120. About Being Proactive

Here's a little something about being Proactive.

When I wrote my mini-series about Planning, in a nutshell, what I was saying is that Planning is ALL about being Proactive!

Being Proactive is plain and simple all about thinking ahead! Thinking ahead at what needs to be done, what has to get done, how it will get done, and covering as many of the outcomes as possible. Knowing fully well you cannot cover them all but as part of being proactive you have to try to cover as many as you can.

When you are developing a plan (for business, for a special event or for personal reasons) you are in essence taking the initiative and declaring your intentions loud and clear. The more detail your plan contains the more deliberate and audacious you can be. Being Audacious and Being Deliberate are what I consider two foundation pieces to being Proactive.

Now take this one step further: Take this beyond the planning phase of life. Take being Proactive and make it part of your EVERY DAY life. Look at things and think (and plan) two to three moves ahead. Consider the possibilities and then execute. Thus effectively taking the initiative.

Take the initiative in life by realizing that your decisions (and how they align with your life's principles) are the primary determining factor for how effective you are in your life.

Take responsibility for your choices and the consequences (both good and bad) that follow. No matter what they consequences are you are prepared because you were Proactive.

Thank you,
Dave Guerra

P.S. I do invite you to join the conversation and tell me what you are thinking.

As always you can read this blog post in its original location at http://daveguerra.blogspot.com

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106. About Plans: Execution! (Part 3)

Now that you have your plan on paper, what happens next? Now you have this treatise that will define your future for tomorrow, next month, next year and you are probably wondering when do you start?

You start NOW!!! Not tomorrow, not this weekend, you start right now!!!

If for some reason you don't start right now, like you are in a full body cast and cannot train for the next 5K then you start the moment you are physically able.

Seriously, if you PLAN to start next week, guess what? Next week never comes and what does come will be plenty of nonsense and excuses. If all you want to do is complain then why start? There can be no half-ass attempt at having a plan in place and attempting to execute that plan.
 
...and that's why NOW is the best time to start in executing your plan.



Thank you,
Dave Guerra

As always you can read this blog post in its original location at http://daveguerra.blogspot.com

Here are some Technorati Tags: • 100 Days, 100 Ways • Execute the Plan • Do It Now • Don't Wait • No Excuses • No better time than now • Dave Guerra • Leadership • Leading • Leadership Development • Professional Development • Lead, Follow, or Get out of the way • Ready, Fire, Aim! • If it ain't broke, break it. • Hire Crazies • Ask dumb questions • Pursue failure • Spread Confusion • Ditch Your Office • Read Odd Stuff • Avoid Moderation • Higher, Admire, Desire, Require, Satire, Inquire, On Fire, All Possible Scenarios • Give to the American Red Cross • Hire A Hero

105. About Plans (part II: ideas)

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "Ideas must work through the brains and the arms of good brave men, or they are no better than dreams."

All plans are born from ideas. Ideas, in most cast cases, come to the mind as a result of addressing a need, an injustice, or just to make life a little easier. No matter what the reason, all plans come from ideas. You could say that a plan is an idea that has been defined to laser sharp focus and then made real once it is on paper.

On paper, an idea becomes real. It becomes tangible. Then and only then is the idea, now the plan, truly ready to be executed (acted on).

Work your idea, turn it into a plan, and make it happen.


Thank you,
Dave Guerra


Here are some Technorati Tags: • 100 Days, 100 Ways • ideas • focus • tangible • common sense • make it happen • Dave Guerra • Leadership • Leading • Leadership Development • Professional Development • Lead, Follow, or Get out of the way • Ready, Fire, Aim! • If it ain't broke, break it. • Hire Crazies • Ask dumb questions • Pursue failure • Spread Confusion • Ditch Your Office • Read Odd Stuff • Avoid Moderation • Higher, Admire, Desire, Require, Satire, Inquire, On Fire, All Possible Scenarios • Give to the American Red Cross • Hire A Hero