Habit #1 - Be Proactive

It’s easy to tend to the things that have to get done.  It’s easy because there’s no other choice; some things simply have to get done, and get done now!  It’s much harder, at least for me, to attend to the things that don’t have to get done, but should get done.  Some things I know are of critical importance to attend to, but since they’re not knocking-down-my-door urgent; I unfortunately always tend to leave them unattended.  I am not good at being proactive (or, I have too much going on in my life, which prevents me from being pro-active!:)  Last spring a colleague shared a TED Talk with me that I think has the potential to help me be more proactive.  Entitled “Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator” (see below), it shared an image which the presenter (Tim Urban) called the “Life Calendar.”  Essentially this image serves as a powerful reminder that we’re all going to die sooner than we think, which in turn motivates me to get off my butt and get to work achieving my goals!  I plan on sharing this TED Talk with my Music Appreciation class (who likely will be my weekly 15-minute audience at this point), in the hope of driving home the importance of becoming proactive!