Get proactive

Yesterday I had what felt like a very good day.

The reason it was good was because I completed lots of small things and felt really pleased with what I'd achieved.

Also I wasn't just doing stuff that I needed to do because others were expecting something from me. Rather than being reactive I was being proactive.

Now I'm all for being active, after all I'm a runner and if I sit for too long my concentration gradually evaporates into the air. I need to get up and move.

But are all types of activity equal?

What about reactive actions and proactive actions?

I've just done a Google search on the word reactive, and it says:

1. showing a response to a stimulus
2. acting in response to a situation rather than creating or controlling it

One of the definitions of proactive I found says:

1. controlling a situation by causing something to happen rather than waiting to respond to it after it happens

Seeing these definitions I can clearly see that I was being much more proactive yesterday than I've been for a while.

How much more fulfilling is it to be creating or controlling things, especially when it's to do with your future, rather than waiting for something to happen and then responding based purely on what has already happened?

Maybe that's why my mile each day seems to work. After all it's my first proactive action of the day. 

I choose it day after day.