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.

Initial Momentum

Good morning.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I was able to get out in my yard and trimmed back all the invasive bushes some of which had gained a good 6 feet and thought they were going to be trees.

It is incredible how we can be stymied by so many things to do. So many things that we can’t get anything done. And yet the piles still grow and grow. And then all of a sudden, one small piece of serendipity, a break in the calendar of things to do, or something else happens, and we can suddenly be swamped doing everything that had us crying uncle just a few days before.  Truth is the initial momentum to start moving something takes more energy than that needed to keep it in motion.

Because of that three extra hours that kicked everything off, this week I have a meeting with the tax lady to complete her taxes, and a procedure on Thursday. One of those procedures for people over 50 that we have to prep for. Well for a little bit I guess we have to be careful of what we wish for. In this case, though everything is indeed a blessing to be able to get it done.

I recommend that everybody look for that small break, that one thing that can get you started. Once you are started, you can go as far as you want to. My idea: never stop.  After all, it takes less energy to keep something moving than to start it moving in the first place.

 

Pass the Good Along

Good morning.

It is very hard sometimes for us to understand how lucky we are. When half the population of the earth has never made a phone call or watch television or has been able to turn the faucet and have clean drinking water, we are truly blessed.

You can say that these blessings are arduous work and planning. And, you are right, yet they are still blessings.

If we are able to call up any fact in a matter of minutes, call someone and talk about anything we wish, or see anything of interest within the world or outside of it any time we want to, then we are significantly endowed. We cannot pay back those who came before us and set all these marvels into play. Just as real founders put new ideas into motion realizing they will never reap the full benefits of their actions, it is up to us to put into action right for our futures sake.

It is said that with great abilities comes great responsibilities. Just as our forefathers and foremothers worked hard that we may benefit, so too, we need to strive so that our prodigy can see and say the same about us. Everyone can take part in this endeavor. For how many of us can freely give a smile or a kind word, and how many of us could easily do some small good deed?

Rules That Actually Help

Good morning.

Last week after writing to you about the need to take care of ourselves in about my Meniere’s, believe it or not, I got sick that very same afternoon. In it did it presented is Meniere’s severe vertigo and all.

After getting back home, I spent the rest the weekend rest and recuperation. Along with the Meniere’s, I was also fighting high blood pressure.  I started reading articles about what successful people do and what leaders do with their morning routine.

I even started doing those things myself. By Friday I felt better. My blood pressure was lower, and the dizziness was gone. What did I do? I made some rules.

Rule one: bedtime is bedtime, not a time to read, and not the time to watch all the shows I cannot view during the day. Not the time to write or plan. I will do all that in the morning.

Rule two: I get up an hour later than I used to in the morning. Instead of five, I get up at six. I always get up at the same time every day.

Rule three: I immediately make my bed. I remember my mom always makes her bed when she gets up in the morning, and she is a person who gets things done. It gives each of us the first accomplishment of the day. And it sets the boundary between sleep and a new day.

Rule four: I take time to be grateful. I am thankful for all that I have been given, and all I have been allowed to accomplish.

Rule five: I take time to plan. I review what I have to do today and what I want to do today. I plan out both ongoing and significant accomplishments to be done, and the todos, which when done makes life better.

Rule Six:  Showering and grooming help to make everyone feel better and can both soothe the and energize for the day ahead.

Rule seven: I enjoy a good breakfast with both carb and protein, and not overdoing it, fuels the body. And, proper hydration keeps everything afloat.

I am not saying that my rules are right for everyone. I just know that since I started following them, I have felt better and grown stronger.

 

Have a great day

Are you listening to yourself?

I know this phrase sounds loaded, “Are you listening to yourself?”

Good or bad with any phrase is how you take it. This phrase, the way I’m using it, draws neither good nor bad conclusion. The phrase only asks the question, “Are you listening to yourself?”

This is an important question because if you aren’t listening, how do you know what you’re saying? That is, not the words you say, rather what your body is saying. What is your body trying to tell you?

Our bodies talk to us all the time warning us that we should slow down or speed up we should take it easy, or take a walk. I always ignored my body. I believe that whatever it was, the body could get through what I was doing and when I was done, I could take care of whatever the body needed. This was obviously a result of too many Duke Wayne movies as a kid. 

Unfortunately, I put things off and put things off and then I learned a very valuable yet hard lesson.

