Where Are You Waiting Instead of Creating?

This is the second installment in our December series on Being Proactive. In the first newsletter, we defined proactive as taking responsibility for one’s own life — and all the elements that come with it.
Now, let’s go a little deeper into what it looks like in practice.

We often hear being proactive used interchangeably with taking initiative, which is accurate — even if it’s not the full definition.

Consider the many ways initiative shows up:

• Creating instead of waiting
• Going after what you want
• Seeking new ways to approach something
• Seeing opportunity where someone else sees only a challenge

Not a complete list, but you get the picture.

When we look at our choices — and proactive is always about choice — is there a balance between taking initiative and waiting for something to appear? And when we are waiting, is that an active decision or a passive one?

Think back on this year. Where were the wins and successes? Was initiative one of the contributing factors? Did you take new actions to create opportunity — or take further action where you might have stopped in the past?

As we look toward a new year, the questions become even more important:
Where are there new markets to develop? What new skills are ready to be practiced and incorporated? What new customer offerings could expand your deliverables or open a new segment within your existing market?

So much to consider. But you don’t need to tackle all of it at once. Just pick something to play with for the next month or two and bring it into focus as you start shaping goals and strategies for the year ahead.

Action Items for This Week

• Identify one new opportunity you’ve overlooked this year — a market, a contact, a product, or an approach.
• Decide what “initiative” looks like for that opportunity — one clear action you can take without waiting.
• Determine whether your “waiting moments” are active choices or passive defaults.
• Write down one new behavior you’ll practice this month that creates momentum instead of waiting for momentum.

For now, go find ONE new opportunity that has been overlooked. Just one. What can you do with it if you take initiative?