I have been thinking a lot about the ways I’m proactive. Subsequently, that makes me think about how I am not proactive, leading me down the path of how to be more proactive. Do you ever have these cyclical dialogues in your brain, or is it just me?
It’s been almost ten (10!) years since I started my business; The 25th Hour, and as I reflect on all the ways I have changed, how much I have experienced and learned – both in my failures and my successes – one thing that has remained the same is my proactive mindset. I believe this trait sets me above the rest.
In the early days of The 25th Hour, I spent a lot of time doing comparative research for my clients. I developed a proven, step-by-step, systematic approach to research; leaving no stone unturned. I would look at every situation from multiple perspectives, anticipate every possible outcome and action around those outcomes; and, create a solid analysis that made my client’s decisions easy. This way of showing up every day helped me make a name for myself. It instilled confidence in my clients, got me referrals, and opened doors that would have otherwise not been available to me.
To this day, I approach my work proactively. For instance, when I stumble across something that needs to be fixed, I fix it. And if I don’t know how to fix it, I ask questions and find someone who can help. This ultimately prepares me for future situations of the same nature, and when I run across them, I know what to do to correct them, even if it means delegating to someone who knows more than I do about the issue. This is especially true in the virtual world we exist in today. With so many software platforms, processes, and systems, the more I know about these and the broader my network, the better I can proactively deal with future issues. You could say my passion is proactive problem-solving!
There are times I really love my “past self.” When I do something knowing my “future self” will be so thankful. This couldn’t be more true when you have proactively taken action and can look back and think,“that was so smart of me to be proactive!” There have been countless situations where I have figured something out for one client, and a few months later, another client has the same issue! The time I invested researching a solution the first time around ensures that I don’t have to reinvent the wheel the second time.
Another one of my favorite sayings is, “why put off until tomorrow what can be done today” and with a little bit of time management, self-awareness, and persistence, you put yourself in a proactive mindset that paves the road to success!
#OBM #proactive #ROI #timemanagement #superpower #mindset #the25thHour