How many people have you told “you are not proactive”. I bet you’ve told a lot of people of people as a way of chiding or insulting them. If you’ve never said that to anyone or implied that in anyway, that’s awesome. If you have or implied it in at least one way, you are not alone – I have said that severally too. I wonder though, if we really know the meaning of that phrase when we use it. The truth is, many of us do not know exactly what being proactive is and seldom act proactively. We leave a lot to chances rather envisaging and planning. We all kind of suffer from the “qui sera sera” syndrome. We are always quick to call outcomes “the will of God” as if He coarse us to do what we did the way we did it!
One of the best books I’ve ever read is “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey because I learnt so many applicable truths from it. One of these truths is in Habit 1, “Be Proactive” where Stephen explained what that simple phrase ‘Be proactive’ means; he said ‘Your life doesn’t just “happen.” Whether you know it or not, it is carefully designed by you. The choices, after all, are yours. You choose happiness. You choose sadness. You choose decisiveness. You choose ambivalence. You choose success. You choose failure. You choose courage. You choose fear. Just remember that every moment, every situation, provides a new choice. And in doing so, it gives you a perfect opportunity to do things differently to produce more positive results’. That’s profound right? Yes it is. So, are you proactive? Are you exactly taking charge of your life?
One of the best quotes I have ever coined is ‘The responsibility of your life lies 100% with you’. But surprisingly, I still leave some things to chances and people; sometimes, I just wait to react rather than proactively design the course I should follow. I have since learnt to change that awful ‘life management’ style. Many of us ‘procrastinatively’ do nothing until the situation gets bad, worse and worst in some cases.
Life is to be lived deliberately. Wake up! It is time to take your life like it’s worth what it’s worth by living consciously not passively. Even if some parts of your life depend on others, don’t just wait for them – follow up to ensure they do all they need to do until you achieve the desired results. Stop hiding under the usual alibi of ‘whatever happens, God knows’, yes He does, but He expects you to take charge. After all, you were created to take charge.
I will be sharing practical ways by which you can become more proactive next week.
Be deliberate about life, live consciously and proactively.
Harry Akinola
Strength Coach
