The title of this blog is an ancient Chinese Proverb, they are great with wisdom and go back a long way to people such as Lao Tzu and Confucious. In this time we call it being proactive. In his book Live your Passion Keith Abraham has come up with a list to help with this. Here it is:

1. Use a diary or a planner on a daily basis and group activities together – phone calls; trips to the shop; meetings.

2. Have a big clean out and get organised. Clean out your desk; your garage; your office and your wardrobe.

3. Look at things you can do to save minutes. Save 10 minutes each day = 36.4 hours per year.

4. Plan today; for tomorrow and list your daily goals down.

5. Before you say “Yes”, check your priorities and schedule.

6. Maintain a focus on the things that count for that day.

7. Complete the toughest task first, and everything else becomes easier.

How does the world look at being proactive, there are many versions of it and here are just a few:

1. Probably the more famous ship quote is “Ships in the harbour are safe, but that is not what ships are built for” Both about being proactive.

2. People will offer to help at times, but what about those days no one is around, these have to be your proactive days: Drive All Night.

3. We cannot live a productive life if it is based on a negative what if fear-based scenario. If it is from a what if, and you are finding the solutions before it happens that is a different matter.

4. Have your actions be daily little steps that fulfil your bucket list of life: Diamonds.

5. The king of being proactive and the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey was heavily influenced by Peter Drucker and Carl Rogers. Another key influence on his thinking was his study of American self-help books that he did for his doctoral dissertation. A further influence on Covey was his Mormons beliefs. According to Clayton Christensen, The Seven Habits was a secular distillation of Mormon values.

6. Here is a more direct way of saying, be proactive in your life: The Greatest.

7. This takes daily practice, we don’t wake up this way every day.

8. Great list if I don’t say so myself: Be Prepared.

9. Plans are completed by the three percent of people who actually write their goals down on a daily basis and take action.

10. Will Rogers was the #1 radio personality, he was #1 at the movie box office, he was the nations #1 most sought-after public speaker, he was the #1 most read newspaper columnist, he wrote books, travelled the world and gave liberally to charities around the world.  Will Rogers was beloved by all. He was also a Cherokee Indian so the fact he achieved these things is all the more remarkable given how American Indians were being treated at the time: Will Rogers.

11. We get to say, do you say yes or no?

12. I don’t know the exact origins but for many years now I have often said to colleagues that we have two eyes, two ears and one mouth, and that is the proportion in which we should use them. The management literature abounds with entreaties for us to listen better, to develop listening skills, to be reactive listeners, and to listen first before speaking. But have we learnt the lesson: If I were a Boy.

 

13. Is yours?

14. Don’t just eat breakfast, drive to work and home again, eat dinner and go to bed – be curious on a daily basis: Curiosity Killed The Cat.

15. From the world’s most prolific curly haired genius comes the definitive statement, that knowledge is not the be all and end all. Even though he knows a shitload, Albert knew that without imagination it was extremely limited.

So from Lao Tzu’s time to Stephen Covey, the message is still very much the same, by managing your priorities effectively you move from being out of control to being in control.

Music is from iconic 70’s Australia – Little River Band, pop divas Sia, Beyonce and Rihanna, uber-talented singer-songwriter Glan Hansard, Disneys the Lion King and  James Blunt.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends