One thing you must do in order to succeed is to purpose in your heart that you will be proactive in every area of your life, rather than being reactive.

Be proactive. Don’t just let things happen to you. Dictate the things that you experience in your life, as much as you can.

In business, this means that you ensure that all your activities bring you closer to your goals and targets rather than moving you away from them.

It means that you are decisive, and you “act” on decisions the moment you make them. It means you do not procrastinate just because you don’t enjoy a particular marketing (or other) activity.

It means you do the things you must do in order to succeed, whether you like doing them or not. It also means that you keep your desired outcome in mind every time you act.

What are your business goals for this year? What activities do you need to do daily, weekly, monthly, to reach those goals?

Write down the answers to the above questions, then start NOW to do those things. Make things happen this time around, Make greater things happen.

Commit to being proactive from now on, and not just in word only. Refuse to get distracted from your goal. Do something everyday to get you closer to your goal, knowing that you “will” get there.

Remember that every single act you perform is either moving you forward or drawing you backwards. So before you do anything, be sure you’re happy with the direction it’s leading you to.

Also bear in mind that all the positive thinking and motivation in the world will amount to nothing until you take appropriate “action”.

This ability to get yourself to take action has been variously called ‘personal power’, ‘will power’ and so forth. Point is, it is a powerful trait, being able to get yourself to take the action necessary for you to succeed.

Note that one difference between successful and unsuccessful people is that successful people consistently DO what unsuccessful people don’t (want to) do. It doesn’t matter whether the task is unpleasant or not.

The main difference in fact, is in what the people “do” or don’t do, as the case may be.

I encourage you – nay, I challenge you, to become proactive today. If you’re normally that way, then I challenge you to become more so, for there is always room for improvement, and there is plenty of room at the top for you if you choose to reach for it.