TAKING BUSINESS RESULT-ORIENTED INITIATIVE

In teaching patience, there is a common saying, “Wait for your ship to come in”. John L. Mason, however, once said, “Don’t wait for your ship to come in, swim out to meet it”. Our societal and educational structures produce people who put the responsibility on others to make things happen for them. We want others to create opportunities for us. Although we are now in a democratic system where the success of the society is actually left to the people, we are still waiting for the government to create our world for us. We do not exercise the power we have to create the kind of country we would like to live in because of our mind set. Most people wait for something to happen before they react, because being reactive frees us from taking responsibility for our actions. It is easier to put the blame for our failure on someone else.

Life, however, is not a reaction, it is an action. People who are highly effective in life are people who are proactive. They do not wait for things to happen, they make things happen. One of the greatest needs of our country at the moment is entrepreneurs. Our country needs people of action.  Entrepreneurs are people who refuse to surrender their lives to external forces. They are people who take initiative.

The world is designed to be run by man’s internal forces. As a man thinks so is he. True freedom begins from inside and not from outside. The journey from failure to success is an internal trip. True wealth begins from within you. Those who surrender their lives to external forces never succeed. To succeed don’t wait for perfect conditions, make the conditions perfect.

Entrepreneurs use time and chance as raw materials to create a favorable condition. People who take initiative use time productively.  It is frustrating to see people wait for things to happen and allow time slip by. Without a conscious effort to convert time to one’s advantage, it will be lost. People who take initiative go out and do what they need to do; making most of opportunity and not waiting for things to happen. They do what they have got to do to make things happen the way they want them to be.

Be a man or woman of action. Take the initiative by simply making the first move. A lot of people know what they ought to do but they do not do it. One of the major differences between a success and a failure is action. 95% of people know what they should do but would not do it. A lot of people also know what they should not do but they do it because they feel like doing it. Lots of people have plans and interesting ideas but they never do anything about the ideas. It is not impossible to start a business. Check out those who have made it in business and learn from them. Do not sit around hoping that something bad will not happen to you. Go out there and take control of the external forces that are on ground and make things work out for you. Get on the offensive.

In conclusion, here are four qualities involved in taking initiative:

1. Have a clear vision. You have got to be able to see your new world in your mind before you start creating it. When I look back today, I realize that I had seen my present world before it came to reality.
2. Push yourself to act. All objects remain at a state of rest until a force is applied. There is no company, city or nation that built itself. You must understand that in this life problems don’t solve themselves. A beautiful future won’t create itself. Push yourself to do whatever must be done to create the kind of future you want. Whether you are afraid or not, just make the move.
3. Be willing to take risks. Not acting is riskier than acting. Not taking a risk is the biggest risk in the world. Don’t hesitate. Take the sting out of failure by feeling the fear but acting anyway. Act boldly. Act now.
4. Double your ‘failure’ rate. Failure is not failure until you stop trying. You increase your chances of succeeding when you increase the rate at which you try things. The most interesting thing is that the world will not remember you for the many things you tried that did not work but for the one thing you did that worked. Get out of your comfort zone. Success grows out of failure. To increase your success rate, double your failure rate.

There are several areas in our nation today screaming for attention. In my mind I see a new nation but you and I have to dream, plan and work to turn it into reality. Only those who make moves make waves.