Do You Act or React?

Posted: August 27th, 2009

Every person every day and at every moment is either acting or reacting. You are either acting by setting your agenda for life, or you are reacting and letting other people set your life agenda. You are either a leader or a follower.  The choice of whether to act or react will have a major difference in the way your over all life will be. Steven Covey calls the skill of choosing action over reaction as being proactive, and it truly is one of the habits of highly effective people.

Acting vs. Reacting in Time Management

One of the first places we see the difference between acting and reacting is in time management.  In his book “Developing the Leader Within You,” John Maxwell explains this saying, “The question is not, ‘Will my calendar be full?’ but ‘Who will fill my calendar?’”  Each and every day someone is dictating how you spend your time.  If you are a leader and an initiator you are in control of your time, if you are a follower and reacting, others are setting your agenda. These “others” could be your boss, they could be your employees, or it could be something like your television.   If it is the latter you really need to adjust your life.

If you are reacting in how you spend your time chances are great that you are not spending your time doing what is truly important to you.  You are letting others determine your agenda based on what is important to them.  Choosing to be an actor instead of a reactor starts with the need to have an overarching life mission and some very clear priorities about what is important in your life. After understanding what values and roles are important in your life you need to break those down on a weekly basis and even on a daily basis so you can always answer the question “what’s most important now?”

Acting vs. Reacting in Planning

Planning ahead is another part of being an initiator.  You need to know what is coming up ahead and what has to be done by when.  If you know your schedule for the future then others will mold their schedules around you if they need your input. One committee I am on recently sent out a schedule for a monthly meeting listing the dates of our meetings for the next four months.  I already had plans for two of those dates, and after I let the others know about my schedule, the dates were changed to fit my schedule. Because I plan out my life and schedule myself, the others reacted to my schedule. CEO’s and top executives in major organizations often end up having their schedule molded because of one junior executive who has been proactive in planning out his future. Someone who acts ends up filling their calendar based on their priorities and what is important to them; someone who reacts fills their calendar based on the requests of others and what is important to those other people.  Someone who acts also spends time planning and anticipating potential problems.  Someone who reacts spends time living day to day trying to fix problems that already exist. (see my weekly planning process)

Times to React

Now there are times when it is appropriate to be a follower and to react to the leadership of others, however this should always be done by choice, which in essence still means you are acting in your choice of being put under the leadership of others.   This will often happen when there is someone who has a position that deserves your respect and should be followed.  This could (and probably should) be your boss at work, your family and others.  By choosing to let them determine a portion of your schedule you are still being proactive, you are in a sense still leading.  If you set aside a weekend for a special trip with your family and let your children choose everything you are going to do you are being proactive in that you have chosen to put their desires as your priority.

Acting vs. Reacting in you Home Business

The difference between acting and reacting can also be seen by how you grow your network marketing or direct sales home business. If you are someone who reacts you spend time wishing that people would phone you:  “Why don’t my customers call me to order? Why don’t my new enrollees in my business call me for help? Why doesn’t anyone else do anything?”  Does this sound familiar?  These are the excuses that are very prevalent in most home businesses.  These excuses also demonstrate how someone is reacting instead of acting.  They are letting the decisions of others determine the future of their business.

Meanwhile if you are someone who takes action on your own you would be building a business.  Instead of complaining about customers not ordering you send out e-mail reminders and product stories.  Instead of waiting for your new customers to ask you for help you take the initiative to set up a plan for them to succeed and you keep in close contact with them making sure that they know you are there to help them.  Often times they don’t call you because they think you are too busy or too important to help them.

Acting also means taking responsibility for finding new customers. It means you don’t just set up a website and think everyone will come to you, it means you don’t send out thousands of post cards or emails and expect to make millions of dollars.  It means picking up the phone and following up with prospects. It means joining a networking group and looking for ways to meet new people.  Really it means relying on YOU to go get the customers and not relying on them to get you – it simply doesn’t happen very often, and if you are getting some results from just sitting and letting the customers come to you imagine how much bigger your business would be and how much quicker it would grow if you were taking daily initiative to find new customers, it just might explode!!

So will you be proactive or reactive?  Will you be a leader or a follower?  Will you act or react?  I hope for your sake and for your business that you choose to act.  Act and move forward.  Take your personal life and your business to the next level and do it today!

Written by:

Danny Gamache

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