Why prevention is always better than cure

In recent years, there’s been a growing movement to take a more proactive approach to maintenance and, in particular, healthcare. The old saying, “prevention is better than cure” has been with us for many years but both companies and individuals are finally starting to wake up to the concept that identifying, isolating, and fixing potential problems before they arise is far better than taking a purely reactive stance.

A proactive vs reactive approach

Just as in life, in the world of business, it’s all too easy sometimes to bury your head in the sand and just think everything is fine when, in truth, multiple problems might be on the verge of coming to fruition.

Taking a proactive approach to life or business means staying alert and being aware of possible issues that might rear their head in future. Sure, when life is going well, it’s often easy to just think that everything will stay the same and the status quo will remain—but actually, we all know life isn’t like that. There’s always the potential for God’s great banana skin waiting around the corner, or a broken piece of glass on the beach. Taking a proactive approach helps you see the situation as it actually is and allows you to predict outcomes that haven’t even happened yet.

How to apply proactivity in everyday life

These days, companies are increasingly turning to software and artificial intelligence (AI) to predict possible outcomes—but this tendency towards relying on tech doesn’t mean you can’t use your experiences of yesterday to try to forecast tomorrow. Life experience makes us wiser and applying the lessons you’ve learned in the past will help you make better judgements that will in turn affect your tomorrow.

Taking a full and honest audit of your circumstances in the present time will help you avoid possible problems waiting in the wings. For example, if your company building is of sufficient height that it justifies having an elevator, having regular ATIS elevator inspections will help you stay on top of problems that might rear their ugly head later.

This same approach can be applied to almost any area of life—whether it be your car, your computer, software—whatever. Regular maintenance is always considerably quicker and cheaper than waiting for inevitable issues to arise.

The proactive approach to business

There’s a saying that dictates, “what goes up, must come down,” and nowhere is it more applicable in life than in business. Mathematics does an ample job of explaining this idea with the shape of a parabolic curve—but it’s a phenomenon that is remarkably common across nature, too. The truth is, nothing can stay the same forever, and all aspects of life are in a continuous state of flux all the time.

Staying on top of your business or personal affairs requires work; or, in other words, maintenance. By taking a more proactive approach to life, work, and relationships, you’ll be better positioned to avoid (or at least prepare for) incoming problems and stand a better chance of bouncing back.

For sure, there is actually huge wisdom behind the saying, “prevention is better than cure.”