I want to share a tool that I am finding very helpful for clarifying how to view one’s current reality and the level at which there is peace with it. It is called The Peace Index.
The Peace Index:
The Peace Index helps clarify how key factors and specific stressors affect one’s peace, and consequently, leadership behavior.
Source: GiANT Worldwide, LP
A high Peace Index provides the ability to think more clearly without distraction. Obstacles are viewed more as challenges instead of roadblocks, and there is a more significant opportunity to operate from security, confidence, and humbleness in leadership. A high Peace Index positions a person to be able to bring their best, and for leaders, it positions one to be better at Liberating or empowering others.
With a low Peace Index, leaders are too absorbed with their challenges to lead others effectively. They do not bring their best self to leading others and can undermine their influence and disrupt team performance and culture.
There are five “‘P’s” that make up the Peace Index tool; Purpose, People, Place, Provision, and Physical Health.
The tool works as a self-evaluation of how one feels about his or her current reality in each of the five areas.
Think about each of the five “P’s” and score them from 1 to 100. Once you score each area, add them all together, divide by five, and you will get your Peace Index score.
Here are some questions to help you process each factor:
Purpose: How clear is your sense of meaning, direction, and fulfillment in life? How fulfilled you are with the work you are doing?
Place: How happy are you with the physical location where you live, work, and play? Is it beautiful or ugly, healthy or unhealthy, convenient or inconvenient? How life-giving is it to you?
Provision: Are you satisfied with your current income level and state of your finances? Are your needs being met? Is our financial position empowering or a cause of fear or conflict?
Physical Health: Are you healthy or unhealthy? Fit or unfit? Is there a sickness or disabling ailments that affect your ability to do what you would like to do?
People: How are your relationships? These would include your family and friendships and your relationships with co-workers. Are your relationships uplifting, or do they undermine you? Consider quantity, quality, proximity, and whatever else is important to you when it comes to your relationships.
Key Indicators:
It’s important to realize that not all categories will impact you equally. There will probably be one or two areas that will affect your overall peace more than others.
My key indicators are purpose and provision. As long as my purpose and provision scores are high, my place and people scores will remain high. However, if my purpose or provision scores begin to lower, all my other scores will be affected negatively as well.
Also, your key indicators may be different than my key indicators. So your peace score may be more affected by your people, place, or physical health score. Your key indicator deserves more attention than the others.
So, what does your Peace Index score tell you? Is your overall index high, low, or just right?
Four Helpful Lists:
If you find there’s a low area and you want a quick exercise to assess, address, and improve that area, Four Helpful Lists is a great tool and would be very helpful.
You simply make a list of everything that is “Right” about the area, every that is “Wrong,” everything that is “Missing,” and everything that is “Confused”.
After you brainstorm each list, you will have the information to know what to amplify (Right), fix (Wrong), add (missing), and clarify (confused). I created a Four Helpful Lists template that you can download and use.
Last Thing:
The Peace Index is a snapshot of a moment in your life. I want to encourage you to use the tool to set a Baseline for your current reality and help you clarify your path toward getting 100%.
The power of the tool is when you use it to reassess your score at regular intervals; maybe quarterly or six months. Doing so will give you the ability to fine-tune and address the lower areas.
I would love to hear from you. Leave a comment with your Peace Index score, and your key indicator(s).