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Brainpower

You can do more than you think.  You will not do what you need to, though, if you can accept what is.  You have to start by realizing the status quo is something you cannot stand, and you want something different.  Dishes get washed when you are upset with a dirty kitchen. 

When the problem happens on many occasions, then a habit is developed. ‘I will clean the kitchen and wash the dishes at the end of each day. I do this, so the kitchen is clean at the start of each morning.’ Wala, a habit is born.

The harder an answer is to find and establish, the more displeasure you must have with how a problem affects you.  The world is never changed by those who can live with the present circumstances.  It only gets better when someone refuses to bend to the will of the commonplace and forces a change for the better.  If it bothers you badly enough, you will stop complaining and do something about the problem.

Many of the people who have made significant changes in our way of living are considered grouches.  They are only people who have found what will work better and refuse to allow anything else in their offerings to the world.  These forward thinkers toil to provide us a better way.

We, too, can provide our take on how things should work.  It is good to find better ways and efficient protocols for the things we do in life.  Remember, though, that the price we pay to succeed is often the obstinance to accept anything less, and that takes some doing.

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

Do What You Can

You are probably at home.  You are there either on a 15-day self-imposed time out or by order of a higher authority.  It makes no matter whether you are in a studio apartment or a lush private estate.  You are there.  If you do not exercise, you will lose muscle mass.  If you do not think, play mental games, talk with others, you will lose brainpower.

Want to do some neat things and even make a difference? You have some great tools to do so.  You have some things you do not like (quarantine), and you have a lot of extra time (being in the domicile alone), and you have a good computer (your mind)(gotcha 😉 )

The mind is a tremendous biological machine, yet it has to be used and be able to play.  Try thinking of something great to do from a dead start.  It is very hard.  Activate the brain and start doing tasks, and the mind, at some point, will say, “There has got to be a better way.” 

Do not tell your mind that something is just a certain way because you think it is.  Right now, you have time and, hopefully, the inclination to let the mind run with these thoughts and try to figure out something better.  Do not let the mind throw anything away.  Remember, most sleek gadgets that we use today probably started as real Rube Goldberg contraptions and then fine-tuned to easy-to-use marvels of modern consumer science.

In your mind, let the ideas have room to roam and grow.  Let them give growth to the visions that may better humanity in the long run.  Maybe you will find something that would make the next pandemic (probably will be another) more natural for us to handle.  An idea like that would be something worth having.

One more thing.  Write your ideas down and save them.  The mind may be a fantastic super-computer, yet it has a terrible memory.  Especially the more you use it.

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

We Will Get There

I know we are a little scared right now.  I know that we start to feel isolated when the things we are used to are diminished, like work and being around others we know and enjoy.  And I know that our brains, needing something to keep them busy, will substitute fear and worry for work if not kept active.

This week I will send a series of blogs with ideas for keeping the brain busy, distracted, and possibly productive.  In this time of isolation and crisis, there is also hope and the possible time and place to make significant contributions towards our shared future goals. Keeping our minds active could be one of the best things we might do to relax and move forward.

Many blue-chip stocks found their start in less than favorable times.  We see many great ideas when we think outside the box.  Having to use your thought process to solve one problem will help it to consider other issues and solutions along the way.

I am not trying to tell you the virus is a good thing. It is definitely not.  What I am saying is that you can take what life hands you, sort it out, and turn it to something you can deal with and overcome. Hopefully, you can find something you might work to your advantage. 

Stay tuned, and we will look at this as our week progresses.

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

Taking Care of Yourself

Am I getting any exercise? Well, I am working on it. At the end of February, my doctor suggested water aerobics.  Fast forward three weeks, and it looks like that is out. 

Not getting to swim is OK though, I am replacing the comfortable chair in the TV room with my recumbent bike exerciser.  I like to watch TV, and now, If I want to watch it, I have to sit on the exerciser.  I can’t do that without wanting to push the pedals.  Exercising to TV is an easy win for an aerobic workout.

The other activity I need to do is to call people I have worked with and talk to them.  It will give me more human connectivity and information on how others are handling protective measures for the virus.  Talking to others will be helpful. 

