be proactive
Take preemptive action
To be proactive is to take initiative rather than waiting for events to force your hand.
Where reactive means responding to situations after they arise, proactive means anticipating them and acting in advance: Be proactive about your health—don't wait until something's wrong.
The phrase became a fixture of business and self-help language in the late twentieth century.
- initiativeSelf-directed action capacity
- anticipateExpect beforehand
- think aheadPlan for future events
- preparedMade ready beforehand
- foresightAbility to anticipate futures
stay ahead · get ahead · hustle · hit the ground running · self-starter · take charge · take the bull by the horns · motivated · driven · step up · decisive · ahead · prevention · nip it in the bud · planning · assertive · engaged · forward-thinking
be proactivereact
Answer a stimulus
wait and see · respond · firefight · put out fires · play catch-up
be proactivedo nothing
Remain inactive deliberately
stand by · sit on one's hands · sit back · take a back seat · coast
proactive, been, were, active, actively, activate, activation, activity, activities