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.”

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.”

No matter how big or small your dream is, take a stab at creating a plan to achieve it.

The world is not changed by dreamers the world is changed by dreamers with a plan.

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch

Proverbs 3:16, “Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.”

My former business partner often said, “there are no free lunches.”

If something great is going to happen in your life, you and only you can make it happen. Try adding a little “P.E.A.C.E.” to your life:  Create a sound Plan, put forth Effort, apply the right Attitude, draw from and bring energy to the Community around you and take care of your body, mind and soul to have the Energy you need to seize and multiply your opportunities a day at a time.

Make a great day happen!  (It’s your choice).

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch

Proverbs 14:23, “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.” (NIV)

For those of you wondering why you are not prospering:

…do you have a plan?

…are you working hard?

…are you avoiding the easier, softer way (i.e. shortcuts)??

Nuff Said.

P.E.A.C.E.

jay@eaglelaunch

(This is a continuation of “Yes or No”)

A phrase I often say to myself is “the only thing separating success from failure is a plan reduced to writing.”

Although having my priorities straight and in agreement is a huge part of keeping commitments to myself, the difference between 100% follow-through often lies in whether or not I have a plan.  Having a plan requires the discipline to sit down and “do it” and as I’ve mentioned before, many of us in recovery are not real disciplined.

After 24 years of putting a plan to my priorities, I can tell you it works and it is not rocket science.  It simply entails writing down what your commitments are and then on Sunday noting the things you need to do throughout the week in order to follow through on your commitments (goals/plan) and then each evening writing down tasks for the next day while reviewing your successes and failures.  The  final step and a huge step is to submit your plans to God…“Commit your works to the Lord, And your thoughts will be established.”  Proverbs 16:3 (NKJV)

One thing to note when submitting your plans to God is don’t sit around waiting for the answer (i.e. procrastinating), most of the time the answer comes through action

If you read my previous blog on let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no” I believe you will agree with me that the difference between yes and/or no and maybe is a plan.

In order to K.I.S.S. the last couple of blogs…Prioritize–> Plan–> Place the plan in God’s hands–> Execute–>Review–>Continue the process.

P.E.A.C.E.

jay@eaglelaunch.com

I can remember many years ago sitting in my group therapy session during the early parts of my treatment center stay and the counselor asked us how we felt.  The decade of “feelings” took place in the 1980′s by the way.

During my first several group sessions I could not tell the group how I felt.  For years I had stuffed my feelings.  As a kid I learned how to be a chameleon in order to fit in.  I would basically feel however I needed to feel…as long as you told me how I needed to feel…can you say co-dependent?  Of course then I found drugs and alcohol to really suppress my feelings and…well in August of 1987, without chemicals in my body, I had no clue what my feelings were about.

As I started to work through the 12 Steps I began to “feel” and it was scary.  When I started to feel my emotions, I wanted to use–but I didn’t want to use–and the insanity would start.

Slowly but surely the layers of the onion were being pealed away (thanks to the 12 Steps, my counselor and my mentor) and I was gradually getting in touch with the truth and my feelings.  This new way of life was teaching me the importance of being honest and keeping my word…not an easy task for any addict or alcoholic.

Then FINALLY my “yes” started becoming “yes” and “no” started becoming “no” to ME!

The epiphany…I remember reading on the back of a token I received from the chemical dependency center and it read; “To thine own self be true.”  Being honest with ourselves is the key to recovery and it simply involves the habit of keeping commitments we make to ourselves.  For many of us who are broken, that is not an easy thing.  We lived a life where our “yes” often meant “maybe with conditions” and our “no” meant “maybe I’ll change my mind tomorrow.” Our word meant nothing.

This is a process…In the beginning of my recovery I lived one day at a time simply saying “yes” to sobriety and “no” to using.  Then at about the three year mark in my recovery journey my sponsor kicked me in the behind by telling me it was time to get back into the real world and become a responsible husband, Dad and professional.  I remember him telling me AA was there for me to get me back into the mainstream of life and that I had responsibilities to take care of.  In essence he was telling me to “man up.”

Actions performed enough times become habits…Today I know being a responsible human being starts with my ability to keep my commitments I make to myself.  If I say “yes” then it remains “yes” after the feelings and emotions are gone.  If I say “no” then it remains “no” even if the feelings and emotions re-ignite.  Keep in mind this is a slippery slope in the beginning of recovery as we often over or under commit because we have no clue what keeping a commitment entails. It is OK to say no to a previous yes or vice-versa.  Just stay away from the “land of maybe’s.”

