Risk & Business Magazine JGS Insurance Risk & Business Magazine Summer 2018 | Page 28

PROACTIVELY THINKING
Proactively Thinking
W
hat does it mean to
be proactive? Being
proactive requires
advanced thought and
preparation, something
that many of us don’t take the time to
implement. Why is being proactive more
important than being reactive? Which one
do you classify yourself as?
I like the Dictionary.com definition
of proactive: “1) serving … to control
an expected occurrence or situation,
especially a negative or difficult one; 2)
anticipatory.” The opposite, of course, is
to be reactive: waiting for things to occur
before responding, or behavior that is
not internally motivated but manifests
in response to a situation or the actions
of others. Let me give you a few quick
examples of why proactive activity is the
better choice, although most people by
default seem to be reactive.
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As I explained in an earlier article in this
publication, I am a boater/fisherman who
loves being out on the water as often as
possible. The only problem with being
involved in water activities is the real
possibility that you may find yourself in a
situation beyond your control that could
very well be life threatening. I like to travel
anywhere from 20 to 125 miles offshore
in pursuit of my passion. As I often tell
my crew members, make sure we have
everything we could possible need for this
trip as there aren’t any convenience stores
out there that we can run into and pick
up supplies. In a situation like this, you
definitely want to be proactive and think
of every possible need that may come up
ahead of time and make sure you have it
— and, when possible, a spare — on board.
I always tell Nelson, who works on my
engines, “If it needs to be done, just do it.
You don’t even have to ask me.” The last
thing I want is to be 120 miles offshore,
have an engine failure, and not be able
to get back to shore just because I put off
doing a recommended service.
I had just such a situation this past
September when my crew and I decided
to go to Block Canyon to hunt down tuna,
about 140 miles away from the dock. We
fished all afternoon and throughout the
night and into the late morning of the
next day, with the intent of leaving right
after lunch to be home by dark.
We didn’t make it. About 125 miles from
home, I lost a transmission on one of my
engines. Instead of being able to travel 30–
35 mph to return home, we could only go
7 mph. What should have taken us 4 1/2
hours ended up taking us 15 hours (this
after being on the water for 28 hours).
Naturally, as we plodded along, the wind
started to build and the seas kicked up