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.

Family

This time of year is a vital part of our annual mental health and equilibrium. If you do not live near family or see them regularly, it is good to try to make arrangements to gather at some time during the holidays. It doesn’t have to be on the official holiday itself, sometimes a date near the celebration is often just as good. Visiting on a day before or after a holiday can take off the pressure of trying to have everything perfect just because it’s a holiday.

If you come from a high-strung background, or a life that offered much drama, a date near an event is often a better choice. It allows everyone to be a little bit more laid-back and relaxed. We have to remember it’s not a number circled on the calendar that makes something great, it is time spent with friends and family.

We think of family as the people, related or not, who accept us as we are, and can be themselves around us. No matter how many miles from family members we may be, we stick up for each other and have each other’s backs. Our family is comprised of those who care about us, worry about us, will be first to warn us if they think we are going in the wrong direction, and through acts of genuine love, sometimes get on each other’s nerves. Yet that’s okay, it is what family is all about.

Families sometimes move in different directions. Over time new members come and old members, due to reasons beyond anyone’s control, will move on or fall out of our lives. We remember those who have gone before us and cherish the additions. We hold places in our hearts for all of them, because we are family.

This year be kind to everyone in your family, especially those who wear on your nerves. And remember to smile a lot. It makes everybody wondered what you’re up to.

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

Your Business

In this life, within certain bounds, you can do almost anything you want and be almost anything you want to be. All you need to do is understand what is required and work very hard until you achieve your goals. I would recommend starting out by doing research and understanding everything it’s going to take and what order you must do it in.

I am not trying to chase you from something. Nor am I trying to talk you into something. I am just laying the facts out.  Go forth, not in fear, do it with eyes wide open.

I’m working on being a life coach. I have studied and practiced for over three years and am now practicing with experienced coaches observing and giving me valuable feedback. So, you might think all I have to do is start coaching. There is a little more to it than that.

I need to work with insurance agents to make sure the business is covered. I need to secure financial and legal advisors. Find an office and set it up and find an assistant who can help me with paperwork and clients. I must make sure that I have packets set up for clients with all the correct paperwork. And most importantly, I must go out and market my services so that people know that I’m here, and I can help.

I know it sounds like a lot of work, and some of it might be. Although it is something that needs to be done to set up and run a good business. If the office does not run smoothly, the ability to help people is severely compromised. When the business is compromised, it’s hard to do well for others.

I can give you the method I use to set up my business. I like to do all the research I can to make sure I know what I’m getting into. I take the courses I need and study so that I can learn the best techniques and by that be able to better help people. I break the tasks I mentioned down into easy to handle segments and try to plan them out, so they are easier to accomplish.

You can do this.  Is that a guarantee? No, there are no guarantees.  And many businesses do not succeed.  This is because of internal and external factors. Yet, if you do not try, you will never know.  Just understand what you are getting into.

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

Work With A Balance in Life

As we go through life, we have much going on around us. Some things around us we are intensely a part of, and for some, we are merely in touch. And that is okay.

We do not need to be the center of everything for everyone else. Nor should we want to be. Only so many minutes exist in a day, and there is a limit to what we can do, no matter how much we think is possible. Every one of us can do only a finite amount of actions because not one of us is infinite.

It is still important you are in touch and know what is happening with those you care about. This is where balancing your work with the rest of your life is very important. The rest of your life is, after all, at least as important as your work. Everything else includes a great deal of the reasons that you’re doing the work to start with.

It is easy to assume all is positive on other fronts when you are working 16 to 18 hours a day. And yet, because of one word in the last sentence, you need to pay attention. For just like none of us are independent, none of us have the right, or the privilege, to assume. You need to stay in touch as much as possible and participate in both the good and the bad. Being there for others is of utmost importance.

Those in your circle, wife, children, relatives, and friends may not have the training and dexterity in your skills that you do, yet, you will find them an eager and excited cheering squad for you. And, believe me, there are many times you are going to need both positive words and the cheering squad.

Remember, when you think of the others that are important, no one is as important as those who have understood your quest and are on the journey with you to where your work takes you in the future. These people are with you heart and soul and are willing to stick with you through thick and thin.

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

Taking the High Road

As we follow our path in life, we should strive to walk the High road.   Breath the excellent air, have a good thought, or two.  And help those who are going with you and those who you meet along the way.  Feel good, for you are on an enjoyable journey.

At the same time, ensure you are walking your path to the destination where you want to arrive.  Even as we enjoy our travels into our future, some have not yet realized that people can have a path like the one you are taking.  They are working for the dreams of others.  These workers find themselves knee-deep in minutia.

Minutia is all the little things that happen along the way. The things that really don’t matter that much, and yet take up much of your time. If not careful, you can lose yourself with the minutia as it metaphorically buries you. Once that happens you can’t even see the light of day.

