I remember reading a quote by former President of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, “Those who wait and watch, only get the leftovers of those who try and initiate....” Many of us want to wait for a perfect situation to arrive. A few of us even wait for a proverbial “shubh muhurat”(propitious moment). Is it the time which is good or bad, or is it our preparation and skill that is good or bad?

When we do not want to take the responsibility on our shoulders, we quickly pass it on to bad times. Now let's break the word responsibility. It is broken into two words, response and ability. Or we can say it is our ability to respond. Moment we shift this ability to respond to someone else, like bad time, bad direction, bad constellations, we lose all ability and we sublet it to an outside vendor.

Today, the entire nation is celebrating the golden success of India’s javelin thrower, Neeraj Chopra, at the Olympic Games. We all are overawed by his journey and story. Every newspaper, news channel is showering accolades on him. But this gold medal is just the outcome.

Proactive will

It’s a consequence of his endless ability to respond. Do you know that, In the middle of 2019, Neeraj Chopra suffered a career threatening injury. He had developed spurs in his elbow, which forced him to withdraw from the Doha World Championship. 

His elbow was in a 'locked' position, and stuck. The tissues inside it had broken. Those tissues had to be removed and repaired. He was in extreme pain. He was almost on the verge of leaving the game. But he had the proactive will in him. 

His doctor says that he was a step ahead in his schedule of exercises. Neeraj Chopra did not wait for the things to happen, but made them happen. His will made him recover faster.

This was not enough. All his efforts to recover fast went in vain. After he recovered, he went to Turkey for further practice, Then,Covid came and he had to return from Turkey. Now again he has to fight for his practice. But he kept on doing his best. His routine was always discipline. 

Response power 

Then came the news that the Olympics might not happen. He still kept his chin up and responded by enhancing his practices.

Finally, the Olympics happened and the rest is history. Being proactive helps us to develop extraordinary capabilities. Victor Frankyl, the Austrian psychologist, imprisoned in death camps of Nazis, discovered the last human freedom is the power to choose your response to any conditions.

Between the stimuli and response there is always some space. This space is called the space of freedom to respond. Until the age of seven or eight years there is no such space. Stimuli is directly converted to response.

That explains why a child obeys every command. This space gives an individual the freedom of choice. Bigger this freedom of choice is bigger is the sphere of influence of the particular individual. For a proactive person life is a function of his values, whereas for a reactive person life is a function of his feelings.

A proactive person uses his imaginative powers to make a decision; a reactive person uses his past experiences like other people's treatment, moods, and impulses external situations to make a decision.

How many of us get impacted by the weather outside? Many will say yes, if the weather is good, it might improve our efficiency. Endorphins are released and we become happier. Good weather gives good feelings and good feeling helps us work better. So the reactive people work better in better weather.

Personal vision 

Proactive people carry their own weather within them. They are driven by the urge inside.

Let's talk about social dimensions. How many of us perform better or do better if we are appreciated and treated well? So which one is a better choice -perform better, when people appreciate, or perform so well that people are compelled to appreciate. 

Do not let the things that you can do nothing about interfere with the things you can do great deal about. As American President  Franklin Roosevelt rightly said: “Nothing can make you feel inferior without your consent”.

So create the habit of personal vision, and don’t wait for that proverbial one day; rather make the day you want as Day One! Then surely your day will also come - just like today is the day of ‘golden’ boy Neeraj Chopra. 

(The writer is a corporate  trainer and a leadership coach based in Lucknow, India. The views expressed are personal. By arrangement with TNA)