Core Values: Be Proactive

Knights of Heroes is an adventure camp in the mountains of Colorado for sons and daughters of fallen soldiers. Boston and I have been attending this camp  for the past 11 years, and are now mentors. We accredit the incredible program for putting us on the path to true manhood. Knights of Heroes' five core values of teaching are from the following mission statement, found on their website:

"Knights of Heroes objectives include teaching children to be responsible, proactive, boundless, bold, and to exercise leadership while rejecting immorality, substance abuse, infidelity, and a sense of entitlement."

These five core values are instilled in the young men and women campers every day, in order to teach them what being a real man or a real woman looks like in a world of phonies. Each day this week, we're going to take a deeper look into one these traits.

The second post, on being Proactive, is written by Mike Defrees.

            Mike Defrees graduated from Wayland Baptist University in 2010. He is now the lead pastor of The Park Community Church at Midtown in San Antonio, Texas. He and his wife founded the church in 2015.

The following is his take and experience on the value of being proactive.

PROACTIVITY

The definition of proactive is, “a person creating or controlling a situation by causing something to happen rather than responding to it after it has happened.”

Being proactive is innate in certain people; its just the way they are wired. If you’re like me, then it is something you strive for and have to obtain rather than it coming naturally. Procrastination is the enemy of success and proactivity. Which do you usually let win in your life? Proactivity is a crucial element in being a good parent, spouse, sibling, student, employee or friend. This initiative is what separates people from being average and achieving excellence.

So how do you go about being a person of initiative and drive? First of all, this character trait has to be worked on and molded. You will fail, but you have to look deep within and address weaknesses you possess. It can be scary to see where your short comings are and the true reasons you struggle with certain things. Being proactive is opposite of everything that is natural. It is challenging and costly. It is anti-all that is easy and comfortable.

Sounds great, right? While being proactive often produces pain, the results make it worth all the early mornings, late nights, and the breaking of your laziness. The great Teddy Roosevelt speaks to this very thing, "Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.” While our natural inclination will be to take the easy road, we will miss out on valuable lessons and character traits if we avoid doing things because they are hard.

Let yourself dream a little bit. What do you aspire to be? Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Achieving those dreams and goals will take proactivity, hard work and discipline. Being a person of proactivity is hard. Being a student is hard. Being an employee is hard. Being a boss is hard. Being single is hard. Being a husband is hard. Being a dad is hard. Being a follower of Jesus is hard. While the American dream is often perceived to be acquired by pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and achieving your dreams independently, there is another way.

The Bible talks about sowing what you reap. It’s an old metaphor that essentially means that your hard work will pay off. Your consistency in living a proactive life will produce a harvest of discipline, accomplishment, faithfulness, and loyalty. While hard work and proactivity will produce earthly rewards to be sure, Paul tells the church at Galatians that there is a better reward to be had, “Whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.  Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” Earthly rewards are worth working for, but spiritual ones like eternal life, peace, joy and hope surpass any monetary value.

I want to encourage you wherever you are at in life with being proactive. Whether you haven’t ever tried living a life of initiative or if you have been practicing it for years, don’t grow weary. The road ahead is hard and painful, but the hope to be had in Jesus will empower you to weather each storm and trial. I also want to encourage you to find other people who are striving to be men and women of initiative and do life with them. It is pretty much impossible to go it alone, and a community of proactive people can change the world.

As we are about to enter into yet another year, don’t make a resolution; make a life-change. Sow what you want to reap. Dream big and be proactive.