Positive Proactiveness

My daughter Mary is the most unique woman ever. Three weeks ago, Mary lost her job. She got laid off due to the company being bought out. She allowed herself a one hour pity party then turned the opportunity into a positive; or a she says, "Positive Proactiveness." Damn! That's cool. I'm so impressed with her tenacity, positive attitude, and strength. When I was her age and this happened to me, I would be a puddle of mess.

The saying of Positive Proactiveness has stuck with me and I wanted to write about it. As you all know I'm all about being positive and, of course, happy. So the addition of Proactiveness really adds a punch. I went back through all my textbooks and found the book Living The Seven Habits by Stephen Covey. In the 7 Habits, Covey's #1 is Be Proactive. It says,

Being proactive is more than taking initiative. It is accepting responsibility for our own behavior (past, present, and future) and making choices based on principles and values rather than on moods or circumstances. Proactive people are agents of change and choose not to be victims, to be reactive, or to blame others. They do this by developing and using four unique human gifts - self-awareness, conscience, imagination, and independent will - and by taking an Inside-Out Approach to creating change. They resolve to be the creative force in their own lives, which is the most fundamental decision anyone ever makes.

Mary and Covey have it right! In order to be Proactive, you've got to be positive and vice versa. Can you be proactive while being negative? No. There's no way. If you're negative, you hold yourself back from being proactive and you fall. When you're negative, you become stagnant and stay in the same place being unhappy and playing the blame game.

Along with the same thought process, you've got to be happy for all this to work. Yes you can be positive to be proactive but you also need to be happy. You've got three things here: Positive, Proactive, Happy! This is the recipe for a great life.