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.

Depends

I remember when I was a child, there was good and bad, right and wrong, and decisions did not take long at all. Usually, I was always wrong. There appeared to be more clarity about life. And everyone seemed to have an opinion.

It makes me wonder if, back then, the correct decisions were always right. Or did choices boil down to a set of circumstances, or made up rules rather than the facts? I am not sure. What I do know is that in today’s world, it is hard to make a decision, and there is the consideration of many factors.

I am not saying that one era is right, and another period is wrong. I am trying to question how decisions happen. And why if they were made so fast in the past, do they take so much time now?

When we were young, four, or five, or six, we followed what our families and elders told us, and there was no questioning. Today I question everything, and I do not know why, yet today it appears that everything takes time. And maybe it should because everything does depend.

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

Decisions

Sometimes we complain that each day is like the one before it, and the one that will come next. Fortunately, this is true only If we allow it to be. It is up to us to make each day, hour, and minute what we want of it.

We can often find ourselves trapped as we do now with Covid-19. Covid-19 is deadly. Other trappings could be financial or weather-related. They could be caused by people around us or those dear to us.

Yet, we are in control. We control what we want to do and how we want to do it. We cannot control anyone else, nor can others control us. Whatever others think of us is none of our business.

If we want to change our days to better ventures or at least better than what we think we have now, we need to start with the person in the mirror. What is that person doing to make each day better? What organization or planning has the mirror person put into place to do what they want to do?

And yet, No one is an island. No one person lives completely alone. We are all inter-dependent, one upon the other.

If the person in our story has other people, people they care for, or care for them, where those other people ask for input? If the people do not wish to provide feedback, that’s up to them. At least they were offered a voice and choice.

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

Old TV Shows

My wife and I love to watch old TV shows. Shows originally broadcast back in the 50s, 60s, and early 70s. I often wonder why we watch these classic shows, and I guess we watch them because we enjoy the nostalgia. 

Whenever I get the chance, we watch Perry Mason before I go to work in the morning. It is nice to watch the shows and, we take turns trying to guess ‘who done it’ before we find out at the end of the show. We enjoy guessing and are happy when we get it right.

The shows play well for another reason. It helps us to remember, no matter how smart we think we are, there are always small items left or something that undoes even the best of plans. Some things get overlooked, and a few ideas go unconsidered. It reminds us to do our best in work and life for the good of everyone. In this time of our lives and at this age, I think that these ideas are something good to consider and remember.

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

What To Do Now

Our news cycles seem to get worse and worse each day. Everything from pandemics, to civil unrest, to military disasters, to warehouses blowing up overseas. What are we going to do? Well, we could bury ourselves in the bed covers and pretend none of it matters, or we can get up and live our lives. I am all for leaving this rut and moving forward.

There are things that we can do in safe ways in which we can protect our selves. Yes, we have a terrible plague, and yet at the same time, we have been handed marvels of technology that will allow us to work our way around it. There is a difference between not doing something because you don’t have the where-with-all and not doing something because you are rapt with fear or held back in a cycle of procrastination.

I will grant you, in the beginning, it took a little getting used to the protective gear. And getting a slow start back in February through April might’ve been OK. We are now in August. No more excuses, and it’s time to do what you do. All the lawyer ads and game shows on TV will have to entertain themselves from now on because you have things to do. 

The airplane came to be by two guys in a bike shop. The Automobile grew out of Mr. Fords Garage. Trains, the cotton gin, the apple computer, and many other of our everyday items of today did not come to be because of geniuses in ivory towers. Their births started in garages and old work sheds.  You may have the next significant innovation we need—time to get to work.

Sit down and make a list. Write down out what you need to do and start it. If you aren’t sure how to get it done, email me, I will help you. You can do this. I have faith in you. You could also stay in bed all day, walk around in your jammies, and lose precious time in your life. I don’t have the time left in my life to get everything I want to do done. I need to work at this, and this lecture is not only for you, it’s for me also.

Everything I need to do to earn money, to help people, and to get my message out there can happen from my computer. It does n0t have to be a fancy computer. I bought mine in 2011; it’s not as elaborate, yet it is a great workhorse.

Start putting your ideas and thoughts on paper. Figure out what you would like to do, which will relieve the tensions and maybe pay the bills. And don’t just think of them in your head, put them down on paper.

