Well, hello there. I happen to be in New Zealand right now. Yep. Well, not right now because I'm recording this the day before I leave But I will be when this episode goes live and so this one is a back catalog episode It's one of the most popular ones and something that I got a lot of feedback around because I think it's a concept that no matter How many times you hear it you probably need to be reminded of it I speak in this episode about how I Constantly and need to remind myself of this concept of being proactive in my life rather than being reactive Specifically I'm talking about that.
What is it when we're living a proactive life? What do our lives look like and what do they look like when we are on the back foot when we are reacting it to life and How can we get ourselves out of those ruts? How can we get ourselves back into being on our front foot and taking the ball by the horns? So you may have heard this one before but even if you have I think it's worth another lesson, so stay tuned Welcome to here to thrive.
I'm your host Kate Snowwise This is a podcast with people who are ready to step up and live a happier life It's for those of us who are dedicated to understanding ourselves and getting the best that we can out of this thing called life It's a mix of psychology and modern spiritual thought always with a focus on practical advice so that you can take it back and apply it to your own life I don't believe we're here to merely survive. I truly believe we're here to thrive. So let's get going Now as I mentioned on the other side of the intro I've been feeling pre-reactive in my life recently and it was one of the reasons I wanted to record this episode basically I needed my own little pep talk But interestingly enough I noticed that a number of my clients I ended up having this conversation within the last few weeks as well I'm not the only person who is falling into this mode of functioning and I'm thinking if I've had this conversation a number of Times over the last few weeks There is a bunch of you that could benefit from it too So I want to start this episode by asking you a question if I was to ask you right now how you feel like you're living your life What would you say? Do you feel like you're currently in a reactionary mode or a proactive mode?
Are you simply reacting to what is in front of you right now? Or do you feel like you are proactively getting what you need out of life? They're two very different energy states and that is crucially important So what does reactive living look like when we move into those reactionary phases in our lives? We tend to get sucked into the doing Often we feel like things are coming in us so quickly that feeling of overwhelm that we don't really have a chance to kind of look up and take Stock of where we're heading and if it's even where we want to be going when we are in reactor states We just deal with whatever is right in front of us That could be the never-ending list of to-dos that you feel like you just can't get ahold of or it could be simply the daily grind of your life That you're not sure how to snap out of but that reactionary feeling is one of kind of like groundhog day I'm in a rut.
It's that feeling almost like we are being sucked down a bit of a hole or getting stuck in the same old Same old routines and not necessarily feeling that joyful about it all It's like our energy isn't necessarily flowing in the direction that we want it to if I was trying to summarize it That's how I would say feeling reactive can feel like so I'm a human too and I've been super busy lately Which is such a blessing I so appreciate we wonderful listeners and my beautiful clients out there So glad I've been able to create my dream job But the reality is that I haven't been doing all of my dream job instead I have been reacting to my workload and feeling a bit like I'm on the back foot and not necessarily thinking about where I want to take my Business in the future or working on any strategic project or my next step if that makes sense So I've basically been dealing with whatever has been in front of me What's on my to-do list today? What's the stuff that needs to be attended to? What is screaming the loudest for my attention? The truth is that proactive goals don't scream at us They don't scream to get out of attention Instead we have to very intentionally give them our time and that's what I haven't been doing such a good job of recently I've been leading those strategic or bigger life questions or bigger life and business goals drop off my to-do list I'm the type of person that needs to feel like I'm moving forward rather than just going round and round and Same old circles.
So I feel a little bit like recently I've got myself trapped in a bit of a whirlpool and I need this pep talk to step away from just looking at the trees in front of me and Recognize that I'm actually standing in the midst of a beautiful big forest I need to take a big picture view with my life right now and all my my I'm craving it So I touched on it slightly, but what is proactive living? I would say it's intentionally Proactively approaching your life. It's about planning seeds for tomorrow It's not about dealing with whatever crop you are lucky enough to have right in front of you right now But thinking am I doing the work and am I sewing the seeds that I hope to reap in the future? You must plant today what you hope to reap in the future reminds me of that quote do something every day that your future self Well, thank you for I've seen it floating around social media many a times I'm sure some of you have too, but it's great Have you done that today or do you plan on doing that today?
