Many people are constantly waiting for something to happen or for someone to take care of them.
Others, instead, take the initiative, take action and make things happen. With which model do you feel most identified?
People who make their own decisions and are not subject to external agents or conditions are those who have developed the habit of proactivity.
What is proactivity?
Being proactive doesn't just mean taking the initiative, but taking responsibility for making things happen; decide at all times what we want to do and how we are going to do it.
In "Man's Search for Meaning", Vicktor Frankl, a Jewish psychiatrist, defines proactivity as "the freedom to choose our attitude to the circumstances of our own life." Despite the torture he experienced in the Nazi concentration camps where he was confined, no one could take away his inner freedom: deciding how what was happening to him would affect him.
In "The Seven Habits for Highly Effective People" Steven Covey considers that the essence of the proactive person is the ability to subordinate impulses to values. To do this, compare the attitude of proactive people and reactive people:
Reactive people:
They are affected by the circumstances, the conditions, the social environment… They only feel good if their environment is good.
They focus their efforts on the circle of concern: on other people's shortcomings, on environmental problems, and in circumstances over which they have no control. They do not have the liberty to choose their own actions.
Proactive people:
They move by carefully considered and selected values: many things can happen around them, but they are in control of how they want to react to these stimuli.
They focus their efforts on the circle of influence: they dedicate themselves to those things about which they can do something. Their energy is positive, thereby expanding their circle of influence.
What is not proactivity?
Proactivity has nothing to do with activism or hyperactivity. Being proactive does not mean acting in a hurry, in a chaotic and disorganized way, letting yourself be carried away by the impulses of the moment.
People who have the habit of proactivity are not aggressive, arrogant or insensitive, as some topics defend, but quite the opposite: they move by values, they know what they need and act accordingly.
How does the proactive person act?
The proactive person is one who takes the leadership of his own life, generates actions and chooses his own responses to particular situations and circumstances. Her main qualities are tenacity and determination.
The proactive person:
Know their strengths and weaknesses
Manage your emotions and attitude positively
Express their opinions assertively
She is self-confident and likes to take on challenges
Take the initiative and take action
Act decisively and determinedly to achieve your goals
Positively face change and uncertainty
Turn problems into opportunities
He is persistent; does not abandon the first change
You are willing to change course of action until you achieve the results you want
They take their failures and consider them as learning opportunities
Generates new ideas and strategies to solve problems and difficulties
He is nonconformist, defies convention and anticipates future scenarios
