This is among the greatest advice I’ve heard in the span of my lifetime: Be PROactive, not REactive.
Have you ever worked for a large company which will keep doing what it’s always done, and then everyone in charge acts surprised when the same things keep happening and the company takes a hit or fails? It is then that they react to the outcome of the problem that existed all along, instead of having been proactive all along.
Maybe we just get too busy, too distracted, or too complacent at work, in life, or in our relationships, to see the problems. Some of us may just not want to FACE the problems, or even admit the possibility of problems. That means acceptance that we are not as good as we were thinking we were. That means work. That means change and improvements. We are tired, busy, stressed, or lazy. Either way, the results will be the same. Sometimes, the longer we wait, the deeper the hole gets, until we just can’t get out of the hole that we dug ourselves into without MASSIVE amounts of work or help that we may be too proud or ashamed to ask for. Things begin to seem hopeless. We begin to feel helpless.
A thought creates an electrical occurrence that triggers chemicals and hormones related to that particular thought to INSTANTLY activate, combine, and be injected into the blood stream. Within only two pumps of the heart, these chemicals and hormones reach the entire body through the blood vessel system, which in adults is about 100,000 miles long. This event then triggers within the body the related feelings-ALL PRODUCED BY A THOUGHT!
Feelings are magnetic in nature, and the magnetic charge produced by a feeling can actually be measured as it pulsates outward from the human body. This magnetic charge then attracts people, circumstances, situations, and things which are similarly magnetically charged, and repels all that is NOT similarly magnetically charged. So what will happen when we start to consistently think thoughts of hopelessness, stress, and overwhelm, and begin to consistently FEEL helpless, stressed, and overwhelmed???
Tony Robbins teaches to be self-aware enough to detect problems early-on, and deal with them IMMEDIATELY, thereby killing the monster when it is still a baby, and easy to kill. Letting a problem get away from us gives the monster, or the problem, time to grow stronger and more powerful, and become something unmanageable, and something that seems to be entirely out of our control.
Marshall Goldsmith asks a great question, and advises everyone tries it: “How can I become a better?” There is always some way we can improve and this question helps us to honestly and effectively get there. How can I become a better husband? How can I become a better wife? How can I be a better employee? How can I become a better student? How can I become a better_________?
By asking, “How can I become a better _____,” we start the chain reaction of pro-activity which is needed, rather than avoided, to be a part of a solution, instead of becoming an even greater problem. Sometimes this question sheds light on something we aren’t even aware of. It is a helpful tool. By asking HOW CAN I DO BETTER, we become more self-aware of where our work lies, and we become PROactive, rather than remaining in a RE-active state, and we start to design a personal reality where we think the thoughts and feel the feelings that can ONLY result in personal success.
It is ENTIRELY our responsibility to design the life of our dreams, and IT ALL STARTS WITH OUR THINKING.
Today I will look at one area of my life I want to be proactive in and I will ask, “How can I become a better___________?”
Marshall Goldsmith is an incredible teacher and coach. People pay big bucks for his advice and tools. Here, in this YouTube interview with Tom Bilyeu on the podcast show IMPACT THEORY, he gives it away for free:
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Remember: Mindset matters. Character counts. That which we choose to consistently focus on is what EXPANDS in our lives. WE CREATE our realities.