Is there something in your day that your future self? Well, thank you for that is proactively living now This doesn't have to be in contradiction to being grateful or living in the moment But it's just about holding a vision that keeps you rising into the best version of yourself The two of these things can coexist you can have a future vision and still be grateful and present in your everyday life They're not mutually exclusive What I love about having a future vision is that it gives you a roadmap for what you're heading so that you don't wind up Looking back and one day just going how on earth did I get here? It stops you from drifting through life and drifting to me is a classic hallmark of living in a reactionary mode So just to really make sure you've got this point I would say that proactive living is about knowing where your true north is and taking the teeny tiny baby steps towards it rather than wondering kind of Aimlessly through the desert. It's about pointing yourself in the right direction So ask that question back at the start of the episode and having me read a lot a little bit more about it You might feel slightly better place to answer it.
How do you feel about your life right now? Do you feel like you're just reacting to life presently or are you proactively approaching what you do in your life right now? Now if you feel like you might be leaning towards the reactive side of this equation There is no judgment here I've already confessed that I certainly am myself, but I'm gonna give you these three points to help pull yourself back out These are the same three things I'm gonna be doing in my own life and have already started to do first of all It starts by a simple acknowledgement now This isn't one of the three points, but it's crucial you have to decide that you want to do things differently because if you want different results Then you've got to do something differently, but that is a decision and unless you make that commitment You're not gonna get anywhere So you have to decide that you're not content with how things currently are once you've had that acknowledgement or made that decision My first piece of advice is to just slow down If you feel like you're living in this reactive space if you're running a catch up with your life If you feel like you're always on the back foot I kind of pictured about like being on a hamster wheel and the little hamster's Little leagues running in full tilt and they just don't know how to get off the wheel and it's been around and around and around If you feel like that could be you right now just running around on your little hamster Well, you've got to slow down you can't get off the wheel until you do slow down every one of us has small spaces small Things we can do that can help slow us down So for example for me one of the actions I took was that I have cut down the nighttime coaching spaces that I offer What can you do differently in your life? Take some of your power back now?
This doesn't just have to be work related This is also totally relevant to life Where can you steal these quiet moments of time back and start to slow down in your life for me? That is absolutely related to coming back to my center Personally, I have a little bit of a tendency to get flighty when I'm off center and I now know what it is that grounds me and brings me back down to earth Personally meditation self-care and contemplative space. Oh my my I'm a different person So gaps in my day are so good for me If I can get a quiet walk outside without my iPhone or a car ride even a car ride with no radio on all my my I feel so much better for it now everybody has different things But those are some of the things that I know brings me back down to earth. It helps me slow down I've got a blog post called four ways to quiet in your busy mind And I'll link to that in the show notes of this episode if you want to have some more ideas But be honest with yourself and consciously look for ways that you can slow down in your own life Don't look for the excuses for why you can't just look for the solutions There will be something that you have power over that you have control over in your life that would make a difference So once you've slowed down and you've opened up just enough space the next phase I want you to self-reflect now This is crucial knowing what matters to you most is so important You can't line your life up to fulfill your needs if you don't know what those needs are You've got to start asking yourself the big questions.
What do you value? What do you need in life to be happy? What do you need most now? This is a lot of what I do with my one-on-one coaching clients because most of us have no idea how to self-reflect We weren't taught this stuff in school and these questions can often feel really scary when we have no idea where to start But it is in these questions It's in getting to know yourself better that you turn this equation around and it just this the self-awareness and the self-knowing That can help really pull you out of living a reactive life and put you into the proactive space Before I really knew myself like I do now.
