Taking Initiative
One very important characteristic of successful people and leaders is their ability to take initiative. The word initiative can be defined as knowing what needs to be done and doing it without specifically being told to do so. This includes getting homework, projects, and chores done on time. It also includes being responsible, considering other people’s feelings, and always keeping safety in mind. People who take initiative tend to have more opportunities, more friends, and much more happiness in their lives.
In the Martial Arts, you can demonstrate initiative by letting your instructor know ahead of time when you need to be absent from class, and asking for some extra training when you return to cover the material that you missed. Most importantly, you can also take initiative by independently practicing your curriculum at home at least three times per week and training extra-hard before testing. If you take the initiative in determining how to get the most out of your training, including following these suggestions, then you will almost certainly accomplish any goals that you set in your Martial Arts journey.
How effective are you at taking initiative? Answer the following questions to see just how well you are doing:
- You see a paper cup in the front lawn that has been there for more than a day. Would you:
a. Leave it there and hope that it will blow away into someone else’s lawn?
b. Wait for one of your family members to pick it up?
c. Pick it up and throw it away because it makes your home look messy? - You and a friend have a project due tomorrow but your friend has a family emergency that she must tend to. Would you:
a. Use your friend’s family emergency as an excuse to not complete the project?
b. Only finish your part of the project and hope she has time tomorrow to finish her half?
c. Finish the entire project to the best of your ability because you understand that emergencies happen? - You want to go wake boarding with your friend, but you have a cold. Would you:
a. Take extra medicine and hope that your cold doesn’t get any worse?
b. Go anyway and ignore the fact that you could become very ill?
c. Pass on the opportunity because you know it is not good for your health to go wake boarding when you have a cold?
If you answered “c” to all of the questions above, then you are great at taking initiative. As you can see, we all have choices in any given situation. You can choose to give up, or you can choose to step up. The choice is yours. If you choose to take initiative, then you are choosing to be a better person.
