you don't get it right.

The fact is, your audience takes a whopping 7 seconds to decide if they like you or not. Whether they trust you and want to hear your message.

Getting every detail of your intro is worthy of some serious attention. Starting with your mindset, in 7 seconds your audience takes in what kind of energy you're putting out, how much care you put into your appearance, the tone of your voice, your facial expression and your posture. They may even listen to what you're saying.

7 seconds. What happens in the first 7 seconds of your presentation?

The Message Behind the Message

If you know what your message behind your message is, your communication is automatically more powerful. The message behind the message really is the benefit(s) of accepting your message.

Let's look at an example.

In case you haven't had the chance to read my dissertation ;-), I'll let you in on a few reasons why Hugo Chavez is able to garner support to continue taking Venezuela away from democracy, and toward dictatorship.

To begin with, Chavez is a master orator. In other words, he tells great stories.

His real message, which comes across as "For fun, let's have a revolution and I'll play the role of master" is really "I promise to take care of you better than you can take care of yourself."

No matter what stories he tells, the message is the same.

He's very clear on the benefits he thinks he can provide a significant number of Venezuelans.

His supporters are likewise clear that they, as their world is currently structured, cannot provide for themselves the lifestyle to which they aspire.

They share that premise. The premise is I, Hugo Chavez, do not believe you can take care of yourselves, but I can do that for you. All you have to do is vote for me no matter what.

So what does this have to do with us?

Think about what your message behind the message really is. AND....what are your assumptions about your audience. Are they capable of taking care of themselves? Are they intelligent enough to accept your argument? Are you strong enough to allow some people to disagree with you?

Whatever it is that you believe about your audience, you reinforce that belief in your presentation. And they respond accordingly.

Teachers And Used-Car Sellers

Hmm.....so many of us got into teaching to share knowledge that can empower people. Selling, of course, is for other people, right?

I've been trying to discern redeeming qualities in the honorable profession of selling, but it took me a while to find the connection to the "obviously superior" task of teaching. Especially in the rarefied airs of the university setting, selling is just something we'd rather not talk about. And any professors caught in the act of selling something might have to wear a scarlet S for the rest of their lives.

But now I get it. There really is a connection, even if people normally don't talk about it.

Grades are so important to the vast majority of students. In fact, most of them have a strong sense that they deserve the highest grades, just on the value of their wonderful personalities. While no doubt they do all deserve excellent grades, the reality is that the game of going to college is played by different rules.

If you want to get good grades, you need to study.

Everybody knows this. Yet very few students actually spend time outside the classroom with the course material.

W e professors work at selling the idea that studying is indeed a good thing. We sell them by offering bonuses and threatening to fail them. We cajole, we nag, we remind them why they're getting an education....in the end, we try to sell them on the idea that spending their extremely valuable time on the subject we're teaching will render them great benefits.

So, in the end, the job of teaching is not that far away from selling. It's just that our pay isn't tied directly to how successful we are at selling our students on the idea of learning our material.

What is it that you sell, even if you're not on commission?

Exchange Your Normal Confidence for Wow

Usually becoming more confident is the top goal for my clients in their work with me. After all, if you're not confident, the rest of the public speaking and presentation techniques won't really work for you.

As I've written here and constantly remind my clients, "Confidence is worth more than money in the bank."

Here are 5 refresher suggestions for getting to wow. Even if you're normally confident, imagine what you might accomplish if you were even more so.

• Lighten up. Laugh. Just recently I read: We first need to laugh at our mistakes before we can learn from them. --Sonia Choquette.

• Remember that anything can happen. And no matter what, you can deal with it. Chances are, the outcome will be great...eventually. ;-)

• Chance favors the prepared mind. So do your homework.

• Take some time to focus on your desired outcomes. That brings you closer to them, and so you can relax a bit.

• Forgive yourself, as you forgive others. Nobody's perfect. Give yourself, and others, a break.

A Wow Tuesday to you!

Is It Really August Already?

What happened to July? It was so nice and cool, I think someone must have accidentally pushed the fast forward button. How could it possibly be August already?

The truth of the matter is that times waits for no man...or anyone else for that matter. That's why I'm always telling people that money is replaceable, time is not.If you're a recovering cheapskate, as I am, you want to protect your time as zealously as you used to clip coupons.

Another dimension to this carpe diem post, relates to your presentations, or really all your communication. If money is replaceable, time is not, energy is not, then not only do you value your own time, but that of others.

In other words, be brief. Get to the point.

In one letter Blaise Pascal wrote, he apologized for being lengthy. He said he had written too much because he hadn't had time to make it shorter, i.e. do some serious editing.

Filling up the time is not your communication goal. Take the time to be clear what that goal is, and determine the best way to get it across to your people.

Gotta run, time marches on.