I was totally drifting through life. It was these tools It was asking myself the big questions that helped me spend most of my life now being much more proactive So one of the tools I do use in my coaching is values and I really dive deep with my clients on their personal values and I know mine and I've had a couple of them totally running off on overdrive recently one of my personal values is achievement I like to do well at what I do and I love the idea of rising and continuing to grow and another one of my values is Contribution so if there's a way that I think I can make a difference to someone I'm all over it both of these values have been running the show in my life lately and I've been producing plenty I've been contributing a lot but because of these needs I have completely neglected some of my quieter values I've been neglecting my need for a deep spiritual connection I've been neglecting my need to focus on self care and well-being Basically my achievement need and my contribution need have been running off unchecked and going crazy I've unconsciously given them a permission to do so because I haven't been self-reflecting enough I haven't been checking in with myself and noticing where I could be getting out of alignment But now it's time for me to concentrate on getting myself back to my center so that I can really step up now I know I just mentioned the whole one-to-one coaching thing But it's not the only way to get in touch with yourself. There are plenty of other ways In fact over the last few weeks I've put together some freebies for you that was out of my desire to feel more proactive because one of my goals with my Business is to connect with more of you and to contribute more at a greater level So I created some free resources that you can go and download if you go to my website dub dub dub Thrive dot how that's HOW you will see a little tab there now called free resources one of the free resources that is Specifically for self-reflection I've got 21 journal prompts to help you deepen yourself awareness and in annoying to help you tap into your own guidance Now if you haven't heard me mention it yet I truly believe that we're all our own best experts and that you already have the answers that you need It's just a matter of diving in and pulling that information out of yourself and most of us don't know how to do that So my hope is that these 21 journal prompts will help you on that journey So please go and take advantage of that So the first two point is slow down and give yourself space and then self-reflect The final thing to help pull yourself out of Reactively approaching your life and get you out of those ruts that you might be feeling like you're living in is to move into action Action is what makes the difference in our lives. We can think about it all we like we can dream we can vision But unless we do nothing changes So after you have slowed down you've got more in touch with your and annoying and you've taken that big picture view Find the thing that you can focus on Find the thing that is calling your attention to it that is demanding that you look at it When you get quiet, what is the thing that says do this?
What is the thing that whispers to you? For me, I'm dedicated to more self care. That is where I am starting Action action action I encourage you to set some goals or intentions if you prefer the word and once you identify the one or two things that you want to work on Set up some accountability with yourself If you're really daring perhaps you could even tell someone else But the whole idea here is getting really explicit about the direction you want to be heading in creating that North Star So that you have a direction to walk in it doesn't have to be some grand or dangerous goal It could be that you want to give yourself five minutes every day and it doesn't have to be long term It can be short term you can focus this week I want to focus on but start with something and commit to action It's super easy to get into this reactive way of living and to be honest most of us start here and just don't leave There's very few people who are taught how to be proactive We're not taught this in school, but it doesn't mean that you can't start If you feel like all you're doing is dealing with what is in front of you and that you're not being very intentional about what you want Or you want to go that you're not taking that big picture view Use these tips that I've discussed here today to get you started to help bring this whole idea to life Think about a business every business make sure they have a Business I was at every business, but after they get over a certain size for sure They all have a strategic vision they have foresight and they know the direction that they want to be heading in It should be the same for us. That's what leads us to live powerful and meaningful lives So in summary the three things to start focusing on to pull yourself out of Reactionary mode to move into a proactive mode and to move away from those life ruts slow down make space to self reflect and Move into action mode to something differently as I mentioned If you would like some free life planning resources and self discovery journal prompts head over to my website Dub Dub Dub Dub Dub Dub Drive dot how and you will find that tab there with free resources If this episode resonated with you if it helps you see the world differently if It made you think a little harder about your life.
I would so appreciate if you could take a moment and leave me a review I love your feedback means so much to me. I've tried to make a little bit easier because I know it can be difficult So if you go dub dub dub dub dive dive dive how forward slash review it should take you right to the appropriate tab I have another great interview for you next week. I can't wait to share it till then keep driving