I had a good conversation with a founder friend recently. We discussed people who wait for opportunities to fall in their laps and people who find nonobvious opportunities and a way to be part of them. For a founder of an early-stage start-up, hiring the latter type is usually better.

During our exchange, my friend described the second group as people who show “purposeful progression in life.” I like that because it’s simple. Has someone identified an objective, and are they proactively taking action to move toward it, even if no clear path exists? If yes, they’re not just progressing, they’re progressing purposefully.

Are you progressing, progressing purposefully, regressing, or standing still?