I am a huge believer in taking a proactive approach to life, everywhere! I remember listening to Jimmy Johnson, the former super-bowl winning coach of the Dallas Cowboys in the 90’s, talk about another team running up the score on the loser. His perspective, which may seem a little harsh, was that the loosing team had no business complaining, instead they should get better so that running up the score never happens to them again. The essence of this perspective is to never ever blame another but to take total responsibility for your life and the outcomes in it. From a Spiritual perspective, everything in our reality is created by each of us, though not necessarily consciously.
Learning to live life proactively is a fantastic way to create your destiny as opposed to waiting for life to happen. Far too many people take a passive approach to life or at best their approach is mixed. In other words, many of us are proactive in one area, such as business, and then passive in another area such as intimacy. Sometimes, the reverse is true. Very few people are proactive across the board. And yet, if we peer into the life of an amazing person, such as Oprah, we see a very proactive approach everywhere!
I am sometimes disheartened by how few people communicate and express themselves fully and gracefully to others. Many of us are running around doing partial communications to those we care about the most. Authentic communication is especially challenging with those who we perceive to have power over us such as a boss. For example, I encouraged an executive to speak her truth to her boss’s boss with whom she had a decent relationship. She was so miserable at work due to a manipulative and controlling boss that she had little or no downside in doing so. She was either going to quit, go postal, or eventually get fired. For nearly a year, she couldn’t bring herself to talk to her boss’s boss and did get fired.
So what does a truly proactive approach to life look like? It means we learn to live and express our truth everywhere. This is not easy. However, it is a necessary path to happiness and true freedom.
In essence, we create our dreams by living a proactive life in business, intimacy, communication, creativity, hobbies, and so on! We are constantly faced with choices in life. Should I say what I’m thinking or hold back? Those of us who are truly in touch with our mortality know that there is no time like the now. I am not suggesting you blurt out your truth. It is obviously important to understand timing and grace. However, I am saying that you go for life challenging yourself to become a better communicator, a better family member, a better employee or boss, and a better friend!