How Proaction Leads to a Successful and Joyous Life – Part 1
June 21st, 2010 // 7:56 am @ Thomas A Owen III // No Comments
In most cases in life we will find that it is the attitude we use to navigate ourselves through our days that determines our outcome or output for that given day. I know we have all heard this before in fact bookstores have shelves that are full of books that revolve around the same subject matter however in our busy hustle and bustle lives it’s always good to have a simple reminder such as today’s post.
It’s good to remember that nearly all of our successes and failures as well as victories and defeats will almost always be determined by our attitude that we utilize in our approach to each passing challenge or opportunity that occurs by the minute in our lives. In fact I would like to take it a step further. Your attitude will determine how you will react or proact to every thought that crosses your mind. Whether that thought will be a thought of fear or courage, patience or impatience, stress or calm, victory or defeat and so on it goes through out our daily activities.
Life will give you the chance to proact or react nearly by the second. For example one person may look at a morning sunrise with the proaction of appreciation for the dawning of a new day with the opportunities that lie within that day as well as the blessing of taking in the breathtaking beauty found in those few precious moments following a sunrise. Where the next person will react with the attitude that it is too early for anyone to have to suffer with being up at this time and that same person may dread all of the challenges awaiting them at work rather than looking at them as opportunities for improvement. The sun was going to rise regardless but the outcome these two people will experience will different grealty by their choice to proact vs. react.
I have learned over the years that the mind has been naturally conditioned by the world we live in to react rather than proact. Maybe this is one of the fundamental reasons that we live in a world of mediocrity or the fact that the people we meet in life that are truly successful and full of joy are so few and far between.. I have also learned that it is not necessarily easy to always proact rather than re-act because of our natural tendencies or for a better word habits that we have established from the past.
I for one will admit that it has not always been easy in all circumstances to do so. I have had for a long time an established habit to proact to business challenges that most would re-act to and for the most part I have had the positive outlook mindest programmed into me from an early age. So I have always resembled the person that I described earlier that appreciated the beauty in the sunrise and looked to the new day with optimism but I am not without my challenges. It has taken a lot or work and determination to master my temper that I have had since a child. I have had for years the type of temper that would lay low while I took and took until boom it would explode. However, I have all but eliminated that negative trait with the constant thought process that I say to myself over and over “Tom– proact don’t react”.
I still have the same opportunities everyday to let that temper get the best of me but I choose to proact not react as much as possible. Let me also point out that in the rare moment that I react with my temper that outcome is mostly one of regret and fatigue. What do you say we pick up here next time so we don’t take the chance of leaving anything out of this subject? In the meantime , be on the watchout for the opportunity to proact vs react. Choose to create a habit of proacting. if you do your professional and personal life will be better off.
Category : Blog &Concepts &Featured Work