Keeping commitments begins with knowing our priorities…My ability to keep commitments to myself is greatly enhanced when I have my priorities straight.  Today my priorities in order of importance includes:  My faith, my body, my family, friends, those I lead and those I serve.  In other words I have to stay committed to the Lord.  I have to stay committed in taking care of myself as well as my family.  I need to be there for my friends when they need me.  I need to be there for those I lead as well as those I help.  The majority of my yes and no’s revolve around my priorities.  I very seldom let others’ priorities become mine.

K.I.S.S….For those of you early in the recovery process, it is a process it is not an event.  Keep It Simple Stupid is a phrase I still use today..twenty-four years ago my priorities started with staying sober, and in order to do that I needed to strengthen my faith and be willing to listen to others as well as help others.  Then eventually I could be there for my family, and then my profession and then came my body and then friends.  Start out with simple commitments to God, yourself and your family and as you begin to keep your commitments you will be able to eventually expand your commitments into all aspects of your life.

Priorities change…You can see how the order of my priorities have changed over the years but today I know the order I live by is the right order for me and in-turn makes it easy for my “no” to be “no” and my “yes” to be “yes.”

A painful proposition…As I’ve mentioned before, there is no worse place to be than on the fence.  When you are sitting on the fence your “yes” is maybe and your “no” is maybe and “maybe” is from the evil one (re-read the scripture above) and your crotch really starts to hurt.

P.E.A.C.E.

jay@eaglelaunch.com

I often marvel at the infomercials for weight loss devices.  What a brilliant idea someone came up with years ago.  The reason I say brilliant is because our country is filled with people that want to change and grow…it’s why we became America.  But our country has also eveolved into a “people” who will change and grow only if it happens instantly.  I would love to research how many exercise devices purchased over the past couple of years are still in use today.  Most people watching these commercials are watching them because they don’t have anything better to do and/or  because they haven’t figured out what it takes to change and then the commercial creates an emotion and then a picture of “what I will look like with ripped abs” and boom we go on line or call the number and we think and believe we are going to change as soon as the new device shows up.  Sometimes this works, but I have a feeling most of the time it doesn’t…most garage sales have some form of exercise equipment for sale…if you get my point.

I’m not throwing stones here, I’ve been there, done that.

But in the Proverb above Solomon refers to a very small creature with no leader or television to tell them what to do…they just do it and they do it in a methodical, patient and focused way and they understand they will reap the rewards from their work today, not instantly, but in the future.  Hmmm, maybe our federal government should start studying the ways of the ant.

There are a couple of fundamental keys to successfully attaining goals.  This first is discipline (i.e. the willingness to do what you know you need to do even though you don’t want to do it.)  The second is consistent, focused effort (the ability to do what you don’t want to do, enough times for it to become a habit.)  The third is long-term thinking (i.e. the ability to be patient in your discipline and consistent, focused effort understanding change is ever-evolving and what you do today may not show up as a positive change until a few months or years down the road).

Of course all of the above will take place if you practice my P.E.A.C.E. formula one day at a time.  “With the power of the Holy Spirit I will responsibly PLAN my life, discipline myself by putting forth maximum EFFORT, take ownership of my ATTITUDE and draw strength from my COMMUNITY while nourishing my spiritual, emotional and physical being in order to have the ENERGY that will be needed in order to fulfill God’s mission for my life.”  Even if you can live this way 50% of the time you will make monumental, positive change in your life.

If an ant can “just do it” we ought to be able to “just do it.”

Now go do it.

P.E.A.C.E.

jay@eaglelaunch.com

This is one of my favorite Proverbs as it reminds me just how much control I really don’t have.  I found out the hard way that it is much easier to swim with God’s current than against it and one way I practice this is to turn everything I do over to God and ask Him for His guidance and direction.

I can remember years ago when I had a fear of speaking in front of people.  Prior to speaking I would say a little prayer; “God may your words be my words and may my words be your words.”  I figured if I messed up I could blame God .  I’ve been doing that little ritual for a number of years and there have been times I talk about things I never practiced or planned for and someone after the presentation will point out how much those “unplanned” words meant to him or her. 

It is much easier to live our lives and have success in this world if we take the God of all creation along with us.  Or even better if we sit in the passenger’s seat and ask him to drive our bus.  When we do this one day at a time, our lives become an amazing ride.  It doesn’t mean there won’t be twists, turns, bumps, detours, high water, storms, valleys, mountains and slippery roads.  But it does mean all of these challenges become more manageable and the dry sunny days of driving the flat roads become pure joy…and living in Ohio these days makes me enjoy those dry sunny days even more.

P.E.A.C.E.

jay@eaglelaunch.com