By now, you already know what does it mean by proactive and what are the benefits of being proactive. And I hope you have started working on it already!
Now, when you think of being proactive, the very first thing you need to change is your reactive behavior. Reactive and Proactive both are quite opposite to each other and you cannot be proactive until you stop being reactive. So now the question is how to change this reactive behavior?
Well, here are few tips on changing reactive behavior to proactive:
Feeling adverse about someone’s behavior towards you:
You are trying to call someone on his mobile and he is not picking up call. You will think that he is trying to ignore you intentionally. But wait! It could be possible that he is stuck in traffic, or busy with some urgent work or in a meeting. Avoid jumping to a negative conclusion right away. Instead, look at the situation with different view points. When we avoid judging other people’s behaviors, we can view their expressions more factually, and reduce the possibility of misunderstanding. So never judge someone without knowing the whole story. You may think you understand but actually you don’t.
Feeling stressful:
When you are in stress, there is a high probability of taking wrong decisions. So just take a deep breath and calm down. Try to avoid taking decisions under stress. Instead, wait for a while, elevate your mood by doing your favorite activity and then take decision.
Dealing with a difficult individual:
Your manager always pushes you to complete work in given deadline and same time he has expectations of a high quality job. He also expects you to send reports regularly without miss and submit time sheets as well! You think you have got the worst manager in the world to work with and everyone else is blessed with a good manager. But try to think of it the other way. He might be expecting all these things from you because he is also bound to provide all these things to someone else (his superior). He also has to fulfill someone else’s expectations. Always put yourself in the other’s shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it probably hurts the other person too.
Feeling angry and upset with someone:
Anger is as harmful as stress. So do not take any decisions when you are angry. You may regret it later and by that time it could be too late! Just try different techniques to cheer up yourself. Get yourself in a state of mind where you can understand the situation better and communicate better.
Feeling fearful or discouraged:
As the saying goes – motion dictates emotion. The way we use our body affects greatly how we feel. Do some regular exercises. As you experience the strength of your body, your confidence will also boost.
These are just few situations which you face in your day to day life. Not all of these tips may apply to your particular situation. Simply use what works for you and discard the rest.
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