Proactive vs Reactive
What does it mean to be reactive? Reactive for example, is when it is raining outside and because it’s raining outside and you do not have an umbrella, you just accept it and get wet without providing any cover. Being proactive is already having a small umbrella in your bag or in the trunk of your vehicle. So when it does rain, you are already prepared for the situation.
Many of us are victims of worrying about the things we do not have, rather than appreciating the things we do have. In other words, we tend to be reactive to a present situation, and not be proactive and build upon what we already have. Remember we have control of our lives and we control how we respond to situations.
Being proactive and reactive is about choices, right? Personally, I like to be proactive because I can’t sit back and allow things to happen to me and then complain about them. I have to do what I have to do to make sure I have a certain level of control, responsibility, and sacrifice to make sure that certain things do not happen.
Understand the choices and the responsibilities that come with being reactive. Being reactive correlates to someone being unprepared. Let’s take this extreme scenario for example. If a man and woman are about to have sex and the guy does not have a condom; a) he can be proactive and tell the woman he has to go get one or shutdown the possibility of sex or b) be reactive and have unprotected sex with the possibility of getting the woman pregnant. If the woman becomes pregnant, as a man you have to take responsibility. The man made the choice to be reactive to the situation and not be proactive. I am not saying you can or cannot do these things but understand the possibilities and the subsequent manifestations that come with those choices.
If you’re not willing to deal with the choices, then there is no sense of complaining because you’re the one that made the choice. Whether you know it you’re not, you have way more power and control, the details and the outcomes, and the results of your life than you actually want to give yourself credit for. Why? Because once you understand that, it’s going to put all the responsibility, power, and choices on YOU.
The point is to help elevate your mindset to understanding you have way more control and responsibilities of the outcome. You are the architect of every detail of your life. With responsibility comes work. With responsibility comes accountability. With responsibility comes integrity, consistency, discipline, and sacrifice. These are all the things a lot of us do not want to deal with.
Take the power of being proactive in making the choices. Have the positivity and confidence in saying, “I’m going to make the choices of my life because this is how I want things to be. I will not allow anyone else to take the responsibility and power away from me. And choose for me what my life is going to be.” When you choose something for your life, good or bad, you have to deal with it. There are a few things we can’t control but things that we can, take responsibility and be proactive.