Proactive people are driven by values that are independent of the weather or how people treat them. Our response to what happened to us that affects us more than what actually happened. We can choose to use difficult situations to build our character and develop the ability to better handle such situations in the future. Proactive people use their resourcefulness and initiative to find solutions rather than just reporting problems and waiting for other people to solve them. Being proactive means assessing the situation and developing a positive response for it.
Organizations can be proactive rather than be at the mercy of their environment.
For example, a company operating in an industry that is experiencing a downturn can develop a plan to cut costs and actually use the downturn to increase market share. Once we decide to be proactive, exactly where we focus our efforts becomes important. There are many concerns in our lives, but we do not always have control over them. One can draw a circle that represents areas of concern, and a smaller circle within the first that represents areas of control. Proactive people focus their efforts on the things over which they have influence, and in the process often expand their area of influence.