{"id":8113,"date":"2020-04-01T15:13:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-01T19:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=8113"},"modified":"2020-04-18T11:41:19","modified_gmt":"2020-04-18T15:41:19","slug":"proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/","title":{"rendered":"Proactive vs. Reactive\u2014How Being Proactive Makes You Happier"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In every situation, you have the choice of being proactive vs. reactive. If you\u2019re reactive, you let your conditioning dictate how you respond to the people and circumstances around you; if you\u2019re proactive, you decide how you\u2019ll respond to create the results you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being proactive vs. reactive takes time and practice. You can learn how to be more proactive by making good choices, taking control of your actions, and communicating effectively with the people around you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Proactive vs. Reactive<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Being proactive requires you to take responsibility<\/a> for your actions and their consequences. <\/strong>You can\u2019t blame anything on other people or the cards you were dealt because you recognize that you always have a choice of how you act and how you respond to something. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reactive people allow their physical environment (e.g. the weather) and their social environment (e.g. how people treat them) to determine how they feel and act. This is the outside-in approach; they let things on the outside affect how they feel inside. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proactive people experience these external forces too, but they take the inside-out approach, choosing how to respond to those outside conditions. This is the difference between being proactive vs. reactive. Proactive people exercise the ability to suppress a reactive emotional impulse in order to act in accordance with the values they\u2019ve mindfully chosen, cultivated, and internalized.<\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being proactive versus reactive means that you choose to act, rather than be acted upon; you create your circumstances, rather than being subject to them.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To act instead of react, you must take initiative. People who take initiative become the solutions to their problems \u2014 they don\u2019t wait for solutions to present themselves. It takes initiative to maintain a P\/PC Balance, and to cultivate effectiveness in your life through the 7 Habits. How to be proactive<\/a> depends on several key factors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to be More Proactive <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In order to learn how to be more proactive, you must first recognize your main values, which are what you choose to act upon. Frankl names three central values in life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Experiential: The circumstances and experiences we encounter<\/li>
  2. Creative: The things we create or produce<\/li>
  3. Attitudinal: How we respond to difficult experiences<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The attitudinal is the highest value in life, in terms of creating your own paradigm and being proactive. Put another way, the most important factor is how you choose to respond to the experiences and circumstances you encounter in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When faced with a difficult reality, being proactive vs. reactive means accepting the hard facts but deciding how to create the most positive situation you can out of them. <\/strong>Here’s one proactive and reactive example. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you have a boss who\u2019s very smart but a total micromanager, being proactive versus reactive doesn\u2019t mean living in denial<\/a> and resigning by saying, \u201cthat\u2019s just the way it is.\u201d A proactive response entails working to buffer his weaknesses and focusing on his strengths; go above and beyond to provide him extra information and do tasks before he asks. When you show him you have the basics covered \u2014 the things that he usually hyper focuses on \u2014 then you can discuss bigger picture strategy with him and take advantage of his incredible intelligence.\u00a0This is how to become proactive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Being proactive and taking initiative are actually natural human actions, but if you develop the habit of being reactive you get accustomed to not using that muscle. If your life thus far has been determined by your conditions and conditioning, it\u2019s because you made the choice (consciously or unconsciously) to allow that. But you always have the choice to take a different course.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It can be difficult to adopt a proactive approach, especially if you\u2019ve spent years blaming your circumstances and conditioning. Additionally, it means you have to own up to the fact that you\u2019ve chosen and allowed everything that\u2019s happened in your life \u2014 including the negative. Being proactive vs. reactive is a challenge that requires careful though about all your actions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    One simple way to start shifting your paradigm to proactive versus reactive is to watch your words: The language we use both reveals and reinforces our attitudes of proactivity or reactivity. <\/strong>Reactive people tend to find evidence to confirm their belief that external forces are determining their life circumstances, and saying \u201cthat\u2019s just the way I am\u201d or \u201cthat\u2019s just my luck\u201d shows that you have resigned to your circumstances or conditioning<\/strong>. This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy because you\u2019re not motivated or empowered to do anything about it.\u00a0Think of proactive and reactive examples from your life based on this self-fulfilling prophecy idea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Hollywood and popular culture tend to use language that reinforces reactive attitudes. For example, we\u2019ve been taught that love is a feeling \u2014 you can fall in or out of love, and it\u2019s beyond your control. It was love at first sight. You were struck with love. Or, suddenly, the love was gone and there was nothing you could do about it and no way to get it back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Instead, you can be proactive about love and view love as a verb, something you can choose to exercise and cultivate. If your relationship feels like it\u2019s lacking love, take the actions to support, encourage, accept, and love your partner. Develop and strengthen love like it\u2019s a muscle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Now that you’ve been some proactive and reactive examples, you should be able to identify places where you’ve been proactive vs. reactive in your life. Now, the next step is to strengthen your “muscle” and incorporate your lessons on how to be more proactive into your daily life. This is how to become proactive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In every situation, you have the choice of being proactive vs. reactive. If you\u2019re reactive, you let your conditioning dictate how you respond to the people and circumstances around you; if you\u2019re proactive, you decide how you\u2019ll respond to create the results you want. Being proactive vs. reactive takes time and practice. You can learn how to be more proactive by making good choices, taking control of your actions, and communicating effectively with the people around you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":8138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,43],"tags":[73],"class_list":["post-8113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motivation","category-self-improvement","tag-7-habits-of-highly-effective-people","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nProactive vs. Reactive\u2014How Being Proactive Makes You Happier - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In every situation, you have the choice of being proactive vs. reactive. If you\u2019re proactive, you decide how you\u2019ll respond to create the results you want.