We keep on blaming our past and our environment and not taking the initiative to bring changes in our lives. Initiative is the ability to assess and initiate things independently or the power or opportunity to act or take charge before others do. It is recognizing and doing what needs to be done before being asked.
We have our own unique lives to live just as others have theirs. We can't afford to let our fears and concerns with what others may think or expect of us to get in the way of fulfilling ourselves and walking our path.
We all have big dreams for our lives and they remain just dreams if we don’t take initiatives. Stop doubting whether you can make it or not. Most men hold back for fear of making a misstep, or don’t even try at all because they might fail. Our problem isn’t that we don’t know how to take initiative. Our problem is that we see initiative as a difficult step that can only be taken all at once and by a few.
We must learn how to take initiative. It sounds simple enough, yet it can be a challenging step because it means we come face-to-face with internal confusion and inner-struggles. Teaching ourselves how to take initiative means learning how to stay focused and fully intent on the results we want. We should be responsible to our own intents.
When we think of how to take initiative, we usually think in terms of action. We forget that taking initiative begins in the mind. This is where initiative is born and this is where we need to start. Teaching ourselves how to take initiative as a mental practice is about paying close attention to ourselves. We take note of the situations, circumstances and conditions under which we are most likely to lose sight of ourselves and be influenced by others.
Mental initiative begins with being clear on our intentions. What do we want to achieve? What is the end result we're aiming for? Stephen Covey, author of the "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" calls this "beginning with the end in mind." In order to begin with the end in mind, our intentions need to be clear. The power of intention has more. How to take initiative is a skill that can be learned. Taking initiative is practice for the mind. It's the practice of stepping out of the mind.
We must learn to focus. Focus is our ability to overcome distractions and to persevere with determination until our intended goals are achieved. How to take initiative is often about our ability to block out the voices around us that would dissuade us from our intended course of action. Once our intention is set and we are beginning 'with the end in mind' by visualizing our goal, we need to keep our goal in focus until it's given the time it needs to mature and manifest as a new reality in our lives.
We must learn to be able to actually visualize the outcome we intend. When we manifest what we want to achieve, we lay out a mental pathway to our target. By visualizing our goal we make sure that the powers and resources of the subconscious mind are brought on board. Visualizing our goal helps clear the path to exercising initiatives to the full.
From experience in my life, I have learnt that we turn to others to tell us what we should do and where we should go. We look to others for clues as to whether what we intend is right or wrong, doable or impossible, desirable or not. We come to rely exclusively on the opinion and advice of others. We forget ourselves and how to take initiative. This has made the society a ‘Copy and Paste’ one. If you go around businesses people are doing, they all look alike.
Taking initiative as a man in your life requires:
1. To start small: Commit every day to contributing to some part of your goal.
Nothing happens overnight. All small actions result in something towards the bigger goal. Too often with our own projects, we start large, when we should instead focus on the small. The daily improvements, which over time, turn into something better.
2. To build a routine: There is no value in trying to start something when you are going to stop it.
Routines are the foundation of any consistent action. There is NO value in trying to start something when you are going to stop in two weeks because you only did it once. The goal is not to overdo when you do take initiative. The goal is to consistently engage in it, to never giving up. Define a routine and the small pieces that will form a bigger whole in a month or two months that you can work towards each and every day. Don’t sway from your course, don’t give in to other indulgences or easy outs.
3. To accept that you will stumble
We are all afraid of failure. We all want the quick path to success. But it does NOT exist. Whatever project you are looking to undertake, I guarantee you will stumble, you will fall, and there will be failures. You are not always going to succeed.
Finally
Commit, every day, to contributing to some part of your goal. It might take a while for you to get there, it might not go as fast as you would like. But by consistently doing it, you’ll get there, you’ll make it happen, and it will be worth it.
Taking initiative is always an option that is open to us. It is a choice that is always ours to make. Initiative is there for the taking. We either learn the lessons of how to take initiative or we don't. It is up to us, which is as fair as it gets. You can make a difference in your life.
If we don't take charge of our own destiny, the chances are good that we will be used to assist the destiny of someone else who is taking initiative.
Take initiative. Start today; NOT tomorrow, NOT next week.
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