Proactive is a word that is read a lot these days in management training. Especially nowadays, when doing a job, everyone is advised to be proactive. But what does it mean to be proactive? It can be simply said that it is having the ability to think about things that will happen in the future, that is, future problems, changes that may happen in the future, and needs that may arise in the future, and act on them before they happen, and make plans. Let’s think about this in simple examples. We have an exam in five months, let’s say we wait until the last month to prepare for it. Then we understand that if we start studying after two months, this exam is a toy. But now it’s too late. Then what a proactive person does is start studying after at least four months. Then you have two more months to review that knowledge again. Let’s take another example. Here we go to the office. If you take it right, it takes only an hour to go from home to the office. But coming home after an hour is not proactive. Because there can be unexpected traffic. You may forget something and have to return home. The vehicle may break down. That’s why what a really proactive person does is come home after at least an hour and a half before office time.
Let’s create a mindset and habit to work proactively, as shown in those examples. That’s what these tips are for!
01. Plan the day, and week in advance
We have talked many times before about actually planning your week and day. This is something that one can easily do to become a proactive person. For example, we can prepare a list of tasks to be done and responsibilities to be fulfilled for this planning. They can then be divided into priorities and then added to a to-do list. And the necessary reminders can be included in our calendar. And remember. We can use technology for these to-do lists and reminders.
Once you practice planning this day and week, you can extend it to the month and year. Then we have goals or goals. You can say SMART goals. That means Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. We have talked about this before.
02. Find out more info before meeting someone
Whether in professional life or academic life, we have to meet different people. Sometimes it can be for an interview. It can be a professional meeting, or it can be a job interview. Or it can be a friendly meeting. But no matter what kind of meeting it is, before that, if you can, do a little research about that person, about that person’s work, about that person’s professional life, about that person’s place of work, and gather facts, it will be worth its weight in gold. Let’s take a simple example. Here we are going to an interview for a job. Then, we know a lot about that company in advance. Now during the interview, we use that knowledge to analyze and show certain facts. In that scenario, don’t we have more chances to get that job? Another example. Some of us meet someone who is above us in our professional life for a friendly meeting. Then we get to know not only the work that person does, the welfare work that that person does, but also the things that that person does for fun. Now, won’t that knowledge help you to have that conversation on a more personal level? Sometimes even a good professional relationship with that person is not built through that, isn’t it?
03. Be well prepared before a meeting
It is a precious opportunity for a professional to be proactive. Let’s just say it’s a once-a-week team meeting. Why prepare for it? Isn’t that what you think most of the time? But really, why have a team meeting? Isn’t it to review the work done during the week, talk about how to fix the shortcomings, and plan for the next week? And if we personally review the week’s work before that meeting and write down our ideas, wouldn’t that team meeting be more effective? This is just one example. Prepare in advance in this way even for a boring, pointless, irrelevant meeting. Then you start to understand how important being proactive is for your life and professional success.
04. Do follow-ups
Now, even if we entrust someone with a task or ask someone for help, talking about it once and then waiting for that person to give us an answer is not a characteristic of a good proactive person. Instead, we should actively seek it out. I want to get updates about it until the work is done. In fact, after asking someone for help, many people wait for it to be done and do not do this search. Sometimes someone thinks that asking for help and reminding that person is bothering them. not. The real trouble is that we don’t remember it. Also, even after we are given some work from the office and we have completed it, we need to follow up with the relevant places to give feedback about it. Staying in touch and following up until such work is done is a really good proactive trait!
05. Anticipate future problems
The next thing that a person who wants to develop good proactive characteristics should practice is to predict problems that may come in the future, changes that may come in the future, as well as the needs that may come to us in the future, that is to guess in advance. This is important not only for professional life but also for personal life. If you take an example, how will the career you are doing advance in five years? It is possible to predict how job opportunities will be lost and new job opportunities will be created in the future. It just doesn’t work. You have to do a little research, find out, and make an educated guess. Then you can imagine what you need to learn right now for the future. Then you can make a prediction like this even about the company you are working for and think about when you will need to go to another job. The same is true in matters of personal life. If you are hoping to get married, you can plan ahead and think about how your economy and personal life will change when you have a child in the future. That’s what being proactive means!
06. Plan your personal future
These matters are also related to it. Now we all need to constantly develop. But that personal development should be done in a knowledgeable manner. That means, as mentioned above, you should make a future prediction and make plans to develop yourself accordingly. In short, you need to plan your personal future. Otherwise, it is not important to learn things that everyone learns, nor to do things that are popular these days. Planning such a personal future right now and starting to work according to those plans today is also a characteristic of a good proactive person. Also, trying to accurately predict the future as mentioned above is also a good proactive feature!
07. Put an end to unnecessary busyness
Now if we are talking about being proactive, we need to stop being reactive before that. It means that instead of reacting to something after it happens, you should think that something can happen before it happens and work accordingly. There, it is very important not to do everything and not to be unnecessarily busy, whether in professional life or in personal life. Because life is not just about working like crazy. It is a sure thing that by working like a crazy person, you will not only miss out on enjoying life, you will miss out on taking care of yourself, but you will also lose time to plan your future. On the other hand, it is when we are reactive that no matter how much we work, there is no end.
That’s why, instead of being immersed in complete confusion and doing everything one after the other, it is a skill of a good proactive person to choose and do only the things they have to do! (Lifie)
So are you proactive people? If so, leave a comment and let us know more proactive tips you know!
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