What does it mean to be proactive?

How frequently are we using the phrases: “I have to…”, “I can’t…” or “If only…” ?

As Stephen R. Covey stated on his best selling book, The 7 habits of highly effective people:

“While the word proactivity is now fairly common in business management literature, it is a word you won’t find in most dictionaries. It means more than merely taking initiative. It means that as human beings, we are responsible for our own lives. Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions. We can subordinate feelings to values. We have the initiative and the responsibility to make things happen.”

I think this concept is well known in our culture, but paradoxically we are behaving in the exact opposite way for the most part.

Everyone knows that exercise is good for you, but approximately 20% of the global population does some kind of movement in a regular basis. Everyone knows what is good for them, but these things seem to be the hardest to do.

Having too many “magic pills” available for us in every area of our lives certainly isn’t helping to encourage proactivity in people. So many of us take this “pill” approach to tackle our problems, depending on them, and ultimately on external factors rather than taking responsibility for our life.

This brings us to the victim and scarcity mentality, and people putting more limitations on themselves than any other person or situation.

How frequently are we using limiting phrases like: “I have to…”, “I can’t…” or “If only…” ?

Instead of blaming on things we can control and waiting around to be fixed, it’s much better being the fixer, and take action. In my opinion, choosing being proactive is the hardest option, but in the end is always the best investment.

So, ultimately it is a matter of acting or letting other act for you. Chances are the first option will do best for you.

It’s amazing what can be accomplished in a short period of constant proactivity and deliberate actions. I have seen this myself, and all starts with wanting to be part of the solution and not being part of the problem.

And that is why I encourage you to think of any problem or situation (personal or collective) and ask yourself:

If you don’t take a proactive position and act towards the solution, who will?