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Proactive vs. Reactive\u2014How Being Proactive Makes You Happier\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In every situation, you have the choice of being proactive vs. reactive. If you\u2019re proactive, you decide how you\u2019ll respond to create the results you want.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-01T19:13:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-04-18T15:41:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/happy-proactive-7-habots-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carrie Cabral\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carrie Cabral\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carrie Cabral\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56\"},\"headline\":\"Proactive vs. Reactive\u2014How Being Proactive Makes You Happier\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-01T19:13:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-18T15:41:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/\"},\"wordCount\":970,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/happy-proactive-7-habots-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Motivation\",\"Self-Improvement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/\",\"name\":\"Proactive vs. Reactive\u2014How Being Proactive Makes You Happier - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/happy-proactive-7-habots-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-01T19:13:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-18T15:41:19+00:00\",\"description\":\"In every situation, you have the choice of being proactive vs. reactive. If you\u2019re proactive, you decide how you\u2019ll respond to create the results you want.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/happy-proactive-7-habots-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/happy-proactive-7-habots-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"What Is the Secret to Living a Happy Life?\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Proactive vs. Reactive\u2014How Being Proactive Makes You Happier\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World's Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56\",\"name\":\"Carrie Cabral\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Carrie Cabral\"},\"description\":\"Carrie has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember, and has always been open to reading anything put in front of her. She wrote her first short story at the age of six, about a lost dog who meets animal friends on his journey home. Surprisingly, it was never picked up by any major publishers, but did spark her passion for books. Carrie worked in book publishing for several years before getting an MFA in Creative Writing. She especially loves literary fiction, historical fiction, and social, cultural, and historical nonfiction that gets into the weeds of daily life.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/carrie\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Proactive vs. Reactive\u2014How Being Proactive Makes You Happier - Shortform Books","description":"In every situation, you have the choice of being proactive vs. reactive. If you\u2019re proactive, you decide how you\u2019ll respond to create the results you want.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Proactive vs. Reactive\u2014How Being Proactive Makes You Happier","og_description":"In every situation, you have the choice of being proactive vs. reactive. If you\u2019re proactive, you decide how you\u2019ll respond to create the results you want.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2020-04-01T19:13:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-04-18T15:41:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/happy-proactive-7-habots-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Carrie Cabral","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Carrie Cabral","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/"},"author":{"name":"Carrie Cabral","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56"},"headline":"Proactive vs. Reactive\u2014How Being Proactive Makes You Happier","datePublished":"2020-04-01T19:13:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-04-18T15:41:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/"},"wordCount":970,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/happy-proactive-7-habots-scaled.jpg","keywords":["The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"],"articleSection":["Motivation","Self-Improvement"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/","name":"Proactive vs. Reactive\u2014How Being Proactive Makes You Happier - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/happy-proactive-7-habots-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2020-04-01T19:13:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-04-18T15:41:19+00:00","description":"In every situation, you have the choice of being proactive vs. reactive. If you\u2019re proactive, you decide how you\u2019ll respond to create the results you want.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/happy-proactive-7-habots-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/happy-proactive-7-habots-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"What Is the Secret to Living a Happy Life?"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-vs-reactive-covey-7-habits\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Proactive vs. Reactive\u2014How Being Proactive Makes You Happier"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World's Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56","name":"Carrie Cabral","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Carrie Cabral"},"description":"Carrie has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember, and has always been open to reading anything put in front of her. She wrote her first short story at the age of six, about a lost dog who meets animal friends on his journey home. Surprisingly, it was never picked up by any major publishers, but did spark her passion for books. Carrie worked in book publishing for several years before getting an MFA in Creative Writing. She especially loves literary fiction, historical fiction, and social, cultural, and historical nonfiction that gets into the weeds of daily life.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/carrie\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/happy-proactive-7-habots-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8113"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8304,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8113\/revisions\/8304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}