The word ‘initiative’ is explained as follows in The Positive Dictionary:
Initiate: Initiate new undertakings through careful planning and imagination.
* Initiative is the act of starting on your own.
Everything that has been created or established by human beings flowed from a single idea. Whether it is a work of art, a building, a bridge or a new oil well there was a person who conceived the original idea.
There are endless ideas being conceived every day all over the world about new things and new ways of doing things. To conceive an idea is fairly easy. Our minds are structured to respond to the everyday needs of life. The reality, however, is that most of these ideas are floating endlessly in people’s minds without coming to fruition.
The fundamental truth is that nothing can be created without action. To create anything new requires that the idea be put into action. There must be a start to put the creative process in motion. Most of the floating ideas, however, end up on the rocks of hesitation. To create requires concentration, planning, work, effort, resources, determination and resilience. This causes hesitation and the death of many good ideas.
Churchill, who was also a prolific artist, described how hesitant he was to apply that first brushstroke onto a blank canvas. The wife of his neighbour, the painter Sir John Lavery, noticed his hesitation. She told him to be bold. She grabbed a large brush and, in Churchill’s words, ‘inflicted several large fierce strokes of blue on the absolutely cowering canvas.’ From that point on Churchill never hesitated to start a new painting. She, in fact, demonstrated that initiative is the best antidote for being hesitant.
The word ‘initiate,’ in essence, means to begin on your own without prompting from others. To initiate means to begin to act on your own. The expression ‘to take the initiative’ conveys the notion of grabbing an opportunity to do or create something worthwhile, of taking that first important step.
Initiative can be applied in our daily lives to stop procrastinating important tasks to do. We can look at our list of outstanding things to do and take the initiative to finish them one by one. Three things finished are after all better than thirty things halfway. We can take the initiative to learn more about our field of work and to foster a positive approach in the workplace. We can take the initiative to improve our health through better diet and exercise. We can take the initiative to cultivate positive relationships, to become involved in community service projects and to make time for enjoyment. All of these initiatives require that first step to start.
Taking the initiative also implies leadership and courage. In a crisis or in a difficult situation people tend to hesitate to act, not knowing what to do. It is the person with initiative who saves the day in a serious situation or solves a difficult problem.
Initiative is the basis for an entrepreneurial spirit. The entrepreneur is a person who takes the initiative to establish a company to produce a product or to deliver a service. The entrepreneur continuously takes the initiative to adapt the company to changing circumstances. It is the initiative of the entrepreneur that creates job opportunities that help to drive the economy.
A person with initiative has energy to persist and to follow through despite setbacks. Every obstacle presents an opportunity for further initiative to overcome or circumvent the obstacle. The energy is sustained by the initiative to take further steps on the road to completion of the original idea.
A person with initiative is an initiator, a self-starter, a self-motivator and a change agent. We can all be initiators by taking those first steps on the road to fulfillment.
***
© Dr Phil Minnaar, Author of The Positive Dictionary
The Positive Dictionary contains only words with positive meanings. Each word is explained in the form an action which can be practiced to become more positive in life.
The Positive Dictionary in softcover or e-book form can be ordered from the website below:
