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.

How Do You Feel

What we feel is determined by our actions. The same is also true for our lives. If we go out and pick up every sorrow that we find, we will be sad. If we go out with the intent of happiness, we will find it. The trick is not what is around us every day; it is where we pay attention. 

If you aren’t sure about this, I would like to suggest putting it to the test. First, do you want to feel happy or sad? Second, go out and find those things which match the way you wish to feel. After you’ve done this for a while, check yourself out. Are you happy, or are you sad? Give yourself a scale of 1 to 5. 

Some people may try to tell you some emotions are easier to find than others and more comfortable to assume. I want to suggest they are the same. You will have to run your test to see if I or some of the others are correct or not.

When you find out, please let me know. Just add a note to the blog and send it back to me.

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

Taste Change

Every so often, I tend to run out of something. The most irritating part is this usually happens after going to the grocery store or the market. I know that I should go through the cupboards before I go to the store, yet inevitably something gets missed.

Today the missing ingredient is Splenda for the coffee. I like my coffee. I like coffee with Splenda and lactose-free milk with unique added ingredients for brain health. Like many others, I find myself a creature of habit and enjoy things the way I like them.  And yet, over the years, especially in military service, I have learned that you can start to tolerate anything given time.

I can endure most things for two weeks.  In most cases, I will get accustomed to the different taste. Suppose I go a month or more with the different flavors. In that case, my usual preferences will taste odd when I first return to them.

Have you ever had to change things you like because of a new location or a shortage? 

Safely Beating Blockades

I have had a tough couple of weeks.  Between working on health issues, and unbelievable snow, wind, and cold. I have not been able to work at my usual routine.  It gives me grievance with myself.

I have an entire office in my house, which is a backup for my office downtown. Yet, because I pay for my downtown office, I prefer to work there.  I can focus better on what I do and how I do it downtown.  I feel I get more done downtown.

Although COVID prevents me from most of the comradery that usually happens in an office setting, I believe there is an excellent synergy with the office complex.  That synergy and a hint or two from a neighbor office holder are often lifesavers of the day.

Being in this torn predicament of where I am and where I think I should be is frustrating, at the same time. Because I am going through this, I am now more aware of what others feel and the angst they face as they try to move forward.

What has COVID blocked in your professional life, and what ways have you been able to develop in getting around the blockades put in your path?  If you have not shared them, please use this forum to let others know your successes and shortfalls.  By sharing, everyone can benefit, and maybe we can forge a path forward.

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

Speak Out

I used to be afraid to get up in front of others and speak. I always thought I was under-qualified, hard to understand, and not very interesting. What I found out was I needed a better perspective plus less stress and anxiety in my life. This is what I learned.

One of the biggest inhibitors to good communication is stress and anxiety. These two demons rob us of clear thinking and good communication abilities.  If you talk to a group of people, you need to know that they are there to listen to you.  Unless you are putting them in restraints, they want to be there. If you have restrained them, I would suggest not doing that.

Anxiety often comes from a feeling of being unprepared or the feeling of not having expertise.  If you are lecturing to Nobel Laureates in their knowledge field, do not worry. Turn the lecture into a shared event and ask their thoughts during the speech. If you are talking to people you are trying to influence or train, teach them what you know and do not embellish.

If someone wants to share, remember a win-win is better than a win-lose any day.  You also need to prep both mind and body.  Take care of yourself.  Remember to breathe.  And do not imagine everyone in their underwear. It is distracting.

If you would like to know more, there is a great class coming up on March third on Meetup.  I will give you more details in the days to come.

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

Are You Ready For A New Job

During the 2008 and 2009 recession, we learned how fast good skills can be lost and how devastating that loss is when finding new employment. If you are looking to rejoin the gainfully employed ranks, we have a set of great tools to help you win the day.

During the Great Recession and its recovery, companies rehiring for new endeavors ended up passing over most people who had not worked for more than six months. They did this with good reason based on what they had learned early on in the hiring process. This is a lesson that I never forgot, and now I am hoping to save you from experiencing it.

My colleague and I are working on new training to help those in lockdown during the pandemic. We can help you to strengthen and regain some of those valuable skills that may now be rusty or no longer as sharp as they once were. For now, I can promise you this will well be

Can I guarantee you a job as soon as you take this class? No.  I can tell you that this class will set you on a much better road to earning the job you want.

Please keep your eyes open for a new class on Meetup, expecting to start on March 3rd. We promise you good information, actionable ideas, exercises to drive home our thoughts and ideas, and a fun and enjoyable learning way.

