The Point of Being Proactive

Proactive means forward-looking. Humans are naturally forward looking.  We plan ahead; make budgets, plan our days, plan our vacations, plan for retirement, and so on.  We do this because we know that the alternative to being proactive, which is being reactive, leads to less desirable outcomes (e.g. “Oh, today is my vacation, I think I’ll go to the airport and fly somewhere warm!”). 

Most of us learn this by the time we are in high school.  We’re able to be proactive because we’re capable of thinking ahead, and there’s usually some data we can use to help us plan ahead.  We look at movie schedules, flyers for school plays, announcements of sports events and the like.  All that foreknowledge is “data” that we can use to plan our lives. 

We also use weather forecasts for some personal energy-related planning. 

• We bring along a hat and coat if we’re anticipating wintry weather.
• We close our windows if we’re expecting rain or cold.
• We close the window shades if we’re expecting a lot of sunlight on a summer day

So the point here is that being proactive is natural, depends on data, and usually leads to more desirable outcomes than is the usually the case for the alternative.

Please read the post titled “Time to Make Energy Systems Proactive” for a closer look.