Do We Act or Just React?

Posted by Tim on April 23, 2010 under Mindset | Be the First to Comment

A co-worker with whom you share a project calls in sick on the day both of you need to make a really important report to the client.

He’s apologizing and explaining why he wasn’t able to deliver his part. There’s still a few hours left before you need to meet the client. What would you do?

• Rile at your co-worker over the phone, and angrily complain about him to your supervisor
• Do nothing and go ahead with the report, saving face in front of the client by shifting all the blame to your co-worker
• Spend the few remaining hours doing whatever you can to complete the report
• Other:____

Nothing tests our character like an emergency or crisis, be it big or small. It’s in these moments that how we act or react becomes increasingly crucial to the outcome.

The whole spectrum of human activity can be put between the two broad bookends of action and reaction. Everything we do is practically either an action or a reaction towards something, intermittently spaced out by short or long pauses. We fluctuate between action and reaction all the time and that which makes us move from one end of the spectrum to the other is the degree of control we have of ourselves and of the situation. The more we shift towards action, the more we are in control. Conversely, the more we shift towards reaction, the more we are being controlled.

Action implies decisiveness and purpose. To act means to know what we want and to know how to get it. That level of certainty can be achieved if we clearly see the bigger picture. It’s not just a matter of determination then, it’s also a matter of perception. Being single-minded in one’s goal should not lead to being close-minded to everything else.

Reaction on the other hand is an effect that follows a cause. To react is to move reflexively. It is ruled by outside influence, by causes. It lacks the kind of decisiveness that comes with clear thought. When we react, we often do not see beyond our own desires.

Doesn’t it sometimes feel that the problems just keep coming, that there’s never an end to the troubles that plague us. Reaction tends to be short sighted. Reacting, our vision is frequently impaired and we may miss out in discerning the real problem, the root cause. Effects are seldom aware of the causes that trigger them. Firefighting and troubleshooting can impart immediate solutions to apparent symptoms but what’s to prevent it from showing up again. It’s like putting a finger through a leaking hole to stop the whole dam from collapsing. Soon enough another leak breaks and before you know it you’ve used up all your fingers.

What often obstructs our sight when we react is negative emotion. Fear, panic, anger, envy, jealousy, false pride – these feelings lead us to say and do things that we may regret later on. They possess us with the need for instant gratification that rarely considers the short or long term consequences. A common consequence of reaction is another reaction, sometimes equal in force and moving in the opposite direction, towards us.

A thoughtless comment from you sets off a biting remark from the other which in turn irritates you to the point of doing something rash and the other person naturally retaliates. Down the line it becomes a full blown hostility and neither of you probably don’t remember what started it in the first place.

That’s why every now and then it’s necessary to pause – to take a deep breath, step back and ask ourselves, “What am I doing and why am I doing it?”. Of course doing so is probably not as easy as it sounds especially when we’re emotional at the moment. But before we can take control of a situation, we would need to take control of ourselves.

You’re walking through a deserted unlit alley, the usual short cut you take going home. Suddenly a guy jumps from the shadows and blocks your path. He pulls out a knife and asks for your wallet. What would you do?

We probably don’t confront life-threatening situations on a daily basis. But we can think of every problem we come up against no matter how mundane or earth-shattering, as a mirror. How we deal with it can glaringly reveal a part of us. It’s our choice to face up to it. Self-control is self-knowledge.

“You can attain an understanding with which to win against ten thousand.”

These words come from a certain samurai by the name of Miyamoto Musashi who lived in Japan in the later part of the 16th century. He faced life and death situations all the time. And he won through every one of them. How did he do it? He reveals the secret in a book he wrote in his later years, The Book of Five Rings. This book contains his philosophy, his ‘Way’ as he calls it, and an essential part of this is the concept of action versus reaction.

The ‘understanding’ he speaks of begins in an understanding of the self. When you know who you are then you know what you want and from there clear decisions and productive actions follow. Obstacles and hindrances then become secondary. They are details that simply need to be worked out, not main concerns that should preoccupy our thoughts and dictate our every move. Musashi believes the way to victory lies in having the mindset of a strategist. While a tactician may only see the battle in front of him, a strategist sees the whole battlefield. The key to triumph is direct and decisive action towards one’s goal and not scrambling against smaller issues.

He stresses this point further by saying that success lies in setting your own rhythm and not getting caught up in the rhythm of the opponent. Acting involves making a choice. Reacting means someone else is making the choices.

Musashi made his realizations through constant practice, an advice he repeatedly states to those who wish to follow his path. As with any endeavor, we can only become better at it by being consistent. We might still probably find ourselves in situations where we will be forced to react. There will be times when we can’t help but give in to negative emotion. It would be unrealistic to expect from ourselves a sudden change in attitude and perspective overnight. But we can start now and the first step to becoming more decisive is choosing to be so.