Shifting your life from reactive to proactive is one of the most powerful choices human beings can do for themselves. Some people wait for something to happen to them; others make something happen. Simply defined, living a proactive life is accepting the responsibility that comes with life and taking action to make it what you want.
Being proactive is the difference between preparing for the pitcher to throw versus showing up to the game and reacting to the pitch. You could initiate a sense of responsibility by deciding how to prepare for the game rather than waiting for it to happen. Proactive people are difference-makers. They decide what they want to do with their life because they are driven by values that are carefully decided and strongly internalized. They don’t wait for permission or the guiding light to give them the way. Instead, they make the way. If the path isn’t there, they wheel in gravel to pave their own road.
I believe it was Charles Swindoll who first said “life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” When you recognize your ability to choose a response, your entire perspective changes. This proactivity shows you that life is more in your own control than people make it out to be. If you spent most of your time listening to the government, the news, and marketing companies, you’d think that there’s so much negativity happening without your power. While some of that may be true, it completely ignores that everything in your sphere of influence is 100% under your control. When you understand this, you can spend most of your time in that sphere. Focus on what you can do, not what you can’t control.
Don’t let anyone tell you that life is out of your control. Your choice and response is always up to you, and it’s up to you which direction you want to go. You can wait for something to happen, or you can make it so. Go live proactively and you’ll run through the barriers instead of waiting for them to appear.