Let your Spark Shine

Thank you for being here today. I know many of you have been following the blog over the last week or so as we talked about some very interesting topics. I truly appreciate you reading our blog, and I really appreciate the comments. Thank you so much.

I have seen trainers, writers, and others say that if you have something and it’s only in your head, you really have nothing. I strongly disagree. If you have that idea or goal in your head, you have an idea or a goal.

That idea or goal in your head is the spark. You need to bring it forth. I liken this to the Boy Scout fire building contest. Building your idea is a lot like building a fire. You have to make sure that the spark has air to breathe and fuel to burn. If in trying to start the fire you have too much air, the spark extinguishes. Too little air in the spark suffocates.

The same can be said with the fuel needed to add to the spark for fire. The fuel is wood from the forest. But if you try to use large logs or big slabs of wood the spark will never catch. We used to teach our scouts “thin to win.” Rather than using large slabs of wood, use little real thin pieces of kindling that the spark can easily heat up and catch fire.

The same for your spark of the idea or the goal. You need to get it out in the air where others can see it and help it grow. At the same time, you can’t immediately throw it into a demand to grow fast, be an overnight sensation, and make some bazillion dollars the first year.  A good idea needs the time to grow and be a stable platform.  The best and brightest ideas take time to start earning money.

Never let anyone tell you an idea in your head is nothing.  And, take the sparks of ideas out of your head and see what they can really do.

Remember the idea about slow and steady, and thin (lean) to win.

Author: Mike Balof

A retired Air Force Master Sergeant, Mike used to lay in bed at night and worry about what would happen if his plant closed or found himself without a job. One day his plant closed. Rather than panic and hysteria (OK, maybe a little) Mike found himself carried away on the adventure of his life. Mike started with the best job he ever had working at Home Depot. He spent 8 years working with job seekers at a local workforce center, helping them to find employment. He then started his own company developing courses, writing books and urging others to follow their own paths into the future. Mike holds a Master of Arts in Adult Education and Training and a Bachelor of Business Management, earned through the University of Phoenix and an AAS degree in Electronics Systems Technology from the Community College of the Air Force. Mike is a member of the Delta Mu Delta Business Honor Society. View all posts by Mike Balof