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

Time to Get Up

Have you ever seen that sometimes our lives don’t go the way we think they will? Sometimes our lives look to be scattered pieces just thrown around on the floor, on the furniture, and sometimes on the walls. We all see this from time to time, and that is OK. Because it doesn’t have to stay that way. We can do something about it. After all, we are the only ones able to do so. It is our life.

There is a song dating back to the earlier half of the 20th century that I always remember when I have to do this. It’s called Pick Yourself Up, and the lyrics go:

‘Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again.’

I often find myself picking up in piling various parts of my life. This usually happens when I have tried to do something, and for one reason or another, It fell apart. Even though that is not fun, it does happen. And when it happens, we need to address it.

Have you ever had a journey in your life that fell apart?  If so, what did you do to pick up the pieces and try again?  If not, do you have a game plan that helps you see problems before they happen, and how would you handle issues that do appear?

If you have faced problems like this, sharing will help everyone.  Please feel welcome to use this blog as a platform to share in the comments.  If we work together, we all benefit.

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

Good Vibes

I like to help people. Quite often, when I was in the service, our squadron or group would help out with a charity in the local community. I am lucky enough to have helped at the Special Olympics, worked with Boy Scouts, worked with the Cub Scouts, ran united way type projects within my shops, and had several other great chances to help. 

This is why I believe I became a teacher and a trainer. I love to help people. There is a point at which somebody starts to get the idea, then you can see the light from inside their head just make their whole face shine with the happiness of learning something new. You think I’m kidding, but you can see that happen, and it is one of the greatest feelings in the world.

My goal, usually, is to leave the world a little bit better than I found it. I believe down inside each of us, we have those feelings. We need to survive. We need to take care of our own. And yet, there is a driving desire to also do well for others.

Do you ever get feelings like this? What is one small thing you could do for someone today that would make a difference in their lives? What kind of a sense do you think you would find afterward?  Think about it, and if you would like, please share.

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

Are You Getting There

Ever wonder why some folks get ahead and others do not? They have learned one simple rule. Believe in yourself and do your work. Also, they have figured out they must do their job and not someone else’s.  This sounds like lip service, and yet it is the basis of a great truth.

If you cannot believe in yourself, who will? You probably know yourself better than anyone else would. You are the one who can honestly stand up for yourself and make your case. Only you know your true intentions, and it’s up to you to forgive yourself when you don’t hit the mark. Kindness is a beautiful asset, and if you’re going to be kind, start with yourself.

There are plenty of people out there who will not give you the benefit of the doubt. Some people will be cantankerous and downright mean about things.  And some others will be very kind and understanding. Your question for today is, how are you going to handle the person in the mirror.

You should make that person in the mirror accountable and expect the best from them. You should also understand that not every well-meaning adventure goes as smoothly as it should. Quite often, we have to remember that no good deed ever goes unpunished. You can expect from anyone only their best. Why would you ask more of yourself?

Do your best. Give yourself a break when needed. And remember, there is always tomorrow.

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

Are You Ready

I remember when I worked with job seekers. It was called the great recession, and there were no jobs to speak. I always seem to be 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 maybe 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 can find their next 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.

when a job is in front of you, or is that the time you start to prepare?  History proves time, and again that real victories go to those who plan and are ready when opportunity strikes.

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

Try This

Do you know why Mondays are so important? Because if there are no Mondays, we don’t get any Fridays. I know it’s a bad joke, please hang with me though I’m trying to prove something.

When we’re at home every day, we begin to forget which days are which. All the days seem to blend. Without some real care taken, we are unsure if it’s Saturday night or sometime on Wednesday. In these days of streaming and binge-watching, it gets even more problematic.

I have a suggestion I would like to offer to you, though, one that is easy enough to do and hopefully will not drive you up the wall. I promise no yoga in front of the couch and no starvation diet.

Look around and see what bugs your moment. It could be a glass on the counter, a coat not hung up, or it may be that the trash has to go out. Go ahead and take care of that one thing. Wash the glass or at least put it in the dishwasher, or hang up your coat, or take the trash to wherever it should go. When you finish doing the one task, write it down in a notebook or on a piece of paper. Be sure to note what you did and keep it. Feel better? You will.

That’s a go ahead and go on with your day. When you see the next thing that bugs you, take care of that one thing, and write it down. You don’t have to feel guilty, and you don’t have to feel pushed into cleaning absolutely everything in sight. Do what bugs you, and that problem is gone. At least for now.

The fact that you write down the things you do, as minor as they might be, is a reminder that you are taking care of business. You have done something to make the overall decore one thing better. When you do the second thing, please write it down. You now have two things better. You could astonish yourself with how much you have done by the end of the week.

Will this work every week? Does it work all the time? I am not sure. You will have to try it and see.

Thanks for being with me today. I hope to be with you again soon.