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.

A Prescription for the Whereisits

Hi, Mike b. here, I am building courses and books. To get you the best information, I study and learn new methods from many different sources. I also work with people as a life coach, helping them get hired. You are right if you think it takes some time to do all this.

I am experiencing an even more significant problem right now. I am suffering from the “Whereisits?”. I have had something like this before, only that was “Wherediditgoes.” I know I am printing things out and making booklets which I can eventually email to people. I just cannot find what I did with them. By the time I tear my office apart looking for them, I have no idea where anything else is.

So I am building a new course, it is how to arrange your office to never lose another thing you need and have already made.

I will send you starting pictures, day-to-day work details, and a course at the end you can get.

In the mean time, please follow along and maybe try a section or two that will help you.

Bridging Our Gaps

We have a lot of trouble right now, and in large part, it is caused by the gaps we have in communication and understanding of others. And sometimes in not really understanding ourselves. Until we minimize these gaps, our problems will not get much better.

The problem is a plague upon us all. You cannot point at one person, group, or even one incident. It is up to each person to find their own way to work with the rest of humanity to better understand each other. Until each person takes a step forward, the problem remains.

The good news is that we can do this. It will not look uniform, and it will not be evenly spaced, yet it can happen. It will be small at first, and then just like baby steps, it will grow.

There may be doubters and naysayers. If we do not pay them the attention they want, their noise will slowly fade and, hopefully, come to see this as something good. At this point, our gaps will shrink, and our understanding shall grow.

What’s Your Footprint?

When we walk the earth, we can leave a footprint of our worth to others. The footprint is an impression in mud that can be easily washed away. The imprint is what we leave in the minds and hearts of others we interact with along the way. And quite often, what we do for them makes us memorable.

You know people whom you have never personally met, who have passed from this earth long ago, and yet it’s still their deeds that are the cause of how you remember them. You may remember Alexander Graham Bell when you make a phone call. George Washington, who helped found our country and was our first president. You may think of Steve Jobs, who helped bring new ideas in computing and entertainment into our world. These three people and thousands more are remembered for the work that they had done with and for others.

We need to consider what the footprint we leave behind will look like. It has been said that most people cannot remember further back than their great-grandmother. This is because family generations farther back either had very little or absolutely no interaction with today’s family members. Unless you directly connected with Margaret Wummer, you probably would not know her. Although she did incredible things, raising her children and grandchildren, helping in her church, and generously donating to her community.

It is essential not to keep our talents bottled up within us. We are here to work as a team and grow as cultures and societies. It is vital to work with others both for their sake and definitely for ours. The more we do, the more we touch other people. And, the more connections we have, the more likely we are to be remembered.

Keeping your talents to yourself means that you are the only one who ever benefits from them. That means you have a lot of good in you, which is never seen or used. People like to talk about the positives in life around them. They also tend to gloss over ordinary things and minorly annoying ones.

I’m not saying we all need to invent the computer or the telephone. Also, I think we might get in trouble trying to establish our own country. Yet, we can do what we can do to help others. And that is important because we know that there are times when we will need help ourselves. We are not trading; we are sharing. And I believe that’s why talents are given to us to start.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

How Long Does Making A Blog Take

It takes me about an hour to write a blog and post it on eight sites. Five of the sites are set up automatically, and three are specialty sites that I sometimes post and sometimes do not. The trick is to remember that most people reading blogs don’t have much time. You want to tell them something important, yet you need to tell it in about 300 words or less due to this time crunch.

I like to make my blog a conversation where I describe something to a good friend. Some people like to tell just the facts and keep the articles terse and only main points. Everyone has their own style. I’m not telling you to turn your style over for something else, instead to polish your style for your audience.

I run the blog through Grammarly as I write, plagiarism checker when finished, and then Read Aloud on Microsoft Word when it is done. Then I find a good eye catching picture on Unsplash to put with it, and publish. The blog will usually take 10 to 20 minutes, and cleaning it up is another 10.

When I started, the blog was a two-hour ordeal. As you do this, it gets shorter. I have been doing this since 2015.

Day 8  Stick-To-It-Ness

Everyone is always designing calendars. Making new ones, changing them, trying new planers, and for some reason, never getting very far with them. If you count yourself in this lot, stop building calendars.

No calendar can help you until you get a little Stick-To-It-Ness. Anything should work as long as you have that sticky stuff. Put a stamp on an envelope, and it will go as far as the postage on the stamp allows. What makes this everyday miracle happen? The stamp has Stick-To-It-Ness and never leaves the envelope.

