Unleash Your Potential #3 - Being Proactive

Douglas: Welcome to the Unleash Your Potential Blog, what question can I answer for you today?

LifeLifeline: What steps can I take to become more proactive?

Douglas: Thank you so much for asking! What does it mean to you to be proactive? For me, proactive is about making things happen instead of waiting for things to happen. Most times, if we aren't being proactive, we are choosing to be reactive. The difference is in who controls the situation.

For example, if I am driving down the road in moderate traffic, I can be proactive and look down the line of traffic for brake lights several cars down and move my foot off the accelerator to the brake and prepare to slow down. Or, I can ignore the situation until the car in front of me engages the brakes and then I have to react by slamming on my brakes. In both situations, I was going to have to slow down, the difference is in whether I was in control of the process.

In reference to your question, I suspect you are desiring to be more proactive because you have had some recent situations where being reactive hasn't served you well. This is not unusual. In most cases, reacting is much less effective and can be a lot more stressful than being proactive. Good for you for recognizing that you want to make a change! That is the first step.

Think about the recent situations where you have been reactive. How could you have handled to situation differently to allow you to be proactive? While you can't change the past, you can use it to inform the future.

Once you have reflected on the past, use the knowledge you have gained to examine a future situation. Is there something coming up in your life where you might be tempted to react, but with a little targeted energy you can have a plan and be prepared or proactive? Start with something small. Instead of going to the grocery store and just buying what comes to mind, plan out a grocery list and figure out what you need. That is a small step toward being proactive. Once you are successful at that, you can translate the success to larger tasks. And eventually it will become a habit.

I am so glad you have decided you want to take control and be more proactive. If you want to dig into this concept further, I encourage you to reach out and set up a conversation. In the meantime, check back tomorrow for the next question in the Unleash Your Potential Series!

Be Well!

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