Take the Initiative: How to Develop Bias for Action
Aug 05, 2023
We live in an uncertain world. Everything is changing rapidly. it's not time to wait for permission. it's your turn now. Being proactive and persistent is a must.
“You have to assemble your life yourself, action by action.” —Marcus Aurelius
You must be ready to seize opportunity (or to create them). Simply waiting on the couch is not an option.
People with a bias for action get things done and are alway ready to go the extra mile. They pursue goals beyond what is requested or expected of them, and cut through the red tape and bend the rules when necessary. Keeping in mind we can’t control what happens to us, but we can always decide how we react to it they act before being forced by external circumstances, these people consistently strive to do more and experience new heights.
On the contrary, people with a default bias, who are lazy or just favor the status quo, generally procrastinate and fall behind. These people have a “none of my business mentality” (tend to resist working outside their immediate area of responsibility) and need direction to get things done. Unwilling to take risks, they postpone decisions and generally do not plan ahead. They react to events rather than be proactive. As a result they often find themselves living life in a crisis mode. They are stressed and give up easily.
To develop a go getter, carpe diem attitude and learn how to be positive and develop a global perspective to seize opportunities the very first step is an Accurate Self-Assessment.
Do a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of yourself in all the areas of your life and start doing whatever you need to do to reach your goals.
Remembering that procrastination is a waste of time, below you will find some tips to put into practice to take action in your life.
- Have a goal. Chunk it down, break down into manageable steps/pieces. Then, prioritize them. And get started. Just do it. Start.
- Make your commitment public. Be accountable. And remember what someone said: “Crawling is acceptable. Falling is acceptable. So are blood, sweat, tears. Quitting is not.”
- Be disciplined. Change your mind and focus on how you can do something rather than on why or how you cannot. Remember: “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” (Marcus Aurelius)
- Examine what is holding you back (Stress? Fear? other?). What do you tell yourself? What emotions do you experience? What are the consequences? Identify and deal with root cause.
- Find ways to avoid getting sidetracked. This may include noticing your impulses; allocating a set period of time to a task and see how far you get (30 minutes to reply to messages, 1 hour dedicated to paperwork…); doing the worst part of the job at first to get it out of the way…
- In general, prioritize your tasks and minimize distractions and unexpected non-priority interruptions.
- Consider failure as feedback and seize opportunities.
- Believe in yourself, mobilize others, move from victimization to victory.
Develop key leadership and social skills! START HERE!
“Social and Emotional Intelligence (SEI) is the ability to be aware of your own emotions, and those of others, in the moment, and to use that information to manage ourselves and our relationships.” ―The Institute for Social and Emotional Intelligence