The body gets even.

No matter how hard of hearing you pretend to be, your body will find a way to communicate. Mine did so with Meniere’s disease. It happened while I was on vacation and trying to keep up with everything.

Do I always listen to the body now? Well, I don’t want to lead you down any primrose paths nor any dark alleys. I do try, and yet it still gets away from me.  I do know this. The better I listen, the better I am.

 

ENFP-T

Good morning, it is a beautiful bright blue sky out there this morning I was able to see the half moon in the sky as I walked into work today.

Have you ever taken on more than you can do? More than you can handle? And, sometimes more than you would like? I do that all the time. In testing assessments recently, I tested one that mimicked the Myers-Briggs. It told me I was in ENFP and that is correct. I have taken the Myers-Briggs and similar assessments several times. I know this to be true. I am an educator and trainer of adults.

What I had not known until now, and makes perfect sense, is that have -T or turbulent tendencies. This is caused when an ENFP personality wants to do everything they encounter. It is not enough just to teach, they become truly interested and want to know and do more.

The problem I find is the fact that although I love to learn and explore and do many things; resources such as funding, time, and abilities are often limiting factors. As I realized this, I started to do some research.

I found many articles which talked about the need for planning. Scheduling what can be done in the next 90 days, and doing it is very important. New items, coming in all the time, tend to disrupt attention and divert resources. This is not to say you should not explore items of interest. What it suggests though is to properly schedule the item for an upcoming quarter. And verify at the beginning of that quarter the actions you want to take.

I have begun scheduling my interests, with new books that I plan to write, new avenues I wish to explore, and the work that I owe to you, my audience.

The question is, “Will this make things better?” Only time will really tell. I believe we will both see the results together.

Thank you for putting up with me, and have a great day.

E – Extrovert

N – Intuitive

F – Feeling 

P – Prospecting

-T – Turbulent

Make a list

Good morning and welcome to another wonderful day. Why is it wonderful? Because you are here!

Today I have a task for you. It is an important task.  This task will help you to see both the forest and the trees.

I would like you to please make a list. The list is not for me, it is for you. Each of us should have a list like this. It helps us to understand how lucky we are.

The first part of making a list is just to rest. Take a few minutes to find a spot that’s comfortable and rest. Then it’s time to make your list. Write down something about yourself that makes you feel good, makes you happy, makes you confident.

 

Have you seen a sunrise or sunset lately? Did you enjoy it? Did it make you feel something? If the feeling was good, write it down. Did you laugh today? Write it down.

What you are doing is taking a measure of the positive things in your life. There are plenty of negative things, and you don’t need a list of those. What you need is a list of what’s good in your life. We all have positives and negatives. When the negatives weigh on my mind, it is always nice to pull out the list and remember the positives.

Have a great day. Hopefully, we’ll talk again soon.

What We Do For Others

It is a beautiful new day and a beautiful new week. I had planned for a wonderful new me and still hope for that even though I seem to be running an hour late for everything.

It is amazing the things we do that we don’t even realize. Those little things, the ones which means so much to someone else. Saying hi to a passer-by on the street is a small thing, and yet it might be the only kind word heard all day. Sometimes just to point out something that someone did well may be the only thanks they ever get for that action. And sometimes, when somebody is at their lowest point, the action of the stranger can pull them back from the darkness of the abyss.

Many times, we do not understand the full extent to which a nod of the head to someone or smile may mean to them. In our days of high technology, and paranoid fear of others it is often good to take that chance. Just a smile on a nod of the head, or a hello as you pass on the street. You can hardly know some of the good it does for others.

This gives someone who feels unseen, the good feeling of being noticed. Somebody who feels he or she is a nobody, realizes they are somebody. Someone who has often lost all hope finds that spark of humanity.

The thing that those who never do this, never learn is the most important fact. The fact is that when you do this to someone else the good feeling isn’t just theirs. You also share that feeling of momentary connection to others.

ENOUGH

What we are doing in our schools today is giving voice to those who for one reason or another wish to disrupt our system of life in our country. As we broadcast and focus on each terrorist act within school systems, we give other want-to-be terrorists a platform on which to terrorize us.

One and the only thing that I see the latest school got right is that the students themselves have had enough of this. The students stood up and said this must stop.  And yes, indeed it must.  The students are doing this the right way by working with their legislatures.

