How do you respond to the unexpected? Do you lose your temper and blame everyone else and the circumstances surrounding the event? Does that come with a secret hope that someone else will step in to save the day? Or, do you rely on your decisions? Being proactive is about taking control instead of waiting for life to happen. Is that how you look at success? Do you wait for a stroke of luck or do you hustle to create that luck for yourself? There’s more to life than circumstances and luck. Proactive people are problem solvers and if you want to be successful, you can be proactive and make it happen.

Let’s look at how you can be more proactive for your own success.

• Focus on Solutions It’s impossible to solve a problem when you’re caught up in the potentially negative outcomes of a situation. Stop blaming everyone else, stop blaming yourself, and focus on solutions. Remember, there’s only so much that you can control in a situation. What can you control when it comes to success? Your performance and your choices. We all face problems, obstacles, and challenges. How do you respond to yours?

• Self-Reliance While you may have support from friends and family, only one person can fix your problems. That person is you! You have to rely on yourself to make success happen. The best way to get something you want is to work on it yourself. While there may be other people involved in the journey along the way, it’s up to you to take those first steps in the right direction. You can’t just rely on luck, you can’t hope your willpower will see you through. There is no such thing as the right time, success comes for the people who continue moving forward, no matter what hardships they face. It doesn’t matter how desperately you want to taste success, you have to work for it.

• Active Participation A proactive mindset will help you streamline your capabilities. However, in order to truly influence the outcome of any situation, you have to actively participate. You can’t just react and rely on the suggestions that others make. You have to participate and offer up your own suggestions. If you’re being proactive, you won’t be indifferent to problem-solving, you’ll need an active participant. You can’t be shy about addressing problems before, if, and when they arise. Share your observations.

• Be Consistent Your actions and words have to align. If they don’t, then people won’t rely on you. Perhaps more importantly, you will be unable to rely on yourself. If you want to be proactive for your own success, then consistently is critical. That means learning to manage your time effectively, setting and sticking to a schedule and deadlines. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver, and don’t alter plans if others have already confirmed them. As much as you are in control of your own success, you need the assistance of others to propel yourself. You don’t want to step on their backs to reach the top.

A proactive mindset can have an influence in every area of your life. Consistency increases self-motivation and helps you stick to your promises. Self-reliance will serve you well in work and at play. Active participation will improve your relationships at home, as well as making a difference to your working life. Ultimately, you can train yourself to be a more proactive person. By doing this, you increase your chance for success. Every proactive step you take is one that advances you forward.