Why Being Proactive is So Important

Things are going to go wrong. That’s just part of life. Whether these situations have a large negative impact or are merely minor inconveniences depends on how proactive you are. Living a life of reacting to problems in the heat of the moment magnifies challenges and adds undue stress to your life.

Proactivity minimizes challenges and provides stability in life. It’s easier to be calm, cool, and collected if you’re proactive.

Choose proactivity and exercise control over your life:

1. Proactivity is a way of defusing potential challenges before they become problems.

• Imagine you have a car with 250,000 miles. There’s a good chance it will break down in the next couple of years. If you’re proactive, you’ll either go purchase a newer car before that happens, or you’ll start saving money for repairs or to make an automobile purchase.
• The person that isn’t proactive will be begging for a ride or taking the bus in the near future.
  

1. Give yourself the opportunity to develop more elegant solutions. When you wait until the last minute, most of the possible solutions evaporate. You don’t have the time or the resources to entertain all of the possible solutions. You’re forced to patch together whatever will work in the heat of the moment.
   
2. Think and plan. To be proactive, it’s necessary to look ahead and consider your likely future. This is more effective than living life by the seat of your pants.
   
3. Create a better life. Living reactively is a recipe for merely surviving. You spend all of your time putting out fires instead of creating a better life. Proactivity allows the space and the luxury to create something beyond that which you already have.
   
4. Feel empowered. When you’re proactive, you take responsibility for your life and believe that your ability to choose your actions matters. By waiting until there’s an issue before taking action, you simply react to life instead of designing it.
5. Enjoy more choices. Suppose things are a little rocky at work. Your boss doesn’t like you, and his power is growing by the day. If you start looking for a new job today, you’ll have plenty of potential choices. If you wait until you’re fired, you might have to take whatever you can find in the next couple of weeks.

• You have unlimited options if you’re proactive. You have few if you wait until you’re forced to act.

1. Find greater peace of mind. Live your life with less anxiety. You already know what’s going to happen and you’re prepared for it. What do you have to worry about?

• When you live reactively, you’re always waiting for the other shoe to drop. That’s a stressful way to live.

1. Being proactive makes the path forward clearer. Choosing to look ahead allows you to develop a plan for the future. Proactive people have a direction and a plan to get there.

There are many benefits to exercising proactivity each day. Proactive people have control over their lives. Challenges can be nullified before they become full-blown issues. It’s a more enjoyable and effective way to live. Spend a few minutes each evening looking ahead for a day, a week, a month, a year, and five years.

What does the future hold? How can you maximize your opportunities and minimize your potential challenges?