 I trained with the M 22, which is the equivalent of the AR 15. I was lucky enough as a Cold War warrior, never to have to fire it in anger. And yet I cannot believe today that someone needs to have this warrior style weapon to hunt, they are embarrassing themselves.

If you can’t shoot a duck or a deer with a shotgun because it doesn’t hold enough shells, you should be denied a weapon on that fact alone. If you need 30 round clips to keep varmints from digging up your garden, you should really be shopping in the fresh vegetable aisle at your local grocery store. While you’re there, if you’re actually using that big clip to get the duck or the deer, we suggest a quick detour over to the meat counter. Think of what you’ll save in ammunition.

I agree with those on The Hill who said these weapons of war are not needed for our day-to-day lives. We know this because we’ve seen other countries where heavy weaponry is part of their day-to-day life. We see these countries almost nightly on the news. What countries do you see on the news with which have their citizens walking around with AK-47’s, RPG’s, and heavy caliber machine guns? Their cities and Villages sure look worse for the wear and tear on them.  Is that what we want for our country? To live in the rubble?

Allow me to ask a question for you to think on today.

What came first the weapon, or the war?

 

Please write a comment and tell me what you think.

 

What’s Next

Outside the weather is performing Shakespeare:

To snow or not to snow that is the question.

Whether ‘tis nobler in the minds of men

to leave the roads dry and passable

or cover them with flakes of winters glory.

Aye, that is the question.

Inside I am being attended to by my computers which keep watch over me. They help me not to make errors in writing. They are also the keepers of my calendar reminding me what to do and when to do it. This works great except for one small concern, I am the human loads the computer. Therefore, if I mess up, the computer can no longer keep me straight on what I am doing.

It is important to me to keep everything moving and running correctly. I like to work at a fast pace and stay busy 8 to 10 hours a day. I don’t know if I feel better when I work? Or, maybe when I am working, I just don’t feel the pain is much. Either way, at least I feel I’m accomplishing something.

My problem is I either end up overbooked, missing something because I put it on the wrong calendar, turning down classes and webinars because I think I don’t have enough time.

Therefore, I’m resolved to set up one system that will work duration of the word perfectly.

Hang around with me and tell me your positive and negative stories about the electronic calendar and we will see if I can come up with one system that I can make to work perfectly.

If you have a great system that works for you, please write in and tell me about it I’d be very interested.

Thanks and have a great day everyone.

Your Time

Thank you for being with me today I don’t know where you are. Here it is beautiful, sunny, with clear skies.

My question today is a simple one, “are you taking care of yourself?”

When we are younger, our parents take care of us. As we grow a little, we find ourselves taking care of our kids. And, as we get a little bit older, we find our kids taking care of us. This must be one of those universal cycles. And, as is true in life, we always look out to help and take care of our family, our neighbor, and those we see who are in need of help. So my question stands, “are we taking time to take care of ourselves?”

I ask this because if we don’t take the time, and we don’t listen to our bodies, the bodies have a way of speaking louder, to a point where we cannot ignore them. It is much easier to take care of a whisper than it is to fix a body when it is screaming at you.

I have been there, and I have done this myself to an extent, so I understand. With everything we have these days and very busy lives, we seem to be continuously running the race for others and saving time by ignoring our needs.

This is just one man’s opinion; however, with all the communication software we have on the market today, we can stay in contact with everyone for very little or no cost. Tie that into calendar systems which will keep track of each of your events, appointments, and meetings. The next thing you know, you have a system of organization.

The next thing you need to do to set up your calendar from the inside out. Start with you, and start with seven hours of sleep minimum, eight hours is even better. Lunchtime is the time to get out from behind The desk or off the construction line. Eat something and look around a little. Taking this respite from work is needed. Your work for the rest of the day will far eclipse anything you could’ve gotten done over lunch.

When you set this up, be sure not to sink the whole program by scheduling your ‘me time,’ at the same time somebody else needs your help whether it is kid’s soccer, your spouse’s ‘me time’ or other events you also need to pay attention to.

This is something each of us has to do for ourselves. And like everything else, it will take time and practice to get it right. The neat thing is it is something everyone can succeed at when we work at it. You succeed for your children, you succeed for your parents, you succeed for your spouse, and now, you can also succeed for you.

Have a great day