Become Highly Effective: Habit 1 

What We’re Reading - By Stephanie Wharton 

If you have studied Paul Cummings’ K.A.S.H. material, you know habits either serve or slay us. In his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey shares the seven habits he believes have the power to move individuals from dependence to interdependence. He says, “Dependent people need others to get what they want. Independent people can get what they want through their own effort. Interdependent people combine their own efforts with the efforts of others to achieve their greatest success.”

Habit #1: Be Proactive.

Stephen Covey defines proactivity as the responsibility humans have for their own lives because “our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions.” Essentially, being proactive is about taking control of our situations and circumstances rather than letting them take control of us. We have the power to choose our response.

To further illustrate what proactive people look like, he describes the opposite: reactive people are the people who live based on their physical and social environment. If the weather is nice and people have been kind that day, it will be a good day. However, if it is raining and people around them are in a bad mood, they will most likely withdraw and be down and defensive. Proactive people, on the other hand, live based on their values regardless of whether or not the weather is nice or people have been helpful or spiteful.

What does being proactive look like? How can someone who is reactive become proactive? Covey explains it simply, “Act, or be acted upon.” Rather than waiting for a solution to a problem, take steps to solve it. Taking initiative is all about making things happen rather than waiting for things to happen. He provides the following chart to reveal the difference in the language reactive and proactive people use:

Choose to be proactive by controlling your responses to circumstances, taking action, and making things happen!