THRIVEIN2025
Thrive in 2025 cont ...
BECOME MORE PROACTIVE
According to Chia-Huei Wu , professor of proactive behaviour and wellbeing at King ’ s College London , being proactive involves ‘… self-initiated , future-focused and changeoriented behaviours …’, which in layman ’ s terms means thinking about the future , but focusing on the things you can control instead of all those you cannot . Rising in popularity after being cited as an essential tool for personal growth in Stephen R . Covey ’ s best-selling self-help book , The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People : Powerful Lessons in Personal Change , proactivity it seems is a key ingredient in the recipe for greater personal and professional success .
So , how do we become more proactive ? The first essential step is to understand the difference between being proactive and being reactive . The latter manifests in people that go through life as though they are witnesses to it and not an active participant in it , simply waiting for things to happen and letting circumstances dictate their actions . In order to become better doers , as opposed to bystanders , we need to work on anticipating any potential problems before they occur and actively seek solutions to prevent pitfalls by using initiative and action to work on achieving the things we want .
Employ the five Ps and you ’ re already being proactive about becoming more proactive !
• Predict . Think about the future with foresight , preparing for multiple scenarios .
• Prevent . Review any possible obstacles that could get in the way of your personal and / or professional goals and untangle them before they escalate .
• Plan . Consider the steps you ’ re able to take towards reaching a goal and what you know you can do today to ensure positive results down the line .
• Participate . Get involved ; in any aspect of your life , you ’ ll get more out of a situation by actively participating as opposed to passively observing .
• Perform . Show that you ’ re willing to do the work to make things happen – make a decision , stand by it and take the first step with accountability .
WORK ON MOTIVATION
Try as we may , sometimes our drive to get up and go just isn ’ t there ; you know the feeling – a simple gloomy Monday morning in winter when the struggle just to get up and out of your warm bed is real , or , on a deeper , more personal level , when you ’ re going through a worrying or tricky patch that ’ s totally draining your energy . There are so many factors that can make us all feel utterly unmotivated sometimes , which in turn can make day-to-day life overwhelming and more stressful . We all lose our mojo occasionally – and actually , the pressure of a new year with many people we know
18 • www . insidekent . co . uk