Today’s letter
for the AtoZ Blogging Challenge is ‘P’ for my theme ‘A to Z of Effectiveness’.
You can read more about my theme here. I’m also participating in the NaBloPoMo
for April.
Source |
Did you know that Microsoft Word doesn’t consider ‘proactivity’ a real
word? When you type it in you get suggestions for words like ‘proactively’ and ‘reactivity’.
Reactivity – now that’s interesting.
When you hear someone talking about being proactive, it sounds like
they’re trying to take some kind of action to move forward. While that’s true,
it isn’t all what proactivity is about. In his book, ‘The 7 Habits of Highly
Effective People’, Stephen Covey equates proactivity with taking responsibility
for our lives. We talked about feeling in control of our lives in ‘E for Empowerment’. But proactivity is more; it’s about choosing between being reactive and responsible.
When you’re a reactive
person, your life is a result of choices made by factors outside your control –
family, childhood circumstances, societal norms, cultural conditioning. Such
people are driven by impulses and moods triggered by something else – a rude
driver, a cloudy day, a power cut.
When you’re a responsible
person, your life follows the path you choose. You decide your mood for the
day, despite external circumstances. You decide that it’s sunny and bright;
doesn’t matter if it’s raining cats and dogs outside!
In short, proactivity is the ability to overcome your impulses and
move forward with a focus on your goals. Of course, you do need a good amount of
strength for this, especially if like me, you’ve spent years of your life being
reactive!! There’s no doubt now that proactivity is a word you need to add to
the dictionary – yours as well as Microsoft Word’s!!
Are
you a reactive or proactive person? Have you been this way all your life?
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