When I arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base as the new 14th Air Force “Flying Tigers” Command Chief, I took several months to get know the people of the Command and learn about my new organization and its organizational culture.

As I traveled throughout the command, I had the opportunity to talk Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines that supported the space mission of the Joint Space Operations Center. A key part of my talks with the young enlisted was about continuously growing, developing, and reinventing themselves. I stressed that they needed to be proactive about their education, training and personal growth, and development so they could achieve their goals.

I asked each of them to think about how to grow and develop themselves in the three growth and development areas of our professional development program–Personal, Professional, or Leadership Competency. I urged them to invest and reinvest in your life so that they were ready for life’s challenges. Furthermore, I asked each person to seek out opportunities, challenges, and resources to help them stretch and get out of their comfort zone.

It was during my visits that I found myself using the well-known colloquialism “6Ps” phrase—“Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance” quite frequently. I began to realize how negative and reactive that phrase really was, especially coming from someone talking about being proactive. The phrase, although technically correct, is a negative and reactive saying and does nothing to help the person who is dealing with the situation.

On my return trip home on the airplane, I started to reshape my use of the 6Ps. I needed a proactive and positive set of 6Ps. I sought out words that described how to proactively shape, live, and forge your life. After several weeks of thought and talking with peers about the words I selected, my new 6Ps became: Planning, Preparation, Performance, Passion, Persistence, and Perseverance.

• Planning – To shape your unstoppable life you must know what you want to accomplish to make your dreams your reality. Therefore, the very first step in designing your unstoppable life is to plan it. You need a map and guide to your growth and development and planning helps you chart the course of your life. You must be consciously committed to a disciplined approach to mastering yourself.
• Preparation – Ben Franklin said: “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” You must prepare yourself for the journey and prepare yourself for opportunities and challenges. You need to prepare yourself for opportunities and possibilities in life by preparing yourself before they show up in your life. Through training, education, development, and experiences, you prepare yourself for whatever life throws at you.
• Performance – You need to take action and perform to your utmost each day to live unstoppable. Your success in life is not by accident but by design. You must strive each day to live your life and achieve your goals and dreams. Goals achieve nothing unless you take action. It must be an “all-in” approach to your life–100% of your heart, mind, body, and soul. Nothing else will do in order to achieve your unstoppable life. It is your life…Own it!
• Passion – This is the core power that you have in your life. You must have passion or “fire in your belly” to live unstoppable. Passion is the spark that ignites you each day to live your life to its fullest and on purpose. It is the lynchpin of an inspired and unstoppable life.
• Persistence – You must constantly press forward in life no matter the struggle. You stand in the face of adversity and choose to weather the storm. Persistence is your willingness to keep your eye on the prize and keep moving forward on your journey. Persistence is critical in forging your unstoppable life
• Perseverance – You must never quit on yourself or your dreams. You must never give in on achieving your dreams. You must never give up on creating the life you want to live. Perseverance is the lodestar of an unstoppable life.

Each of the words became a part of my overall FORGE Model and eventually a part of an unstoppable life. Each of these words help you to create your unstoppable life. The 6P Focus is your daily reminder to grow and develop your life.

The 6Ps are part of the F(X) disciplined approach to growing and developing your life. The 6Ps focus you on creating your unstoppable life through six key shaping and molding processes. They help you focus on what you need to do each day to continuously grow, continuously develop, and continuously reinvent your unstoppable life.