The temptation of minutia is with us always. We need to stay on the high road. In the second world war Gen. MacArthur showed us a way to do this. Rather than battling the enemy from island to island across the Pacific, he hopped over many islands. He attacked strategic spots that caused the islands he had passed to be cut off from their headquarters and supply chains. This tactic saved many lives on both sides and help the conflict end sooner.

Hopefully, the idea of working one major project to another without getting bogged down in politics, negativism or other problems could help you succeed in your endeavors. I have talked about the Eisenhower model before, and this simple method of figuring out what is important and urgent or not important or urgent can help you to better understand how important or urgent everything else that comes across your desk is. Work hard on the urgent and important items, and delegate those that are less critical.

I wish you good travels on the high road.

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

Emotions

They say that we live in cycles. I’ve come to believe that that is true. The technology may change. The continents, the empires, the democracies, customs, and even the physical attributes of the people may change. And yet one thing about the people doesn’t change. We may grow wiser. We may have more to learn. And we will definitely have different rules from one era to another, which we need to follow. So, what does not change? Emotions.

The biggest thing we can learn from history is the warnings about emotion. Rage, jealousy, lust, empathy, love, fear, the list goes on and on. Sane people who were learned in their history and knowing the facts of their days were often led astray, not by overpowering forces, instead, by the chemical structure within their own bodies as they yielded to emotions.

In our most prestigious schools, we study 5000 years of human history, and yet we see the same cycles of greed and lust today that were evident 3000 years before the common era. They say those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. We need to remember more than just history. We need to remember the causes. Look past the excuses to what rages within humans. It is the emotions that drive them.

We face terrible violence today. Shootings, bombs, and other mayhem are our nightly ritual of reporting on our television sets. Is this so different than the nightly street stabbings in Rome 2000 years ago? Think of all the villages burned, lands conquered and reconquered, people indiscriminately killed or sold into slavery over the thousands of years. These are not things done by people. These things are done by people with uncontrolled emotions.

We remember history. We know the warnings signs. Most of us even understand how terrible, uncontrolled and unresolved emotion can be. It’s not the weaponry used, for even when the weaponry did not exist, the outcomes were still very much the same.

The past is now gone. Our future stands before us. The question laid at our feet is, how do we deal with our destiny? Do we woe over the weaponry, do we argue over the Empires, or do we go to work on the real problem?

How to we reign in the emotions?

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

Learning Needs to Be Continuous

Please let me start by saying that I am excited and sharing some good news.  I ask that no one feels as though they are being solicited.  I am just lucky and happy to be nearer a life goal I have almost always been just out of reach in attaining.

I have some great news to share.  As you may know, I am working on learning life coaching and becoming a coach. Yesterday, I completed my latest course in Life Coaching. In the last three years, I have enjoyed 3 courses in Life Coaching and one in NeuroLinguistic Programming through Achology, out of Scotland.  It dovetailed very nicely into my Masters in Adult Education and Training.

I do have to say that my work in the classroom is not done either as a teacher or a student.  The more we learn, the more we see that continuous learning is one aspect of our future we cannot do without. If we are going to make a positive addition to our surroundings, we need to have knowledge and understanding of what we are doing and why?

For now, I am finally exploring my options and locations for my first office and am working on making a dream come true.  I hope to be able to offer local sessions and groups live, and the same type of service throughout the world via Zoom or FaceTime.

This is not a solicitation; however, if I can ever be of assistance, I am only an email away.

I shall not bore you with details and minutia, yet with your permission, I will keep you abreast of the significant milestones as I attain them.  I do want to let you know that my success is in large part to the kind words and needed encouragement you have given me along the way.  Thank you very much.

Tomorrow we will continue the regular blogs and discuss what we can learn about our futures by understanding the past.

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

Your Time Is Now

We have talked this week about building your business.  We likened your work to that of a farmer.  Mainly because entrepreneurs and farmers have the same types of concerns. Both need to work hard and make excellent products. It feels as though the work is never done because it is definitely not a nine to five Monday through Friday job.

Nobody can do the work for us. Each of us holds the responsibility for making our dreams work. No matter how you might try to outsource your desires, the same thing will almost always happen.  You end up with the ideas of those you hired and not your own.  If you are going to make your mark in this life, you must be the one to reach out and do so.

Hard work?  Yes.  Is the work beyond your scope? No.  You may have to learn, talk with others, gather ideas, make plans, remake plans a time or two when they don’t work.  Use elbow grease and midnight oil more than you might wish, and many other things.  In the end, we learn that we are far more resilient and able than we ever gave ourselves credit for having.

