Be Proactive Not Reactive

Sometimes we get hasty and way too flustered when someone in our market is doing something we don’t like. You know what I’m talking about, right? Your colleagues or your competitors start to parade through the blog world and the streets of twitter with their fancy announcements. I know it can be hard, but don’t get down. You are doing great! Being you is good enough- remember we cant do everything all the time for everyone.  When it appears that other people can be and are doing it, remember that looks can be deceiving. The facade will not last forever.

What has your strategy been from the beginning? Maybe you didn’t have one. Ok, then its time to put one in place because just being a follower and reacting to whats happening around you wont get you far for very long.

Here are some ways to tell if you’re being proactive or reactive:

Being Proactive could mean:

-hiring more staff to help support your day to day business
-making goals and putting into action for yourself a plan on how to remain relevant in social media and in the media world
-setting boundaries for how many hours a day you’ll work, be on twitter/facebook, spend time with your family
-building true long lasting solid relationships in this industry not just connecting online

Being Reactive sometimes means:
-hasty decisions that don’t ultimate reflect what you would have originally decided had you really thought about it a job not as well done
-panic or anxiety for no real reason at all other then a tweet or a blog post that set you off ( breathe)
-signing up for  a conference because you see everyone else going and you don’t want to be left out
-tweeting or friend-ing on facebook or linked with everyone you think will help advance your next move ( people see through that)

Most of the time it seems many of us are reactive not proactive in life.  Instead of creating our reality we just react: to situations, to people, to events etc. Lets stay calm and start on our plan. Let go of whatever is pushing you to hastily move now, jump now, tweet now, call now, email now.

Stop. Think. Decide what’s best for you here and make moves that are not only true to yourself but will reflect well on your plan for your business in the long run.

Photo by Elizabeth Messina