Being Proactive – Hit the Winning Ball Now

Posted on August 15, 2016 by MarleneMB

“Go for it.” “Dig!” This was my high school volleyball coach yelling at us in practice. She always reminded us to Be Proactive. We shouldn’t wait for the ball to get to us before we move. We were to anticipate where it was going and move towards that area. She encouraged us to get in the right position in order to get to the ball first. Our volleyball team was not the best in the area. Frankly, we were dead last! But her lesson stuck with me over these years.

A few years later, I encountered this concept of “Be Proactive” again when I was introduced to Stephen’ Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. With this principle Covey encourages us to Be Proactive about the scripts that we use for our lives and take responsibility for them. He also encourages us to engage with others in a positive manner in order to broaden our circles of influence. This will often put you in the right position to succeed, to get to the ball first.

Being proactive serves me well. When I worked in the corporate world, if I knew of a position that was available in an area that would help me to grow in my career; I would learn what were the qualifications for the position in order to assess how my credentials stacked up against the requirements. I was setting myself up to get to the ball first.

If there were any gaps, I worked to gain the knowledge and the experience to fill those gaps. I also spoke with the people doing the job to learn the pros and the cons of the position. This helped me to make an informed decision of whether it was a right fit for me or not. This also allow others to know that I was serious about my interest in the position. Being proactive also boosted my confidence level. More often than not, I would get the position…hitting the ball right over the net.

The times that I wasn’t proactive about taking action were generally times when I didn’t achieve what I wanted. They were times when I fell short of the goal. Being reactive puts me at a disadvantage more than not…in other words losing. Do you find this to be true also for you?

Stephen Covey advises that we can be proactive by using self-awareness to select the right scripts for our lives. We must also take responsibility for these scripts, because we are the ones who chose them.

In his podcast #131: How To Make Politics Work in Your Favor, keynote speaker and author Dre Baldwin uses the word Politics in an unorthodox way to demonstrate how not Being Proactive can hurt you. He states that if you lose a job position that you wanted to someone else, it is your own fault. You didn’t develop your “Politicking” skills to be proactive about getting the position.

Mr. Baldwin also shares recommendations for Being Proactive through better “politicking” techniques. The first thing he recommends is to improve your people’s skills. Sounds familiar…this is part of Covey’s recommendation not necessary stated in the same way. Being proactive about learning how to work best with others is a strong part of being successful. There are other steps that Mr. Baldwin shares to help you can develop your “Politicking” skills to gain more success. Listen to the podcast here #131: How to Make Politics Work in Your Favor.

Being Proactive in life has it’s advantages. Here are some of the benefits of practicing Being Proactive:

Save you Time and Money
Make you more prepared to handle most situations
Gets you the guy or girl (had to throw that in there)
Recognize earlier on when to make a change
Develops Self-confidence
Expend less energy
Brings peace of mind

Looking back I can definitely say that Being Proactive feels a lot better that being reactive. What are some methods you use to Be Proactive? Let me know. I’d like to hear from you.

For those of you that are in reactive mode, what are you waiting for? “Go after it!” “Dig!” Put yourself in the right position to hit the winning ball now!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for reading my post. Please hit the “follow” button at the top of the page to allow me to share more Purposeful thoughts, ideas and experiences with you. Feel free to leave a comment or share the article with others.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marlene M. Bryan is a Distinguished Toastmaster, DTM. She is a certified speaker and leader by Toastmasters International. She is currently member of the Public Relations Team. She provides her services to over 3800 members throughout the district. Marlene is the owner of Small Biz Evolution, LLC. She is a Speaker, an Author and a Business Manger/Agent for Professional Speakers.

Ready To Be Your Own Boss? Develop These Three Habits First.

Posted on March 2, 2015 by MarleneMB

“You’re not the boss of me!” My little 5-year-old niece said to her much older brother one day. He was telling her to stop running in the house. I had to hide my smile as I instructed her to listen to her brother, because he didn’t want her to get hurt.

Reflecting on her declaration of independence, I thought about the times I wanted to scream the same thing to some of my bosses. How I yearned to venture out on my own. Once I finally did, I realized it wasn’t so easy.

Gone were some of the predictabilities of having someone to tell you what to do. Gone was someone holding you accountable for getting your tasks done. Gone were the scheduled meetings that helped you to keep things on track.

Three of the big challenges for me were: self-discipline, accountability and time management.

Harry S. Truman once stated: “In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves… self-discipline with all of them came first.”

1) Self-Discipline: I had to summon my willpower to do the things that makes a business successful. Even the ones that I didn’t enjoy. Sometimes I had to push myself to act, instead of overthinking a project. I created my business plan. I took the time to research the marketplace to find my target audience.

Cold calling is not fun, but I make it fun to get to my prospects. I make time to read and learn more about my audience. Continuous learning also helps to improve my skills. This ensures that the products and services I offer is up-to-date and relevant.

Before you head out on your own, think about some of the bad habits you have. What could cause you to stumble if you do not control yourself? Make a note of it. Commit to practice self-discipling. The more you practice self-discipline in a certain area of your life, the easier it is to accomplish that task.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” – Proverbs 27:17

2) Accountability: It is difficult to keep oneself accountable. Therefore, I turn to others to keep me accountable. I have a few great friends that I can share what goals I have to meet. They hold me accountable for achieving those goals. My mother notorious for keeping me accountable. If I tell her that I’m writing a proposal for a client, during our next phone conversation she would ask if I’ve finished it. She does so, because she cares about my success.

Find your accountability partner. Someone that genuinely cares about your success. Share your goals with him or her. You will be grateful to know that amazing folks are in your corner helping to make you better.

“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.” – Zig Ziglar

3) Time Management: Zig Ziglar’s quote is so true. We all have twenty-four hour days. Yet, we may think there is just not enough time in a day. I used to believe that strongly. Until I took Dr. Stephen Covey’s course “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.” It was one of the best courses I participated in. I learned to management what I do within the 24 hours I am given. I also learned to set priorities and say no to things that do not impact my productivity or positivity level.

As your own boss, you will need to prioritize your activities. By planning your activities throughout the day; you are able to adjust your schedule should an emergency come along. Once you deal with that emergency you can quickly return to your schedule. It is eye-opening to see how many hours one can waste when we don’t plan or budget our time wisely.

As I mentioned, being your own boss won’t always be easy. Yet, if you practice self-discipline, hold yourself accountable and utilize your time properly, it won’t be as difficult. Perhaps you will be able to declare your own independence to your boss, like my 5-year-old niece did to her older brother.

Come learn about writing your first book and get a copy of my book: Live a Diamond Life, A Life of Purpose: Diamond Cutters, Saturday, March 14, 2015 3-5 p.m. at the Dania Beach Paul Demaio Library, 1 Park Ave., East Dania Beach, FL 33004.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for reading my post. Please hit the “follow” button at the top of the page. This will allow me continue to write and share with you on a variety of topics.