To PRO-act or to RE-act – is that the Question or Your Choice?

“WEAK is he who permits his thoughts to control his actions.  STRONG is he who forces his actions to control his thoughts.”  ~Og Mandino, Author of The Greatest Salesman in the World

Whether in business or in life, one guarantee we can all bank on in our daily lives is tackling challenges as we forge ahead through life’s unexpected, at times off beat twists and turns, with extreme spikes ranging from “chill to thrill” or vice versa, all in a matter of seconds, and at times in just a second!  What is MOST critical during such moments is to purpose awareness, and immediately wake up to the reality that whether you are in your best (thrill) or in your worst (chill) situation, YOU hold the key to two choices -- to PRO-act or to RE-act! 

9 RED FLAG “Pollutants” to Watch out for

Way passed the wondering phase of whether “that” is a mere question… To PRO-act or to RE-act – THAT is your choice!

In no particular order, 9 RED FLAG “Pollutants” to watch out for, that when given even the slightest attention and/or acknowledgment whether intrinsically or when communicating with another openly, what you are in effect doing is allowing these toxic “pollutants” to infect your 9 purifying “soul’utions (see below), triggering your choice to RE-act when making decisions:
 
1.  Fear
2.  Hate
3.  Hopelessness
4.  Regret
5.  Revenge
6.  Ignorance
7.  Ego (when self is above service; false, destructive pride)
8.  Lies
9.  Laziness

Bottom-line, when you choose to give your ears to any one of the 9 "pollutants" referenced above,  then in the words of Og Mandino, you are “permitting your thoughts to control your actions".  Let's backtrack.. when you permit your emotions to influence your thoughts, now your infected thoughts have the green light to control your actions.  In doing so, you are choosing to RE-act to any given situation, at which point -- achieving less than favorable outcomes is only inevitable (and that’s stating it mildly).

Purpose Awareness at ALL Times! 

Intentionally hitting the REWIND button here for a moment to repeat these words from earlier:   What is MOST critical during such instances is to purpose awareness, and immediately wake up to the reality that whether you are in your best (thrill) or in your worst (chill) situation, YOU hold the key to two choices -- to PRO-act or to RE-act!  Dear friend, I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for you to purpose awareness at ALL times, particularly during times of vulnerability, mixed emotions, confusion, hurt feelings, betrayals … in essence when you feel like you are at your worst, in a dark place or space whether personally or professionally.

Equally if not MORE critical, is to purpose awareness during times when you are in your comfort zone, where you are feeling you are at your best, perhaps even feeling overly confident, dare I say greedy, too proud, and the like.  Sound familiar? 

9 Purifying “SOUL”utions -- Your Protective Armor

Whether in business or in life, remember that extreme spikes of “chill” and “thrill” happen when you least expect it, sometimes within seconds, other times within a second.  So again… purpose awareness at ALL times, and stay alert when you are in the “comfort” zone, or rather what I like to call – the “blind spot”.

That said… in no particular order … your protective armor of 9 Purifying “SOUL”utions to trigger your choice to PRO-act and kick toxic “pollutants” out the door, without a moment’s mercy are:

1.  Faith
2.  Love
3.  Hope
4.  Gratitude
5.  Forgiveness
6.  Wisdom
7.  Humility

8.  Honesty
9.  Diligence  

   

3 Take-Aways

“The bigger rewards in life are a direct result of those finer details mastered through life." ~ Annie Armen 

Without a doubt, this is a continuous, cleansing / purifying process and takes daily practice, for knowledge alone is never enough!   What is worth noting here is maintaining “balance” between mind and heart … making sure both are working in harmony to accomplish set goals and objectives with satisfaction and success! 

Often times, minds and hearts are at war… thinking one thing, feeling another, leading to RE-actionary choices.  Therefore, in order to “OUT with the pollution, and IN with the ‘soul’ution™” PRO-actively, 3 take-aways to remember:

1.  Purpose Awareness at ALL Times
2.  Stay alert when in your “comfort zone” – blind spot.
3.  Maintain balance between mind and heart.  Only when the two are in accord, you are ready to PRO-act, make sound decisions and aim for the long-term win!  

Did you find this article helpful?

~Annie Armen

List of Articles and Quotes you may Find of Interest: 

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Do you Know What you Will do With a Square Inch?

“Faith consists in believing
when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.” ~Voltaire



 

Do you Know What you Will do With a Square Inch?

WOW! Have you ever been in a one-to-one, profoundly invigorating business meeting, where time just flew on by mercilessly, and all you wanted to do was stop the clock and capture every second if at all possible? Such was the case for both John Richardson and me during Father’s Day Weekend, and with his blessing, only select highlights are now written...

