How Can You Have an Easier
and Better Life?
Be Proactive

One of the best uses of your time and energy is to be proactive in everything you do.

Not just some things, all things.

Being proactive is not that complicated. It is just being early with living your life. It means not procrastinating. It means thinking ahead. It means doing things, chores, errands, before those things turn into emergencies, irritations, problems and inconveniences.

It means thinking about your life as if it mattered. If your life matters to you, and I believe it does, it means you actively engage in it and do things to make it better. Sometimes making it better means not forgetting things. Sometimes it means not running out of things. Sometimes it means setting aside large blocks of time to work on what you really want to do. Sometimes it means doing things so far ahead that you do not have to worry about it or even think about it for weeks or months.

Be proactive about your life and it will pay off in huge dividends in the quality of your life.

We are always shown the opposite when we watch television and movies. We are shown people procrastinating and leaving things to the last minute. We are shown people not saying what they really want to say. We are shown all these ridiculous situations that people get themselves into that they then spend the rest of the show tying to work out of.

This may make for an interesting show. But it makes for a miserable life for you if you choose to imitate it.

Be Proactive

Here is a list of how to be proactive and improve your life immediately:

1) Always know how much of your normal, every day items you have on hand so you never run out. I have at least 5 dozen rolls of toilet paper in my home. I have extra boxes of tissue. I have an extra of all my cleaning supplies, personal products, coffee and non-perishable food. Having a little extra does not take up that much room. I never have to run out and get something. I always have it. I just replenish these things when I am out and about or when I notice they are on sale. Since these things are being used by me and my kids on a continuous basis I know what they cost and more importantly I know what the low price is.

2) Be prepared for whatever season you are going into. It is early November as I write this in southern Wisconsin. It is nice now, but winter is coming. I just bought new car windshield ice scrapers for my car and my son's car. I also bought him a new snow brush. These tools are so important when it snows and the windows are covered in ice. I also bought a bag of snow melt salt. The apartment building where I live has a snow removal company for the driveway and a caretaker to shovel the sidewalk. But I want to keep the area around my garage totally cleared. I do not want to settle for what someone else wants in the way of snow and ice removal. I want it to be safe and ice free for me.

3) Keep your car gassed up all the time. As soon as the gage gets to half full I gas up. Early in my marriage I did not follow this rule. One night my toddler aged son had an asthma attack. I raced him into the car and raced to the hospital. Part way there I saw that my car was almost out of gas. This added tremendous terror to an already terrible situation. Here I was racing to the hospital to try to save my young son's life and my car was possibly going to let me down. I did make it to the hospital and they were able to keep him going. He is fine now. But those moments of sheer terror brought on my procrastination have been with me for the last 15 years. I never want to face that kind of terror again. I never want to be in a position of absolutely needing my car to do something and running low on fuel.

4) Pay your bills early. What is the point of waiting until the last day or so? Avoid all the stress and just pay them early. Avoid spending all your money so you can pay those bills as soon as they come in. I do not have that many bills anymore so when I get a bill in the bill I almost always just write the check and put it back in the mail the same day. I pay my rent by the middle of the month, rather than waiting for the end of the month. My stress level over money has been reduced dramatically and all I had to do was be proactive in how I set up my finances.

5) Take care of your health every day. Do things every day that will help your long term health. There is always something you can be doing a little better in terms of your health. You can get a little more sleep or take a nap. You can eat a little less. You can eat something that is better for you. You can take a short walk. You can make plans for your life. You can get outside and get a little sun. You can drink a little less. Doing something every day to help your health will add up over time.

6) Do your chores and errands early rather than late. There is nothing quit so demoralizing as facing a mountain of clothes to wash. Just wash them more often. Instead of waiting until your home is filthy and difficult to clean, clean more often when it is not that dirty. It will be so much easier and take hardly any time compared to when it is very dirty.

7) Anticipate how people will be and react and what they want. You should know what the people closest to you want and need and do those things. You should not be surprised about what they say and do. I know my daughter likes to the point of needs, to go shopping for little things. It is one of her favorite things to do. I know this so I suggest that we do that before she gets sad and depressed that she hasn't been shopping for a long time. I do not want to be surprised when she is angry and hurt because she wants to spend a half hour shopping. I know she likes to do this so I am thinking of it early rather than later. I do not want her to be upset and moping around. I do not want to have to go shopping when I do not want to either. I like to be proactive and go sooner rather than later. That way we are both happy.

Use these little tips to be proactive and improve your life.

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