5 ways to be more proactive
One day, a young Richard Branson was returning from holiday with his wife.
Not long after they had arrived at the airport, their flight was cancelled.
There were then told that there were no more flights to the UK for another couple of days.
They were stuck.
Many of their fellow passengers became frustrated and began arguing with the airline staff.
Richard, however, reacted differently.
He borrowed a marker pen and scribbled down a competitive price on a board to fly them to their desired destination.
He then held it above his head and waited.
Slowly but surely, people began to approach him and soon he had enough willing customers that he was able to charter an airplane.
In that moment, so the story goes, the idea for a new airline was born: Virgin Atlantic.
Whether you work for a company or have your own business, being proactive is crucial. If you wait around for someone to tell you what to do, you’re dead in the water.
Opportunities will not come to you. You need to go out and find them.
With this in mind, here are five ways to be more proactive:
1. Learn to take control over your time so that you give yourself the time to think. If you are rushing from one thing to the next, you won’t allow yourself to see the bigger picture.
2. Make a habit of thinking ahead beyond your current project. What might happen next? What could be avoided? What things can you do now which will save time later?
3. Make the effort to contact one new person a week who might help you on your mission. They will bring fresh perspective that could spark a big step forward.
4. Download reports of your industry’s future trends. Identify the potential areas of growth and figure out how best you can position yourself to take advantage.
5. Read as much and as broadly as you can. It’s often the seemingly unrelated fields where you will find the greatest inspiration. This will give you ideas that may lead to significant breakthroughs.
If you’re feeling frustrated in your current job, there are ways to bring new challenges to it. Being proactive is a key skill of a successful intrapreneur (someone who demonstrates entrepreneurial skills within a corporate organisation) which can breath new life into an existing role.
To learn more, check out our popular course on the subject made in collaboration with successful intrapreneurs from some of the world’s top companies.
