Proactivity or reactivity?

Most of the time we go for motivational speeches and motivational quotes to spice our morning up and get things done when we are on the low. But relying on external motivation alone isn't beneficial in the long run, what we need is to create is self - motivation that will keep that momentum going. But how do we cultivate that self - motivation in our lives?

In his best selling book "start with why" author Simon Sinek talks about defining the "Golden Circle", this involves defining what are you doing, how are you doing it, and why are you doing it. All these should be defined starting with why then the how, and finally the what. Doing this makes you keep track of anything you're doing, whether you're preparing for a job interview or you want to run a business.

Let's take for an example you are running an A-level school, you can define your golden circle as follows; (-the why) school x is an institution preparing young intellectuals to compete in the next fourth industrial revolution and green economy, (-the how) we do this by exposing our students to latest technologies such as 3D printing, robotics and computer programming (the what) in our three-acre fully-equipped school campus located at location y.

But defining your golden circle doesn't come easy and one way to get there is by creating tiny habits that will change your character and your personality. As Dr. B.J. Fogg put in his Ted talk about behavioral change, the formula for the tiny habits is 'after I .....(existing habit), I will.....(new habit). Examples of tiny habits are; after a long day, I will pray and talk to God, before I go to work, I will kiss my wife for 10 seconds. Tiny habits like this will contribute to changing your behavior and help become a proactive person rather than a reactive person.

The Ted talk for Dr. B.J. Fogg on behavioral change can be found here.