Hopefully you all know what my P.E.A.C.E. acrostic stands for.  Many years ago I simplified (for myself) what I thought were the most important activities involved in leading a successful life.  The EagleLaunch definition of a successful life is; “a continuous journey of setting and attaining worthwhile goals that will positively impact your life as well as the world around you.”

I believe in having a Plan, putting forth productive Effort, with an effective Attitude, with a willingness to be helped and to be of help to the Community of people we surround ourselves with; all while taking care of our spiritual, emotional and physical aspects of our being in order to have the Energy required to effectively carry out our plans.

Since I started this blog four years ago, you may recall how I often refer to my morning devotion time.  My morning devotion time involves my quiet time with God where I talk to God (pray) and he talks to me (through his scripture) and then I reflect on my day ahead as well as my roles and responsibilities.  It is during my morning time where I take a look at my goals and reflect on how I am doing.  Then I place everything in God’s hands and go off and hopefully do his business through me.

It is during my morning devotion time where P.E.A.C.E. comes alive for me.  It is where I ask God to live in all aspects of my P.E.A.C.E. acrostic.

We are starting our fourth week of 2012.  Maybe you are losing your edge in staying on top of your goals you set for the new year.  Try gaining the edge back by taking time to talk with God about your goals (sounds corny but it works).

God wants us to seek his help, he wants us to gain an edge so we can share with others where we get our edge from.

Thus, one of the primary purposes of my blog.

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch

Psalms 121:2, “My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.”

How great is your mind?

Greatness and excellence in your life will only happen if you choose to spend time with the right people, places and things.

If you want to be great hang out with great, read about great, study great and become great.

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch

Proverbs 15:14, “A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash.” (NLT)

I’m into my 7th decade of breathing air on this earth and still spend at least 20 hours a week studying and preparing for everything I do.

With that being said, I don’t have much time for time wasters such as sitting on the pity pot, watching T.V., gossiping, criticizing, computer surfing, idle chit-chat, and all the other ways the devil tries to create roadblocks on my road to excellence.

I must admit the 30 minutes I spend each week watching “The Office” counts toward study and preparation.

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch

Proverbs 15:14, “A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash.” (NLT)

Are you always looking for the path of least resistance?  Are you avoiding life by drinking and drugging or using some other form of addictive/self-medicating behavior?

Understand excellence is often developed through the effective handling of the obstacles and challenges in life as well as the failures.

A set-back is simply a set-up for success.

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch

Proverbs 13:4, “Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.” (NLT)

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch

Proverbs 13:4, “Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.” (NLT)

Excellence is simply doing the next right thing, one step at a time.  It is a process, not an event.

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch

Proverbs 13:4, “Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.”

The road of excellence often gets painful along the way.

Excellence is an attitude.

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch

Proverbs 13:4, “Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.” (NLT)

When you set your new goals for the year, did you expect to achieve them or were you “hoping” that just maybe this was the year you were finally going to successfully achieve your New Year’s resolution?

Most of the time the feeling of hope is simply a form of postponed disappointment.  Please don’t confuse this with the hope we have in God because that is the one hope we all know will not be disappointing.  My comparison of expectation to hope in this blog is more about an attitude.

When you set your resolution(s) or your BHAG’S or your “house cleaning” goals for 2012 (see 1/1/12 blog), were you expecting to accomplish them or just hoping?

Expecting can be dangerous if our expectations come in the form of other people, places and things but there is absolutely nothing wrong with having expectations for ourselves and the teams we lead.

I was blessed to be a part of some very special teams in my life and on each of those teams we expected to win every “game” which is probably why we won a lot of games in high school, college and business against opponents who were much bigger and stronger than us.  We beat some opponents where the odds were stacked heavily against us.

When you expect to win, and expect greatness in all you do, you are beginning with the end in mind.  And the end is great.  When you start expecting greatness you will suddenly find your path to greatness becomes filled with meaningful actions all focused on the end. When losses, setbacks and failures occur, the attitude of expecting greatness causes us to evaluate the loss, learn from it and continue on our path to greatness.

When you hope to win, although you may have an end in mind, the word hope, in an of itself takes away the edge you feel when compared to expect.  Hope gives you an out when the path of activity becomes challenging.  It is a lot easier to walk away from a “hope” I have of myself than an expectation.

Can you imagine how your spouse would feel if you told him or her, “I hope to be a good spouse.”  How would your kids feel if you told them, “I hope to be a good parent.”  How would your boss feel if you told them, “I hope I can become a good worker.”  How do you think God would feel if you say, “I hope there is a heaven.”

C’mon people quit hoping and start expecting and it all starts with you.  What are the expectations you have of yourself?  Are you expecting to achieve your goals or are you expecting failure?

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch

Proverbs 13:4, “Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.” (NLT)

Are you leading and if you are, are you developing others?  Are you motivating those you lead?  Are you helping those you lead work through the pain of growth?  Are you listening to those you lead?   Do you truly care about those you lead?  Are you able to lead without becoming defensive?  Are you able to lead without taking things personally?

If you are a leader or want to be a leader you will need to be able to easily answer yes to the above questions.

Leadership is not about status, title, wealth, fame, fortune or control.  It is simply the effective handling of people.

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@Eaglelaunch

Hebrews 13:7, “Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God.  Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith.”

Character, plain and simple is one’s ability to handle the demands of reality.  Running from reality and/or creating your own reality is quite common in the addiction community…been there, done that.

It is also quite common in our “feel good” quick society.

There is no better way to get through something than to go right through it.

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch

Romans 5:4,  “And endurance produces character, and character produces hope,”