There was a certain time in my life when I first came across the expression “Be proactive!!!” – to be honest, it really puzzled me…I didn’t know how and what it meant. It really made me feel that those who were classified as “Proactive” had the edge over others who were classified as reactive – and I have always sort of seen reactors, including myself in certain aspects, in a negative light.
If being reactive is negative. Does that mean that being proactive is really and truly positive?
I must admit, I have blindly accepted and admired the idea of being proactive.
A proactive person is seen as someone who anticipates upcoming events and always ready to position themselves and others in a desirable position, by creating and controlling those upcoming events – being reactive seems lethargic – you wait and act!
The good thing about both of them is that action is being taken – the difference is the timing, which would then dictate the nature of the action taken – which is also driven by different emotions. They both create and control, but from different underlying motivators.
From my professional background, proactive has largely been inspired by avoidance and reactive inspired by limiting losses – both respond to a negative situation. In other areas of life, proactive and reactive play mixed roles, both positive and negative. I have come to realise that in totality being proactive or reactive is neither good nor bad– it just depends on circumstances and of course perspective.
With so many technological changes happening, I have heard many people saying that those who are not quickly adopting to the changes will be left in the dark-ages and will be extinct in no time – obviously this is an exaggeration of people who have their own circumstances and perspective to protect. So, in such a time of constant change and flux – those who choose to remain where they are and not move with the “times”, must be left as they are and not made to feel like they do not belong – because there are pros and cons for moving or not…
The above was further reaffirmed through a recent health expert’s webinar. He was on a mission to summit one of the coldest Asian mountains. He was accompanied by a local Asian who fell in a ditch with extremely low and fatal temperatures. After they had hoisted the local from the ditch, they wanted to get the local warm, so that he could avoid dying from hypothermia – they gave the local warm clothes to wear, but soon after they saw that the local was not wearing the clothes and they freaked out as he was also laughing thereafter. He just simply told them that “this is normal the body can handle it”
So, all the lifelong scientific evidence the expert had was just debunked in a minute…What does this mean? When imposing views, especially of being proactive or reactive, it is important to understand the other person’s circumstances and perspective.
You?
Proactive? Reactive?