Here I am, sitting across this business professional on our first meet only to find myself completely intoxicated with his gift of wisdom, for he was communicating from planet EXTRA-ordinary!  I was humbled, honored, and in awe to say the least, that he was seeking my advice on a complex, delicate communications issue. In truth, we both skipped through all the typical business questions one can think of, or come up with under the sun that takes place during a first meet, let alone the 10th meet … and mutually zoomed right into the heart of the matter, with intellectual attack!

Fast forwarding ... Once the consulting portion of our conversation was fulfilled, generally in that given instance, both parties tend to dash off to their next respective meetings to follow through with their plans and commitments for the day in a timely manner. Dear friend that was definitely not the case here! In fact, quite the opposite happened! We respectfully asked for a mutual pause in our conversation, only to pick up our phones, and rearrange our schedules without hesitation in unexplainable synchronicity. Of course, neither of us knew the other was going to take that action. Amazing how Faith works in business and in life when we choose to practice it, free of logical reasoning (refer to steps 1, 2, and 3 below).

After That 5 Second, Reflective Pause ...

Moving along… Various topics surfaced as our communications took more profound turns followed by purposeful detours. One of the highlights that I will remember for a lifetime was this one question John asked:

"Annie... as our seconds go by fast, do you know what you will do with a square inch?"

Holy smokes!!! Closed my eyes for a 5 second, reflective pause...

Opened my eyes and answered …

"John … hoping not to disappoint … if there is a specific answer to your question, then I truly do not know, and more than willing to learn, believing you will be willing to teach me. If the answer is more of a Spiritual nature… then Spiritually in pure Faith, I pray for guidance to make wise (more so than right) choices for the seconds of today, and thank God in Faith for preparing my actions toward His Plans “already” in motion, to wisely and responsibly take on His assigned square inches for tomorrow. If I may give you a more direct answer, it comes down to this: The fact that I am blessed in the now with this rare opportunity to learn from you and in that process, if I may dare gain a nugget from your bank of wisdom to equip myself for the future, then in this moment John Richardson,... That's what I'm doing with a square inch."

Our 5 Minute, Positively Paralyzing Mutual Silence ...

Immediately following my response, was our mutual, 5 minute, positively paralyzing silence. The wheels of our thoughts were turning, as though we were both playing a mental chess game, yet not so.

Let’s hit the PAUSE button here for a moment… What just happened? Was this your expected, professional one-to-one business meeting? 

Speaking both personally and professionally:  In all the years I have had the privilege to communicate and work with top leaders across the spectrum of professional industries, if I may respectfully and gracefully respond by saying ... HECK NO!  Although we were in a restaurant, conversing with one another very much in the present, It genuinely felt like we were communicating from a future era, sharing innovative visions, thoughts, concepts, ideas as mere appetizers to what has yet to be experienced, taught, and learned in the business world today! 

To say this was an enLIGHTNING jolt of an event we had the fortune to experience, is an understatement!  It was one of those RARE, once in a lifetime, unprecedented meetings, serving as a foreshadowing of what is to come, yet a seed planted in the now to provoke two choices: FAITH and ACTION!

Allow me to backtrack here for a moment and briefly expand upon the values of Faith and Action in this manner. In order for the seed to take root for a purpose to be fulfilled in the future, THAT choice is up to you and me. To activate that choice, it will take pure FAITH with ACTION:

1. Faith to embrace the unknown (what you cannot see)
2. Faith to believe that what is to come is ALREADY there!
3. Faith to act on that choice, without resorting to logical reasoning.

Now... let’s hit the PLAY button. After our 5 minute, positively paralyzing, mutual silence…John chuckles and says:  “Annie Armen … now I know why my friend said these words to me. John, brace yourself, you met your match. Prepare to be blown away by a human hurricane after having just one chat. Make it count!  You want this lady in your corner for the impossible projects you have in mind down the road.”

Just the rose color blush I needed on my face after hearing those words, when in truth... it was I who was blown away!  Later, toward the end of our conversation, John said something that I just had to write down and pay it forward, in essence ... to plant this seed in your minds and hearts. Let me tell you… it’s one that will have me thinking "on purpose" for a long time:

"There are more square inches in one square mile, than there are seconds in a century. You can see your whole life if you equate one square inch to one second." ~John Richardson  

+++++++++++++++++++++

Dear friend, do you know what you will do with a square inch? Thank you in advance for taking the time to read and share your thoughts to this very profound enigma … 

~Annie Armen

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