Proactivity occurs after, not before!

Have you ever caught yourself thinking, “I should’ve been more prepared for that…”?

•⁠  You procrastinated once again on that important project…

•⁠  ⁠⁠You didn’t get the results you hoped for from a social media post or launch… 

•⁠  ⁠⁠You missed a key moment in a session you know you could’ve handled better…

•⁠  ⁠⁠You burnt yourself out because you didn’t take enough breaks throughout the day…

And then the spiral kicks in.. frustration, self-blame, maybe even a vow to “do better next time” but without any structure to make that next time actually better.

We tend to think the solution is to be more proactive. But oftentimes the word “proactive” comes loaded with pressure.

It suggests we should’ve been more prepared in advance. That we should’ve known better. That we should’ve had the foresight, discipline, or self-mastery to prevent the problem before it happened.

But here’s a perspective that’s changed the game for me and many of the people I coach:

Real proactivity often doesn’t happen in advance. It happens after.  

Rather than trying to be proactive, I like to think of it as being post-active.

Let me explain.

I recently started running again, and the first 10 minutes or so are rough. I feel it in my legs, my feet, and in my mindset. But eventually the discomfort fades, and I shift into flow. The “runner’s high” kicks in and everything becomes easier.

On my third run into rebuilding the habit I noticed that precise moment where I shifted into flow and thought to myself, “This is the spot! This is when it hits!”

But then I noticed something important: I’d forgotten to track when I started running. I had no idea how long it took me to get into the groove.

In the past I would’ve been frustrated. I would’ve beat myself up for not being proactive enough to remember to set the timer. But this time I didn’t dwell. I just made a note on my phone:

 “Remind me tomorrow morning to start a timer before my run.”

That’s it. A 10-second system.

No shame. No perfectionism. No pretending I’d magically remember it next time.

Just a clean post-active response and a simple step to make future success easier.

That’s what being post-active is all about.

Not predicting everything in advance or punishing yourself for being imperfect.  But learning from the moment and installing a useful system for the next iteration.

Because the truth is that the moments where we fail to anticipate are the very moments that give us the clarity to know what to do next time!

•⁠  ⁠If you procrastinated on an important project, don’t beat yourself up. Be post-active: set a 15-minute planning block on your calendar tomorrow to break it into a smaller next step.

•⁠  ⁠If you didn’t get the results you hoped for from a social post or launch, don’t spiral. Be post-active: take 5 minutes to jot down what you’d try differently next time, and schedule a reminder to revisit it before your next post.

•⁠  ⁠If you missed a key moment in a meeting or session you know you could’ve handled better, don’t beat yourself up. Be post-active: add a checklist to your meeting routine so you’re prepared for next time.

•⁠  ⁠If you ended the day burnt out because you didn’t take enough breaks, don’t make yourself wrong for it. Be post-active: set a purposeful pause on your calendar tomorrow (even just 10 minutes) to reset your energy and protect your long game.

None of these require you to be perfect, they just require you to be honest about what happened and compassionate enough to help your future self improve.

Being post-active means letting go of the idea that you should’ve known better and instead trusting yourself to use what just happened as fuel for what’s coming next.

Inefficiency → Awareness → Small System = Sustainable Progress.

Even writing this article was an act of post-activity.

I didn’t start with a clever name like “post-active.” I started with a simple mistake and a few scattered notes.

But through reflection, after the fact, the concept emerged and now it’s part of my mental toolbox.

That’s the value of being post-active. 

Now imagine this:

It’s a few days from now. You make a mistake. A small one. The kind that used to derail your mood or your momentum, but instead of spiraling you pause, take a breath, and ask yourself, “What could I do next time that would benefit future me?”

You take 10 seconds and you write the reminder, update the checklist, or you tweak the system and you move on lighter, clearer, more capable with no vitality wasted.

Now imagine not just doing that once but turning it into your automatic response.

If you want to experience sustainable peak productivity, the kind you can maintain for the long game and not just short sprints, then developing the skill of being post-active is a crucial piece of the puzzle. It allows you to integrate feedback quickly and plan strategically without wasting energy on self-judgment. And it’s just one piece. 

You’ll also need to solidify your ‘core’ so you can operate from a stable center no matter what life throws your way. And you’ll need to learn how to turn flow states on and off on command (while building in purposeful pauses) so you can take bold, aligned action without burning out.

If this concept resonated with you, it’s just the beginning of what’s possible because the truth is, you’re not meant to be flawless… You’re meant to be iterative. One fallibility at a time. One learning at a time.

You’re powerful because you can aim, adjust, and keep taking aligned action even when things don’t go perfectly. And when you build a system around that? You make progress faster with less friction, more flow, and a resilient core to purposefully move forward with more meaning, more momentum, and without burning out.

These are just some of the skills we train inside the Self-Leadership/Coaching Genius Certification + INSIDERS Coach Accelerator.

Mistakes become fuel. Action becomes aligned. Growth becomes inevitable.

Let’s build from there.