| Reactive Language | Proactive Language |
| There's nothing I can do. | Let’s look at our alternatives |
| That's just the way I am. | I can choose a different approach |
| S/He makes me so mad. | I control my own feelings |
| They won't allow that. | I can create an effective presentation |
| I have to do that. | I will choose an appropriate response |
| I can’t | I choose |
| I must | I prefer |
| If Only | I will |
The proactive approach to a mistake is to acknowledge it instantly, correct and learn from it.
But not to acknowledge a mistake, not to correct it and learn from it, is a mistake of a different order. It usually puts a person on a self-deceiving, self-justifying path, often involving rationalization (rational lies) to self and to others. This second mistake, this cover-up, empowers the first, giving it disproportionate importance, and causes far deeper injury to self.
It is not what others do or even our own mistakes that hurt us the most; it is our response to those things. Chasing after the poisonous snake that bites us will only drive the poison through our entire system. It is far better to take measures immediately to get the poison out.
Our response to any mistake affects the quality of the next moment. It is important to immediately admit and correct our mistakes so that they have no power over that next moment and we are empowered again.
--Stephen R. Covey--
2 comments:
No matter what you do mistakes will still happen because we are human beings with a fallen nature that is pruned towards errors and mistakes. Nonetheless, being proactive will reduce it but does not eliminate it.
Personally I believe we as humans , have both of those substances in us. However, there are people that are more Reactive than Proactive and vice-versa. The former will be complacent in their failures and will accuse their environments, their genealogical tree or some other external forces; this kind of attitude happens to the best of us especially if you're at the receiving end of a situation. The latter, the proactive type, though gone through a reactive stage, will want to get to the root cause, then offer a resolution, and this, believe it or not, takes one of a kind.
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