“Reactive people are driven by feelings, by circumstances, by conditions, by their environment. Proactive people are driven by values - carefully thought about, selected and internalized values.” - Stephen Covey

Last night I received a call from a friend. She goes by Libby, and although I only visited her home in NYC twice, we’ve been friends for as long as I can remember. Right when I picked up the phone, it was obvious it was going to be a tough call.

During our conversation, Libby chronicled how she and her fellow New Yorkers had been put through the ringer over the past two years because of COVID-19. Now, on top of that, her family seems to be falling apart. The past two months had been a particular mess. Her cousin JT in Canada froze the bank accounts of protestors he disliked. Her estranged uncle VP from Russia trespassed and destroyed his neighbor’s property. And as the clincher, her uncle JB retaliated against her uncle VP by confiscating the property of VP’s friends. Her family seemed to be throwing out the principles Libby holds most dear.

If Lady Liberty was human, and a literal close friend of mine, that phone call could have really occurred. But unfortunately, the chaos and worldwide assault on liberty that hypothetical conversation described are all too real.

As I watched global events transpire over the past two months, I was reminded of two previous The Intrepid Life articles. The first, A Worldwide Game of Jenga, describes Ray Dalio’s research on the rise and fall of empires over the last five hundred years. His work suggests that the relative world peace experienced since the end of WWII, may be about to shatter. The article concluded saying:

So if history repeats, or at least rhymes, those of us in the United States (and the world) could be in for a turbulent couple decades; far different than what we or our parents have experienced.

That article was sent out on February 5th. Nineteen days later, on February 24th, Russia invaded Ukraine. As uncanny as that timing may seem, the timing of the second article, was even more so.

The subject of Two Doses of Freedom is that human societies cycle between extremes of personal freedom and centralized control. This cycle played out consistently during America’s two hundred and fifty year history. I closed the article arguing that another face-off likely looms in the near future:

We seem to be headed into, are in, or are perhaps on our way out of, a time of increased control and less freedom. Only time will truly tell where exactly we currently sit in the cycle.

That was sent out three days before Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau enacted emergency powers and froze the bank accounts of the Freedom Convoy truckers and their supporters. A pretty epic display of centralized control trampling personal freedom.

The picture these events are drawing is one where bulwarks of the global system that provided relative peace are decaying, as well as, one where every crisis, from COVID-19 to Ukraine, is a battle between freedom and control. The times are changing and the world is along for a rocky ride.

So here we sit, pawns on a chaotic, global chess board. Headlines of wars and power-grabs can be worrying, and even paralyzing. Perhaps you find yourself swept along in the emotion and hysteria of the day. Perhaps you’re asking: How do I plan for the future with such uncertainty? How can I bring children into this threatening world? Or what can an individual do against the agendas of global organizations?

Any approach to answering such questions and avoiding fear-driven paralysis must incorporate two characteristics - faith and wisdom.

We are pawns. The world is a chess board. But I believe God is the grand chess master. Self-reliance and the good old American belief that we can solve our own problems, is a fool’s errand. Any approach that disregards our Creator results in a humiliating face-plant, every time. (Trust me.) When faced with the worries of this world, true peace is impossible without faith in the God who’s got the whole world in his hands.

But faith doesn’t alleviate us of our responsibility to act wisely. In fact, within the Bible, the book of Proverbs is dedicated to teaching the pursuit of wisdom. I believe one aspect of wisdom, necessary to navigating today’s world, is being proactive rather than reactive.

Being proactive is a habit covered in the book, The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People. Its author, Stephen Covey, defines being proactive as taking responsibility for your life. This concept was one of two major take-aways from his book that have stuck with me for years. (I wrote about the other - personal mission statements - in a previous article.) Particularly ingrained in my mind is the visual shown below:

The simple diagram consists of two concentric circles. Everything that falls outside of both circles is of no concern to us, e.g. definitely everything the Kardashians are up to. The larger circle encompasses all the things in our lives that do concern us, e.g. the actions of a Russian dictator. The smaller circle, represents the things in our lives over which we have influence, e.g. everything with which we interact. It’s probably safe to assume this diagram is accurate for most people alive today - that most things in the world are of no concern to us, and we’re concerned with more things than we can influence.

Covey suggests using this visual tool to help identify those areas in your life over which you have no influence, and those which you do. By doing so, it can help you develop a proactive mindset and proactive habits.

If you fill your days obsessing over things out of your influence, you will live your life tossed to-and-fro and spinning your wheels. This category ranges from the personal, such as how tall you are or your heritage, to the global, such as the actions of global institutions or the movements of stock markets. These things may be very important, and everyone on TikTok may be talking about them, but if you give them your time, energy, and emotions, and by extension your life, you will sadly be a puppet manipulated by things outside of your control. The very definition of a reactive life.

Over the years, even as I found Covey’s visual extremely helpful, I also came to find its circle of influence slightly too broad. I now add another smaller circle - the circle of control.

I find the circle of control instructive because, while focusing on what we can influence is good, focusing on what we can control is better. We can influence our kids, our neighbors, our friends, and our acquaintances, but we can control ourselves. It’s when we live our life focused on what we are responsible for, and are able to control, that we live proactively and impactfully. I’m reminded of a poem by an unknown monk from 1100 A.D.:

When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world.

The key to living proactively begins with us. It begins with daily habits. It begins with the commitment to live differently than the majority of those around you. You must turn down the noise and tune out the static of our distracted society. Television, social media, movies, politics, and the never ending sensational news programs are all powerful distractions. In his quote that began this article, Covey says:

“Reactive people are driven by feelings, by circumstances, by conditions, by their environment. Proactive people are driven by values - carefully thought about, selected and internalized values.”

Are you driven by values? Have you carefully thought about and selected the habits that can produce the life you desire to live? Are you committed to doing the hard work of critical thinking, and continually educating yourself so that you can decipher truth from propaganda? And it takes courage, conviction, and strength, because being the lone fish swimming up stream is hard.

The world will always be chaotic. There will always be conflicts and liberty will always be under attack. That’s the world and environment in which we live. Without a commitment to living a proactive life, the only other path is a reactive one - as a slave to your circumstances. But with faith and wisdom you can live a proactive and impactful life. You can take the road less traveled. As an Intrepid Lifer, you wouldn't travel it alone.

Now get out there and courageously live an unsafe, but good life.

If you found this article helpful, please do me a HUGE favor by simply clicking the LIKE button. A one second investment of your time can pay dividends to the work I’m to doing with The Intrepid Life!