If you have everything written down on paper, then you can go through it and arrange it so that the things that you want to do and the things that you would like to do are in the appropriate spacing for when to do them. You don’t fill the bathtub for a bath until after you put the plug in the drain.

 Number the list you have created, so you know what needs to happen first, second, third, etc. Now, ensure you have supplies or suitable substitutes to put everything into action. If you don’t have everything figure out what you can purchase online without leaving the house or what you might be able to borrow from the neighbor. If you use something from a neighbor, be sure to replace it for them. There also may be new habits needed. Tomorrow we will talk about building those new habits.

Thank you for being with me today, and hang in there. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

New Habits

So, we are in the middle of a pandemic. We keep on hearing ‘No’s.’ No, we cannot go to work. No, we cannot visit friends. And no, we must avoid contact in places where we could catch the virus. We need to heed the warnings we hear and see. Yet, I think it is time to get some ‘Yes’s’ in our vocabulary and our corner.

I am not saying we should not follow the warnings; we should pay very close attention to them. The advisories are there to keep us safe. At the same time, there is a lot we can do. There are entire gig companies online. They’re looking for people to perform tasks and be paid by clients who need the content that you could write and send to them on your computer. You can do this with little more than a computer, tablet, or phone and an Internet connection. A little imagination always helps. Some of these jobs, called Gigs, will start off paying $15 an article, and you could end up earning several hundred dollars to ghostwrite a book.

Also, if you are professional, it is easy to see your clientele online using FaceTime, Zoom (which is my favorite,) or any other number of face-to-face applications around on the market and either free or nearly free. If you were trying to grow a business, having a site online allows you a worldwide reach for your customers. Even if you started not being online at a regular time without a pandemic, you would end up online anyway because that’s where the majority of your clients outside your local area would find you.

I am letting you this so you can think about things. If you are going to try something, start small and see where it goes. And remember, the one thing that works always is ‘Work.’

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

Habits

When I was young, I would never believe in or develop good habits. The habits I did have back then were probably the bad ones. Yet as I have grown older, and hopefully, a little bit wiser. I now see that habits have some pretty good power behind them.

If you have not read the book Atomic Habits by James Clear, I highly recommend it. The book walks you through how habits work, why they help you, how they help you, and even what to watch out for when using habits. I got my copy on Amazon, although you can find The book in many places.

I have learned that building habits are more accessible than you think. Also, keeping up with them is good. If you learn the methods of adequately using habits in groupings, it makes it easier to do regularly. If you would like to discuss this, write me back, and we can look at setting up a Zoom meeting to consider habits.

In the meantime, I am going to follow one new habit I am trying to master. In the future, I am not planning to spend extra time or hold any of my valued readers back from the use of each one’s valuable time when writing blogs. I am going to pass on what I have for you, and then I am going to leave it at that. Therefore-

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

Helping With Pain Points

A pain point can be anything, physical or thought, that takes time from us and causes us great feeling and emotion. When we work with others, sometimes we will realize they have a pain point that is just like one we have. It could be anything in which we both strongly believe. We could be either in sync or 180 degrees out, or any of the other 360 degrees of the compass.

When two people have the same pain point in the room, we must work to ensure we do not make the conversation about ourselves. We should be sensitive to the other person and their needs, especially if the other person has come to see us for help.  Focus on their concerns, and maybe, you will learn something that will help you solve your worry.

As humans, we all have things that bother us. No matter how minor or major the concern might be, there is a pain point that will not rest until found and handled. Discovering it is done with Socratic questioning and discussion. The idea is to have the person with the problem uncover the pain point so they can understand and deal with it.

Often the pain point is an emotional issue that is being frustrated by events the owner has no control over.  Helping someone find the pain point is the hard part.  Once found, they can often deal with the concern, and the frustrated blockage can be understood and handled.  Just remember, if you are there to help, do so, no need to make a meeting about you.

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

Vision board

Do you know what you like to do? Not precisely this moment, preferably throughout your life? Many people get so caught up in the existence of moment to moment survival they forget how to live. Today, I will show you an exercise which will allow you to remember that people should work to live and not live to work.

The first thing you need to do is understand what you like in life and what you want from life. These are the things which you desire. You can take a look at many places trying to figure this out, yet the one real situation you need to look at is inside yourself.

Start by the closing or defocusing of your eyes, and taking three deep breaths. No, do not think of education, finances, or anything else as a hindrance or block to your desires. Now try to think of the things you would like to do. The things that you wish you could make come true. Maybe something that you may not have thought of since you were young.