I would like to ask a favor.  If you are reading this, and you have the time, please send a response and tell me how you are doing and what the pandemic looks like where you live.  I believe that through sharing, we strengthen our resolve, and lighten the burdens of negatives in our lives.  I like to talk with people, getting started with that is sometimes a little hard for me.

If I could give a thought, I believe in the importance of finding positives, even in our darkest hours.  The act robs negatives of their hardest biting powers.  And, if you can laugh daily, you know you will be all right in the long run.  Laughing tells you things will be OK.

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

Charting a Direction

I learned this today, and I had to share it with you.  We pray for time to do things, and often when that time does come our way, we end up wasting it.  The reason we lose time at home is that when we are at work, we are used to following a schedule that serves to keep us on point with our work.  When we are at home, we are more relaxed, and as the extra time comes our way, we tend to zone out with a good book or in front of the TV.

Zoning out at home is not wrong unless you are spending 24 hours a day at home. Too much undefined time could be hard to handle.  To avoid the angst of not getting anything done, you should build a schedule.  It should be a schedule filled with the things you want to do and run like a schedule or plan that you are used to using.

Start by making a list of all the things you would like to do or need to do.  Add in the typical items you are used to doing.  If you have a coffee break at a particular time, be sure you have coffee at that time.  If you meet with coworkers to talk, give one of them a call to see how they are.  If there are other things, you usually look forward to doing, see what you can do at home that can fill that void.  Take your list of work, needed and desired, and assign it blocks of time.  Usually, two to three-hour increments are just about right.  It is enough time to do something without getting overly bored.

Schedule what you will eat for each meal ahead of time.  Scheduling does not mean you cannot change your mind; it just means that you have something to look forward to eating.  The important thing is that you are keeping your mind active.

By planning and scheduling, you are not only keeping mind and body active, you are also completing projects that you wanted to finish.  Getting things done releases endorphins in your brain and makes you feel better.  I could stand to feel a little better right now.

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

Sustaining in Isolation

My wife and I are staying at home as much as possible.  I now have a choice. I can binge-watch TV, sleep, and play on the computer. Or possibly, I can study, learn new things, plan for the future, and hopefully be ready for what is needed when the all-clear sounds. 

I am not making money right now.  Any services as an active listener or life coach I provide are pro bono until this emergency is over.  I need to do this to repay all the people who have helped me in my life.  And, I should be ready for when life starts to be healthy again.  Life coaches will be in demand.

There will probably be new ideas and new rules to understand.  And yet, people are what they always are.  We can look at the aftermath of the 1918 pandemic to get an idea of how people came out of that plague.  Then we can fast forward to see what that might look like today.

We can plan and prepare to be of assistance and offer what people need when our standard returns, or we can zone-out and wonder what is going on when some semblance of regular life starts again.  As for me, I will rest a little, and I will be working to prepare myself and my business to be of vital help and benefit to others when needed.

Stay healthy, my friends.  Remember, nothing lasts forever.  The Virus, too, will pass on to better days.

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

Time to Do Something

I have always had more than I could handle on my plate.  I grew up believing that if I could, I should.  Therefore, I was always up to my neck in alligators trying to drain some metaphoric swamp or another.  I ever wished I had time to concentrate on just a few things and get them done, rather than chasing from one forest fire to another.

Now, I have some time.  It looks like I have a couple of weeks, at least.  I am sad for the reasons I have it (the virus), yet I do have some time I sorely need.  I can clean the house, redo my files, filled with items going back 30 years.  Read a little, and maybe paint some.  I cannot believe I painted the pictures in my office 20 years ago. 

How did I spend my first day of home improvement?  Tearing out all the files and putting them in folders on the floor.  I also snuck out to a store for supplies and put up new smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.  Decent start.

The idea that I am hoping to pass on is that in everything, there are opportunities. Although we have been given a forced 2-week holiday under dangerous conditions, we should find what good we can. We can provide our best for ourselves and our families.  And, if possible, without endangering ourselves, do something great for those around us.