Before you buy a calendar, you have to gain enough Stick-To-It-Ness to follow the calendar and do what it tells you to when it tells you to.

Are you now ready to organize? It can save you time and earn you money.

Hello

My name is Mike Balof, and my one big goal for this year is to meet and help as many people as possible. I am a life coach assisting people in finding gainful employment. And, if desired, new careers in different fields.

I am told I’m good at what I do. Over the years, I have helped many learn new skills. Not only do I have years of practical experience in this, I also hold a Master of Arts in Adult Education and Training. 

If you know of someone who needs my talents, please encourage them to write me at Mikeb@reveillerocks.me or sign up for a free 20-minute Zoom call through http://reveillerocks.me/contact.

My quest is to find and help all those I can, so they help themselves find great and enjoyable work leading to a great and satisfying life.

If you are interested, join me on this mission. Book a 20-minute call, and we will talk.

I Wish I Knew This When…

Growing up, I was part of a very conservative Catholic family. As a matter of fact, my grandparents lived right across the street from a Greek Orthodox family. A family not unlike the Greek Orthodox family we see in the movies.

I grew up believing that whatever happened, I was wrong. Even if I was right, I was wrong for being right. And guess what, I was wrong. I thought that’s the way life worked and as I ventured out on my own I started working with these thoughts in mind.

I learned that to get the best work out of people, you really wanted them to be correct and have the feeling that those above them had their back because they knew they were right. They needed to be praised in public and corrected in private. They need to know that their supervisor is there to guide them and have their back, and encourage them on.

Learning this knowledge actually helped me in the long run. When the factory I worked at had four open supervisor positions, they interviewed 81 different people. I was one of the last.

When asked about supervision techniques, I explained it as a supervisor. I was the cheerleader. It was my job to get everything the people needed to get their jobs done correctly. Parts, guidance, and correct work processes must be present and ready for the job. That’s what I was really supervising, The success of my team.

Isn’t that something a team member would like to know upfront?

This Could Change Your Life

I have something to tell you today that will change your life. It is the fact that there is only one person who can get you a job; there is only one entity who knows what you can do. And only one person who can convey your desire, your knowledge, and your abilities to an employer. You see that person every time you look into a mirror.

I know you figured it out by now. You are the only person who can understand and help. You’re the person with the drive, the moxie, and desire.

And the truth is you can do it if you want to. Nobody is going to tell you it’s easy. Often it is not. And yet you have the resources within you. All you have to do Is dig down deep and find them.

Don’t be boastful or bragging. Just be confident and know you are the one who would do the best job. New facts, methods, and strategies come to light every year, and soon It will be every month. Will you be learning new things along the way? I’m willing to bet you will. Do not be doubtful of new knowledge. Merely reach out and absorb it.

Now go find where you will be working and let them know you are ready if they are.

Persistence Counts

We all have our ups and downs. The trick is to ride the ups as long as you can and, when you are down, do everything you can to get back up. After all, the view is much better when you are up.

We all have reasons that we find ourselves down and out at times. Almost none of these are connected to what we have done or not done. I know; you should hear some of mine.

We need to not only take ownership of where we are, we also need to take action. Why we are in an unfavorable position is less important than what we are doing to get back to where we belong.

If you work hard at something and do well, you probably belong in the upper section. Yet remember, the most significant contributor to your success is the planning and hard work you put into doing the job right.

What are you working hard at and doing right?

Need a Real Job

I remember when I worked with job seekers. It was called the great recession, and there were no jobs to speak. I am always able to find something. Something that someone could do until the economy improved. It might be working in a department store, running a cash register at the local fast-food place, or even helping with some sales type. The point is, if you look hard enough, there is always a job out there.

Unfortunately, my most challenging work often met with thank you very much, but ‘please don’t look too hard for me right now; I still have 13 weeks left of unemployment.’ I believe that if you’re not going to take this seriously, please don’t waste my time. In the grand scheme of things, 13 weeks go in the blink of an eye. The whole idea of unemployment is to give someone temporary assistance until they find their subsequent employment.

Many people think that once the COVID subsides, everyone will be hiring again. History has proven this not to be the case. Owners and operators will not employ new workers until they absolutely cannot do without the help.

Do you go for the job When it is in front of you or is that the time you start to prepare? To get the job, you need your ducks in a row. History proves time and again that real victories go to those who plan and are ready when opportunity strikes.

Do you want a livable income? Want to be ready? I have developed some training that could definitely help you. Ask me, Mikeb@reveillerocks.me