Be Proactive | Habit 1 | The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People | Season 2

You procrastinate until the very last moment, or you even miss the deadlines. By doing this you are unnecessarily piling up pressure on yourself which renders you stressed, fatigued and ineffective. Here, you need to be proactive in your life and work.

Be Proactive is the Habit 1 of seven habits that Stephen Covey advocates in his bestselling book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.”

But how to be proactive and not reactive?

Let me share my personal journey with you. Once I was what Stephen Covey calls a reactive person. External stimuli used to dictate my life, my mood, and my performance. I often get depressed by the slightest irritant.

My friends! Let me share with you what Stephen Covey has taught me about being proactive. Initially, I was not smart enough to understand and digest the meaning of being proactive though. He writes that to be proactive means to take responsibility for our own actions. Taking responsibility for your actions is how to be proactive in your life.

Look how Stephen Covey cruelly dissects the word “Respons-ibility.” This means, he says, the ability to choose our own responses. To him, proactive people take responsibility for their actions. I cannot really understand him.

Stephen Covey says I am in a habit to cover up my mistakes and shift blame. He further writes if a reactive person ever commits a mistake, he would employ any logic to prove that what he did was anything but a mistake. Or even if he has to admit that it is a mistake, he would do his best to shift the blame to circumstances, weather, traffic jam or any innocent soul around him.

He does not know that committing a mistake is not a problem in itself. But not to acknowledge it, not to correct it and not to learn from it, is certainly a big problem.

A proactive person can also commit a mistake. But, he will acknowledge his mistake, correct it and learn from it. Rather than covering his mistake, a proactive person will focus his energies to correct it. That’s how Stephen differentiates between a proactive and a reactive person.

Be a proactive person and you can draw others to you. That’s the power of being proactive.

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💡7 Habits Series | Season 2

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💡Recommended Videos

1. Stephen R. Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" | Summary | Part 2

2. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People | Summary | Stephen Covey | Part 1

3. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey | Season 2
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💡Quiz

1) What does proactive mean?
2) What is the difference between a reactive and a proactive person?

Write your brief answers in the comments below.

[KarateCowboy]

This is a better video than most of what is out there. Being proactive is not a synonym for "being a go getter" or superhumanly motivated. It means taking control of your responses and decisions.

[loganboyd]

Pro activity to me means setting your self up for success in any situation no matter the outcome by preparing and planning and doing important things/things that you may not want to do or are hard first so you have an understanding and experience with anything life throws at you and can react confidently and with a clear head to shift the outcome in your favor

[franciscocortez]

Thinking proactive for me means being intentional with my life and starting to do things. Im tired of just talking about doing things or just doing things because its a reaction to a consequence.

[johnelijah]

Thank you so much, the video helped me to understand what a proactive should be.Your instruction almost reflected my questions and the explanation was too good

[BobateaYingying]

Wow, I’m so grateful that I was able to find this video. I always knew I wasn’t a proactive person and I was a reactive person, but I never knew that to be reactive also meant over reacting or even breaking down from a simple criticism or mistake. Now I know, and understand that a lot of my mental health issues can be solved if I work hard to become a proactive person and remind myself every single day that this will make me happier. Thank you so much for this video; it really did help.❤

[xeslfnt]

I love you. Being proactive means relying on myself to make decisions without fear or hesitation. Thank you

[shashikalas]

A proactive person realises the power of choices. He doesnot react to circumstances . Rather he takes charge of his life. He is driven by his personal values. . A reactive person feels victimised, blames others and is influenced by external factors like people circumstances etc. His life is driven by external factors. Thanks for the video

[secretgardentribe]

Proactive - make the first move. Don't wait for the ideal conditions that may never arrive. Make a start.

Life is mine. It's my choice to do what i want with the time i have. Make an attempt. Even though i may fail, i should try. If i don't I will regret it forever.

[nour]

It means taking responsibility of your life, you should accept your reality and that you are the one who made it in such way

[danielhardy]

I believe that being proactive has to do with keeping urself accountable. Setting a goal or intention for a short period of time and sticking to it. (When I finish work I will go the to the gym). If I don’t go to the gym I will have failed the goal and lost self respect. Proactivity is about respecting urself and sticking to ur goals

[jasoncampbell]

I used to be the kind of guy that joked about "coming down with a case of the callouts." I quit jobs like it was going out of style. My life seriously turned around when I started to be proactive. Everything has been better because I am progressing in a better direction

[maksontx]

You nailed it, first time I fully grasp the habit of being proactive thank you so much for this video.

[jstamilvlog]

I did read three times proactive chapter but I couldn't understand fully. But your video help me easy to understand it. Thank you.

[dariamonk]

Nice, now I understand what does it mean to be truly proactive, act and react on circumstances according to my values, not my emotions. Thanks!

[yuvi]

Now I completely understand the meaning of being proactive. Thanks

[MrRibby]

👏👏👏👏 Bravo! This helped me understand this concept much better.

[reetajazfar]

For me, I think that the proactive people are the ones who are the solution to an issue instead of being the problem themselves. The proactive people also take the responsibility of whatever the result/consequences will be of their reply to something cause they know that they have the freedom to choose. The emotions of proactive people are off. especially anger or sorrow. They are never hopeless about anything cause they know that everything can be solved if next time they put more effort in their work.

[Jules-dnjl]

Thank you for sharing your wisdom. So very helpful.

[swasthyamangalam]

Taking control of actions, responses, behaviour and decisions.
Our response depends much on our internal values.

Reactive means giving your control to someone else.
Your success is much dependent on reacting to the situation or responding to the situation.
Being proactive means you are using your prefrontal cortex, being reactive means you are using your limbic system.
Responsibility means your ability to choose your response.

Acknowledge correct and learn from mistakes.