The virus is terrible in many nations, and we pray that it passes for those people quickly.  I also hold hope that our danger also ends soon, and we can get back to our regular routines.

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

Day One

My wife and I are not sick.  We fit into the age groups and categories that call for us to take precautions against the virus that is going around.  We need to avoid crowds and public gatherings as much as possible.  We need to stay at home as much as possible.

I am lucky in the fact that I can work from anywhere I can get to a Wi-Fi signal.  My wife is a homebody and does not get around very well.  We can survive this pretty well.

I am not going to drown you in a monotonous day-to-Day report as to what is going on. Yet if exciting things do happen, say in the spirit of Father Goose or The Odd Couple, I will keep you informed.  In the meantime, I plan to put out my same daily blogs on process improvement and positive change. 

Right now, I am working on when and how to go out to get some perishables, such as milk.  I have some great plans for the next two weeks and will even try sneaking out to the office. It is also private.  No people, just a change in scenery.

We hope everyone is safe and will remain so.  We are keeping you all in the positive thoughts.  Take care of yourselves, and we will all get through this.

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

Hi everyone,

I know that the pandemic we are facing right now can be scary.  Many would like to hop in a hole and pull the opening in after them.  Yet, that is not realistic.  We need to eat, pay bills, do our chores, and do our best to live our lives. 

We also need to stay up on top of the real news.  There is a CV-19 Dashboard at https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/coronavirus.  There is a link on the page where you will find the current infection numbers and an overall view.  You can also receive useful information from credible agencies on the web.  One of the best defenses is good knowledge about something.

If you are worried about food, and other necessities, you can shop many of your larger stores on-line and have the items delivered to your home.  Or, stores can have an order ready for you, so you can drive by and pick it up.  You can pay many bills via the internet.  You can use call-in services such as health advisors, and you can call some clinics or have an appointment over the Internet.

I do not have much to offer. I do have a small life coaching practice.  I do a lot of my training, studying, and even practice live sessions over the internet. Also, anyone worried right now can email me, and we can set up a live meeting on Zoom.com or FaceTime to talk about things.  During this crisis, I am not going to charge anyone for any of the times they talk with me. No matter who you are, we are a team, and we will get through this together.    

As a life coach, I am a certified practitioner.  My goal is to help people.  To do this, we look at where we are and what is happening around us.  Then we work at how we can get to the future we desire.  

I only speak English.  I know people in 67 countries read my blog, so I imagine there are other English speakers out there.  To do this, you will need an internet signal and the capabilities to use Zoom.com or facetime.  Patience, as we start this adventure, is another virtue that helps.

The important thing is that we stay calm, know the facts, and make it to the other side of this, putting it behind us.  We have survived worse in the history of the world.  And, with a little help from above, we will survive this.

I cannot offer much. I do believe that a caring ear and a good discussion can often be great medicine.  If you would like to talk, please contact me.

Mike balof

Reveille.Rocks Life Coaching

mikeb@reveille.rocks

Website:  www.reveille.rocks

Finding A Great Hidden Employee

If you are going to do something, take ownership, and do it right.  If you do not want to do something, do not do it.  Own your decision, either way, you choose.  To not be in control of yourself, you usually will end up in the act of passive-aggression, and at that point, no one wins or gets what they want.

If you are a person who tends to be passive-aggressive, you are not treating yourself very well.  You are volunteering for what you hate, just to please others, or you are letting others push you into actions in which you want no part.  Either way, you are unable to give an honest attempt to complete the task with a decisive victory.

If you become forced into a position that may become passive-aggressive, would it not be better to recuse yourself and let the task owner find someone who could do a better job?   While doing this, you are showing a better understanding of yourself, and others are seeing that you are a person of good stature who knows themselves and will not let others push work on them just because they are easy marks.

If you are giving jobs to people and you have someone who is often passive-aggressive, would it not be useful to hand essential tasks to others that would possibly cause fewer problems? Do not shut the passive-aggressive person entirely out of the loop.  Instead, work with the employee to find out what their real skills and passions are.  Give them jobs that relate to those skills and passions and encourage them.  You may just find an outstanding employee that you never knew you had.

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