What are the things that you like to do? The things that you always wanted to try? Think of them, explore back in your past, and look into your mind. There could be a few, and there could be many. Do not think just of the work, think of every aspect of your life. Think of romance, sports, spiritedness, exploration, and anything else that you have ever really wanted at least to try or attempt. When you’re through thinking about it, make a list of all those things.

The optic nerve for the eyes is 27 more times potent than the nerve for the ears. Therefore, if we can build things, we can see those objects, and they will make a more meaningful difference to us. So now we’re going to make a vision board.

Start by looking for pictures, magazine ads, drawing ideas, or even going on a free site such as Unsplash.com to find images of those things that you would like to do In life. You can cut ad pictures out of magazines, or you could do everything on the computer depending on what you have and your abilities to use. 

Build a mosaic of all the things that you would like to do. I have one of mine at the top of this blog. I like to spend time to read, I’ve always wanted to fly, and even though I don’t have eyes for it anymore, I still like to practice on my computer. I like to sail sailboats. I enjoy walking in the fog along country lanes and by the ocean. I love sunsets and sunrises. I desire the time I get with my family and my wife. I put these things into the vision board of my life. I would like to do these again.

Your vision board will not look exactly like mine, nor should it. We are two different individuals. The best idea is to make your vision board based on the things that you like and would like to either do for the first time or repeat. Once you have built your vision board, find a place to put it where you can see it. It will help to remind you of the things you are interested in and desire in life. Look at the board daily to remind you and keep you on track by reminding you that life is not all work and toil. Life is also for a living, Even when we do so temporarily confined to small spaces.

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

How Are You Doing

With all the problems we find in our world today, how are you doing? Could you be doing better? And the biggest question, what are you doing to make it better? All fair questions.

We find ourselves this year in a maze of problematic situations. We did not cause these problems, nor did we ask for them.  We are, right now, finding ourselves in the cauldron of fate where people earn their stripes and bragging rights or could end up cast back onto the slag heap of fate. So the question I bring you today is straightforward.  In all this turmoil, what are you focusing on that is making your particular life better?  

The fact of everything going on around you is scary. It does not mean that it is going on immediately in front of your face. There are a lot of negatives in the world right now, and many things we want to achieve, we cannot, we can find ways to make things more pleasant for ourselves. Before we can do that, we should understand our make-up.

Try to understand what makes you tick. Figure out what causes you happiness and joy, and find a safe and sane way to do those things. Also, try to understand what causes you angst and why. Try finding ways that will diminish that angst.

You can do this. It could be a little harder than it once was. Yet yes, you can do this.  It may not be perfect. It may take some work or a little ingenuity.   Most of the things that we try to do can happen if we put a little effort and brainpower behind it. If you do not believe me, prove me wrong. In the meantime, I’ll try to write another blog tomorrow, which will give you some ideas to work on, that may get you closer to these ideas.

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

A Soft Voice

We all have our way of approaching our daily deeds. When it comes to speaking, some are loud and boisterous, while others are quiet and calming. I am not encouraging us to ignore our standard patterns in talking with others. I am saying there is a good thought in looking at different methods of discussion with people. Some ways of speaking may be better or worse, depending on the situation.

If the house is on fire, a loud voice that says everybody out of the house now is probably the best mode of the moment. When somebody is about to step on a snake, that same tone screaming watch out works well also. Not every situation needs to have a loud, overbearing voice, though.

If we are giving people technical information, the last thing we want to do is get them upset by being loud and rough with them. Loud and threatening voices cause us to be nervous. In an agitated state, we are less likely to get all the instructions correctly. Quite often, a quiet voice or at least a calm voice would be much better in sharing information.

When we catch someone doing something wrong, a quiet voice is more effective because it is unexpected. Speaking in a soft voice causes the rule-breaker to lean in and listen more intently. It is a great technique and one that will not soon be forgotten by the person perpetrating the misdeeds. As they lean in, you know that you have their full and undivided attention.

When approaching someone with a calming voice, it allows them to relax a little. It gives everyone some time to think. Maybe someone has a question or two. A loud, boisterous exchange from a superior, mentor, or peer may cause them to fear to ask.  Fear to ask a question can easily lead to confusion due to misunderstanding. The best thing to do is to keep everyone calm and focused on whatever they have before them.

Of course, this is just one mean old master Sargent’s Thought. To know for sure, try this technique for yourself.

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