Personal
What Does It Mean To Be Proactive
Will you be proactive or reactive?
The proactive leader looks ahead at “what could be” and creates “what they want to be”.
The reactive leader is always surprised and overwhelmed by “what is” and stresses out hoping to get things to at least “what they used to be”.
Over the course of their lives which leader – proactive or reactive – do you think ends up wealthier, healthier and happier?
For me, every time I have put off doing what I know I should do “now” I always end up paying for “later”. What would have been quick and cheap ends up taking more time and costing more money.
When I put off:
changing the oil in my truck – a relatively simple and inexpensive “chore” – I end up paying a lot more money and being a lot more inconvenienced having to fix the engine.
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painting the deck – I end up having to take a lot more time and spend a lot more money replacing whole boards.
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taking care of a leaky faucet – I end up having to replace the entire bottom of the bathroom cabinet.
On the other hand…
When I proactively:
have my HVAC serviced twice a year – I’m able to get that baby to run 15 years or more.
wax my car on a regular basis, – I can get top dollar when I want to sell it.
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grease the lawn mower deck – it will run forever.
If we all know these things why do we avoid being proactive?
While I believe some of it comes down to good ol’ fashioned laziness, I believe some are simply suffering from a lack of a good plan.
If you can place your mechanical tasks on a service contract or actually put them in your schedule – ahead of time – you’ll be setting yourself up for success without having to assert much energy at all.
So what does it NOT mean to be proactive?
To be proactive does NOT mean you remember all the tasks you have to do all the time. A proactive person is not someone who can tell you when all his appliances need to be serviced. But he is someone who took one weekend, walked around his house and added EVERYTHING that needed to be maintained onto a calendar and now lets his calendar remind him.
To be proactive does NOT mean doing everything yourself. A proactive person learns to delegate and hand things off. Learn to stick with what you know. It’s not manly to be a mechanic if that’s not what you’re good at. But getting things taken care of – sometimes by delegating is definitely the studly thing to do .
So, will you be proactive – make a plan, delegate when need be? Or will you be reactive – frustrated, behind the ball all the time, claiming you never have enough money or time to do all that needs to be done.
Having trouble figuring out how to make a clear and proactive plan to get your life in order? I’d love to help. Be sure to get your free life assessment. That’s one proactive thing you can do for your future.
