MAKING GOOD THINGS HAPPEN (PART 1)

In order to Make Good Things Happen, we must first establish an overlap between the Companies goals and values and our own.  We need to develop goals and values that will motivate us in our approach to our work, to our colleagues and to our customers.

No matter how rigorous our service standards get, sophisticated our systems are or advanced our technology gets, it will be creative energy and skill that impassions our commitment and internal motivation.  Commitment and motivation from our people give the company the sharpest competitive edge within the industry.

To motivate ourselves, we must be clear about what matters most to us and what makes us feel good about our lives.  Also, we must actively look for and create opportunities within the company, where we can contribute something of value and choose to act on those opportunities.

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Goals
Before we can decide the role and value of our work in our lives, we need to be clear about what we want our lives to be.

Goal setting starts with identifying the major roles you have in your life.  Your role as it relates to your family, your career, your friends and the community.  Write a brief statement of how you would want a friend or family member to describe you in each of these roles.  Then write a specific goal or two that you would like to achieve within each role, within a certain time frame.  Make these goals challenging but realistic and put them in definite terms.

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Proactive vs. Reactive
In order for us to take personal responsibility for making a difference in our lives and our work, we must recognize, understand and act on our personal power and influence.

Being proactive means finding the opportunities in life, not the problems.  You will not find the word proactive in an ordinary dictionary.  However, the word is commonly found in management literature.  Being proactive means more than just taking the initiative.  It means, as human beings we are responsible for our own lives.

If we think our lives depend on our conditions, we have by conscious decision or by default, chosen to empower those things to have control over us. We have let ourselves become reactive. Reactive people are often affected by the weather, while proactive people carry their own weather with them.

You can find a clue to whether you now have a proactive habit by looking at how you speak.  Do you find yourself using these expressions?  “That is the way I am.” (There is nothing I can do about it.) “He makes me so mad!” (My emotional life is outside my control.) “I have to do it.” (I’m not free to choose my own actions.)

Proactive people work on their circle of influence, the people and things they can reach and spend less energy on their circle of concern, things outside of their control.

As you become more proactive, you will make mistakes.  While we choose our actions freely, we cannot choose their consequences.  The proactive approach to a mistake is to acknowledge it instantly, correct it and learn from it.  To delay, to deny the mistake, is to miss the lesson.

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» Read Making Good Things Happen (Part2)
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