QUEZON City, Philippines (January 27) – Do you plan your goals ahead of the time? Do you not let those who don’t believe in you affect you negatively? Do you know what it feels to have full control of your life? That is what being proactive is.
Based from vocabulary.com, the adjective “proactive” can describe a person who gets things done. If you are proactive, you make things happen, instead of waiting for them to happen to you. Active means “doing something.” The prefix pro- means “before.” So if you are proactive, you are ready before something happens. The opposite is being reactive, or waiting for things to unfold before responding. Think about the common cold. A proactive person washes his hands and takes vitamins; a reactive person gets sick and takes cold medicine.
Stephen Covey, the author of the book entitled, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, considered pro-activity as the number one habit that people should possess in order for them to be highly effective person. Proactive people, on the other hand, are aware of their core values. They consciously make key decisions based on those values. They create their own opportunities and direct the flow of their own lives. Even when things are pretty good, they’re still making conscious choices. Sometimes that means maintaining the status quo, while other times it means changing directions. Sometimes their values will align well with what’s socially popular; other times they won’t. Proactive people will take actions that often seem mysterious to reactive people. They may suddenly quit their job to start a new business, even though everything seemed to be going well for them. They’ll often start new projects or activities “out of the blue” when it seems like there’s no externally motivated reason to do so. A proactive person will still pay attention to external events, but they’ll pilot themselves to their desired destination regardless of those events. “If you’re proactive, you don’t have to wait for circumstances or other people to create perspective expanding experiences. You can consciously create your own”, he quoted.
It’s good to experience having the initiative when something needs to be done. It’s easy to say that I’m a proactive person but in reality, it’s hard to do it. You might have noticed that most people think in a reactive manner – that there are so many opportunities crossing their way but end up complaining and not doing anything. Most of the time, when faced with so many responsibilities, they wait for someone to do it. They complain when they are stuck with tons of work. They are being reactive to different situations they encounter in life and so they are not used with having the initiative to act. They are content to stay inside their comfort zone.
According to Stevepavlina.com, reactive people tend to be out of touch with their core values. Instead of running their lives based on unchanging core principles, they pick up temporary values from others around them. If no special opportunities come their way, they’ll stay at the same job year after year as long as it’s semi-satisfying. If most of their friends exercise, they probably will too; otherwise, they probably won’t. They go with the flow of the people and circumstances that surround them, but they don’t direct the flow. Their lives are largely out of their direct conscious control; they tend to only exert their human endowments when they absolutely must, such as if they get laid off unexpectedly (and even then it’s often to a minimal degree). But when things are pretty good, life is mostly on autopilot.
However, as we all know that it’s hard to be proactive, Stephen Covey points out some realization included in his book. According to him, there are four special human endowments to help us be proactive. These are;
1. Self-awareness– the understanding that you do have a choice between stimulus and response. If someone insults you, you can choose not to become angry. If you are offered a donut, you can choose not to eat it.
2. Conscience– the ability to consult your inner compass to decide what is right for you. You can make decisions based on unchanging principles, regardless of what is socially favored at the moment.
3. Creative Imagination– the ability to visualize alternative responses. By using your imagination, you can mentally generate and evaluate different options.
4. Independent will– you have the freedom to choose your own unique response. You aren’t forced to conform to what others expect from you.
As mentioned earlier, being proactive can highly make a person be effective. So, it’s important that we apply this habit and put it into practice in all the things we do. If we lack any of the four endowments tackled by Covey, then we can’t be proactive. This information will surely help you to become successful in life so, let’s all apply it now.
(written by Jasmin Monte, edited by Jay Paul Carlos, additional Lovely Ann Cruz)