Good Morning,
Proactive, per the American Dictionary is defined as follows:
Taking action by causing change and not only reacting to change when it happens:
Intending to produce a good result or avoid a problem, rather than waiting until there is a problem:
Rather than giving you my take on this issue, I will simply list several situations to stir thought:
Proactive:
- I know I am going to retire, and social security won’t cover it so I need to put money away so I can live comfortably.
Reactive:
- Gee, I have just retired, and my social security check isn’t covering my expenses. What am I going do?
Proactive:
- I am likely to, sometime down the road, need major medical treatment and have purchased insurance to cover it.
Reactive:
- I am in the hospital for major surgery and need to purchase insurance, now, that will cover pre-existing condition to pay my bills.
Proactive:
- My car is making a funny noise, so I am taking it in to my mechanic to have it checked out.
Reactive:
- The Check Engine light and Engine Overheat lights just came on and the engine died. What do I do now?
Proactive:
- I am not feeling quite right so I just called my doctor to get a check up.
Reactive:
- “You fill in the blanks for yourself.”
Proactive:
- That large dying tree branch is hanging right over my bedroom. I had better have it removed.
Reactive:
- That branch just failed and took out my roof. I see another looking like it might fall. Oh well, I’ll wait until if falls.
Proactive:
- Our condominium association continuously evaluates the condition and life expectancy of our facilities and regularly puts money into a reserve fund.
Reactive:
- The roof of our building just fell in. What do we do now? How are we going to pay for it?
I have tried to list a few situations. I am sure you can list many more. Being proactive means planning ahead and being prepared if and when things happen. Better far to make plans when we are cool and collected and have level heads than to wait until we are in crisis and are not able to think clearly. As the old picture I saw years ago said, simply:
PLAN AHEAD
Jim
