Here and Now

I am all over the place with a web site I am looking at.  But I must admit the site (helpfulprofessor.com) is one of the clearest on its subject matter I have ever come across.
I have been looking at proactivity.  Proactive is defined as “the ability to do things in advance of an event to ensure you have maximum control.”  At the end of the article he gives the difference between proactivity and initiative. “Initiative means starting something whereas proactivity means planning ahead for something.”
There is an extensive list of examples of proactivity but several stood out to me. 
One was “asking for advice.”  I admit I have never been shy about doing that.  I figure the best way of ensuring I do it right is to know what right is in the first place.  Who better to find out what is required then to ask the one requiring it? To me “asking for feedback” goes hand in hand with that.  I can be happy and have totally missed the brief.  Feedback gives me an idea of where I have hit the mark, and where I can improve so as to hit the mark more often.
Another example was “writing daily to-do lists.”  I do this a lot.  There are several reasons I do it, but I reckon one of the main ones is to control stress.  I find that when I write stuff down, I remember it and it avoids that vague feeling of there being something I should be doing but cannot remember.  I find if I have written it down it will be remembered, and I can avoid thinking about it until it is time for it to be done.  To me so much stress can be avoided through clarity.
Little to me is as debilitating as knowing I have a mass of tasks to be done, but not having planned a time to do them.  Doing a list can seem over the top, but it is a great boon for my mental health, being able to concentrate on one task at a time.
One of the best examples of proactivity I have seen was the guy at 3M that invented the sticky notes.  He showed initiative by inventing it and presenting it to his boss.  His boss did not see the potential and so rejected the idea.  The inventor knew the potential and was proactive by making them and sending off paperwork with these things stuck on them.  Someone high up the chain of command got one and saw the possibilities and now you and I see them all the time.
To me there are many ways to be proactive.  It is the best way to give someone else what they want and where I believe in something, am committed to it, and where I can prove it works, to also get what I am after.