I don’t want to just leave you today with the idea that you can do this.  Your entire effort is so much more than that.  You are the only one who’s destiny is to make your dreams become realities.

Believe in yourself.  Find the good in your plans and ideas. And do not let anyone talk you out of or giving into abandoning your ideas.

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

How We Market

As people with ideas, we have more in common with farmers than we think. Farmers do not get paid to plant a crop. And, they do not get paid to grow a crop. Farmers only get paid when they reap their produce and sell it at a market.

I don’t know of many people who get paid for just having an idea. We don’t get paid for sharing the idea with others, or opening an office, or building something. We get paid when we take what we have developed in our markets and sell it to our customers. Only then do we receive compensation.

How we market, or what we do is vitally important. We can turn off customers as quickly as we can pique their interest if we are not careful in what we do. And, unfortunately, there is a lot of bad advice out there.

I once had a person from a significant training center, who told me that the way to create customers was to use click-bait to get everyone’s address I could. I was supposed to continue sending them letters to purchase my goods and keep the pressure up until they quit or I did.  I did not do this because I look at my clientele as friends.  I do not put undue stress on my friends.

I write blogs and articles, let people from around the world know what I am doing and how I can help.  I try to make my website, Facebook group, and blog available to as many people who wish to use them. Everyone is welcome. And yes, in the new year, I will be offering life coaching at reasonable rates. And although I will advertise, I will assure you that I will not pressure anyone. I only have so much work time in the day, and I want to work where I can make the most significant difference with my clients.

If you are interested in working with a Life Coach, feel free to contact me or look up my website: www.reveille.rocks.

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

How to Plant Seeds

Yesterday we talked about planting our ideas, like seeds into fertile areas where they have a chance to grow. Today I thought we should talk about how to do that planting. It can look very hard, and yet it is easier than you think.

Many times, we feel closed off. We find that we don’t have many friends that we go out and talk to daily. Sometimes, we are afraid of talking seriously with our friends about our ideas for fear that they may think we have gone off the deep end, or they make take offense over a thought we have presented. And yet, avenues for positive results abound.

It is easy to float an idea on a Facebook group, a chat room, Instagram, Pinterest, tumbler, LinkedIn, Facebook, or any other areas where people meet online. You want to take care that you are protecting your idea so that no one else steals it. To do this, talk in generalities and look to see how a general idea of the sort is taken.

Worried about talking to your best friends about your ideas? Afraid of negative reactions? Fearful of having fewer people to invite to your next birthday party? Friends are friends. And good friendships last a lot longer than a few ideas, whether they are good or bad.

We always fear things before we do them. 65% of the time, we are wasting our time, because the worry never happens. We find ourselves, after doing the thing we feared, wondering what there was to fear about. We also ask ourselves why didn’t I do this sooner.

The Internet and worldwide conductivity is a marvelous tool. I take live coaching classes from Scotland. My blogs are read in 58 different countries. We talk face-to-face with people around the world. We ca,n FaceTime or Skype almost anyone, anywhere.  With all the various avenues to share ideas and good thoughts, why are we not sharing more often?

These are just some things for you to think about. It seems to me that where ever people gather we can share good ideas and help them to grow.

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

Be A Farmer

We all have quality ideas from time to time that could make a significant difference, large or small, in the quality of life that others may enjoy. We may not realize how needed are ideas are to help others. Yet, we must get them out where either we or others, can find them and possibly bring joy to life. The problem with keeping a good idea bottled up is that it has a limited shelf life. To counter the limited lifespan of a concept, we need to learn to act like farmers.

Farmers are responsible for helping things grow. They don’t do this by keeping the seed bottled up in the silo. Farmers plant seeds. They give nutrition of the soil for the seeds, and water. And as the plants grow, the farmers tend to them, removing weeds and harvesting when the crop is ripe. Seeds are sometimes blown by the wind, or maybe carried by animals or birds to other more favorable spots, and thus migrate from one area to many others.

Ideas are a lot like seeds. Ideas need nourishment to grow. A thought will never grow to fruition if it’s bottled up and kept in the dark of one person’s head. Ideas, like any other seed, need to be brought out into the light. The seeds of thought need to be shared with others, just as the fruit of this knowledge will be. After all, an idea that does something good for you will also most probably do good for others.

Don’t let one or two thunderclouds of discontent slow you down. Farmers grow abundant grain crops, yet not everybody likes oatmeal. Remember to focus your ideas, not to everyone, just to those who would make good use of the thoughts you have.

There is a secondary benefit to you. When the first idea goes out into the world and produces benefits for those who use it, you find yourself with room for another idea to germinate into a seed that you can then go plant.

I advise, go be a farmer. Plant the seeds of ideas wherever you can. You never know what may grow or how well it will help others.

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