 |
| Photocredit - Truelancer.com |
Henry David Thoreau wrote ‘I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor’
It takes the conscious endeavor of an individual to achieve success
amidst harsh economic situation, poor family background, poor governmental
policies and bad leadership.
Productivity in any field requires being proactive. Proactivity,
according to dictionary.com means ‘Serving
to prepare for, intervene in or control an unexpected occurrence or situation
especially a negative or difficult one’. Simply put, it means taking active
steps in turning a bad, negative situation to a positive and favourable one. Always
remember that your mind is your greatest asset and your most important
resources. If you lose it, you’ve lost it.
In the previous article, we talked about the power of the mind; I am
sure we learnt a few ways on how to develop our minds to achieve results. The
mind is the most powerful weapon that can be used to overcome even spirit
forces. Now continuing this series, we shall talk about another very important
aspect of the attitude that winners carry with them where ever they go. That’s
the attitude of being proactive. Every leader that ever made a difference in
the world, name them; Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr., Nelson Mandela, Sir Winston
Church Hill, Margaret Archer and even Jesus; they were all proactive when it
comes to leading people and becoming relevant in their sphere of contact. We
can go on mentioning world leaders who stood up for something in the midst of
steep opposition and adversity, how about those employees in their work places
who nobody takes note of, yet they contribute immensely to the success of the
organization.
‘We are not our feelings. We are
not our moods. We are not even our thoughts….’ Stephen R. Covey. The fact
that we see ourselves in a certain way doesn’t mean that’s how we are; it just
means we have been conditioned to think that way. Stephen R. Covey calls it
conditions and conditioning and he has grouped them into three different
categories;
- Genetic determinism; Your grandparents did it to you
- Physic determinism; Your parents did it to you while nurturing you
- Environmental determinism; Your boss, spouse, team member, government policies and regulations, economic situation, classmates etc or someone or something in your environment did it to you.
A majority of us have based our success and happiness on these social
mirrors
In the previous article, I talked about building you mind’s capacity
through constant learning and meditation exercises. To be proactive means to be
in charge of your mind. ‘The first and
best victory is to conquer self’ Plato. To conquer self means to be in
total control of your mind. To achieve personal victory, you need self
awareness just like Viktor Frankl. Stephen Covey had this write about Frankl
‘Frankl was a psychiatrist and a Jew. He was imprisoned in the death
camps of Nazi Germany, where he experienced things that were so repugnant to
our sense of decency that we shudder to even repeat them. His parents, his
brother and his wife died in the camps or were sent to the gas ovens. Except
for his sister, his entire family perished. Frankl himself suffered torture and
innumerable indignities, never knowing from one moment to the next if his path
would lead to the ovens or he would be among the “SAVED” who would remove the bodies or shovel out the ashes of those so fated.
One day, naked and
alone in a small room, he began to become aware of what he later called “The last of the human freedoms”. The
freedom his Nazi captors could not take away. They could control his entire
environment, they could do what they wanted to his body, but Viktor Frankl was
a self aware being who could look as an observer at his very involvement. His
basic identity was intact. He could decide within himself how all of this was
going to affect him. Between what happened to him or the stimulus and his
response to it, was his freedom or power to choose that response. In the midst
of his experiences, Frankl would project himself into a different
circumstances, such as lecturing to his students after his release from the
death camps. He would describe himself in the classroom, in his mind’s eye and
give the lessons he was learning during his torture’.
The strength of proactivity lies in you knowing that No one can hurt
you without your consent. Having a clear understanding of your strengths and
weaknesses are key elements that help you achieve ‘Self Awareness’
PROACTIVE LANGUAGE
The Language of proactive people is absolutely fixed on positivity.
Failure in a certain task or project is usually a lesson for them to improve
and get better at what they do. Failure isn’t an option for them although they
may face certain setbacks and limitations in their quest to achieve their
objectives.
Reactive people go towards the negative and blame everyone else but
themselves about the negative circumstances and outcomes of their lives; their
lifestyle, emotional/psychological state and everything else that goes wrong.
They are often times ‘IRRESPONSIBLE’ and always very defensive; so you get to
hear statements and comments such as;
- ‘Its not my fault and there is nothing I can do about it’
- ‘That’s just the way I am and I can’t change it’.
- 'This is how everyone else is doing it. It can't be done differently'
Reactive people lack the creative power to generate the positive
energy that can help them come out of a bad situation.
Just like Viktor Fankl, between the stimulus and your response is a
very strong and powerful determining element ‘CHOICE’. You cannot control some
of the negative circumstances around you such as the family into which you were
born, the environment where you were raised, the standard of education you
receive. But you have the power to choose your response to these negative
circumstances.
The quality of our life is dependent on the choices we make daily; the
choice of food, outfits, where we go, the circle of friends we keep, the type
of movies we watch, the type of relationships e keep etc. No wonder the bible
says ‘Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the of life’.
.png)