Aditi Pandey
3 min readAug 1, 2021

What is the meaning of being proactive?

Proactive: a person who controls a situation by making things happy rather than waiting for things to happen and then reacting to them.

Now the question that arises in your mind is what is the main difference between proactive and reactive?

So to resolve this first of all you can't be a proactive person, being proactive refers to a mindset. Whether to be proactive or reactive is the way of approach anything happening in your surroundings. The fundamental difference between the words 'proactive' and 'reactive' is the viewpoint of each type of person provides in assessing the actions and occurrences.

Now the next thing popping up in your head is Am I a proactive person or not if not then how am I going to be one?

To resolve this you need to understand the contrary part. The reactive approach refers to governing the issues once they arise or being encountered without relevant configurations on how to, whom to and where to broadcast or report. So this is something unexpected to deal with it is you have no agenda and it also appears to be a crisis that now has had to be managed due to lack of alternatives. Whereas the proactive approach refers to the procedure for the assigned work and planning for forthcoming, taking into consideration the potential mishaps. It is all about recognizing the coming risks and avoiding them instead of ending up in some bigger troubles.

Our behaviour is a function of our decisions, not our circumstances. We can subordinate our sentiments to values. To be proactive means to take the commitment to make things happen. Reactive people are affected by their bodily environment. For example, if the weather is good, they feel good but proactive people carry their weather with themselves. You should be value-driven, not let the external stuff drive your way or affect your way. Reactive people also get affected by their social environment. Proactive people are still influenced by outer stimuli, whether physical, social, or psychological. But their response to the stimuli, conscious or unconscious, is a value-added based intention or response.

The very first step towards being proactive involves taking the initiative, it doesn't mean being intrusive or pushy. It simply means recognizing our responsibilities and acting consequently to pursue them. Personal vision should be changed. A whole paradigm shift is required to be a proactive person. Some people interpret “proactive” to mean pushy, aggressive, or insensitive; but that isn’t the case at all. Proactive people aren’t pushy. They’re smart, they’re value-driven, they read reality, and they know what’s needed.

The second step involves trusting and listening to our instincts, using our self-awareness to resolve our issues instead of letting the time take decisions for us and at last being left with zero options. Here is an example of proactive language:

This all leads to being proactive, pay more focus on where you invest your energy. Make sure what all you are concerned about and what all influence you.

I will give one example, in the enormous literature of all developed civilizations, love is a verb. Reactive people make it an emotion. They’re steered by feelings. Hollywood has generally scripted us to speculate that we are not accountable, that we are a product of our feelings. But the Hollywood script does not describe the fact. If our feelings control our actions, it is because we have resigned our responsibility and assigned them to do so.

Proactive people make love a verb. Love is something you do: the sacrifices you make, the giving of self, like a mother bringing a newborn into the world. If you want to study love, study those who sacrifice for others, even for people who offend or do not love in return. If you are a parent, look at the love you have for the children you sacrificed for. Love is a value that is actualized through loving actions. Proactive people subordinate feelings to values. Love, the feeling, can be recaptured.