10 Powerful Ways to Develop Adaptability
Problem: Rule one of adapting to any situation: don’t waste time complaining about it. Nothing you say will change what’s going on, no matter how blameless you are. Finding someone or something to blame for the way things are isn’t going to put you in a better position either, so it’s pointless to expend time and energy on that sort of behaviour. Whether someone actually did something to put you in this horrible position or it’s all your fault for where you ended up, assigning or accepting blame just makes you feel worse about it and clouds your judgement.
Solution: Make a note of certain words you’re not allowed to use any more and tell the people you spend the most time with to let you know when they notice you’re using them. The most frequently used words and phrases could be: fault, should have, blame, guilty, etc. When you notice you’re using these words, stop that line of thought. Literally stop talking and don’t even finish your sentence. With time your brain will learn that those words are not acceptable and will stop letting you resort to them.
Problem: Some people believe that there is a right time to take action, so they wait… and wait… and wait. These people rarely get started with their goals, let alone achieve them. If you’re waiting for the right moment, you’ll be waiting for a while, because there is never a perfect time for anything. Not to mention that the universe doesn’t owe you anything, so there is no “right” conclusion to your every problem. You just have to make the most of what you’ve been dealt.
Solution: Become a “yes man” in the sense that you say “yes” to every challenge, whether the time feels right or not. Seize the day! Be bold enough to try things that other people are afraid to do. If you have an idea, give it a shot. Not tomorrow. Not someday. NOW! Things won’t line themselves up perfectly for you. Adaptability is about making the most of what you’ve got and coping with it, making it work for you.
Problem: Sometimes we get so excited to carry out our great ideas that we forget to plan for what might go wrong. Then when it happens, as things inevitably do, we panic. Don’t be one of the people who give up after the first (or even tenth) set-back. Adaptability is all about planning ahead!
Solution: Don’t just have a plan A and a plan B. Use the whole alphabet! Some of the world’s most successful people had to resort to plan Z and sometimes even had to circle right through the whole alphabet a second or third time before they found something that worked. As long as you’re prepared for the worst, anything that comes your way will be welcomed and well-handled. But don’t just prepared for the worst. Sometimes it’s succeeding that scares us the most and we actually need a plan for what we will do when things go right. It can be scary to suddenly get everything you wanted, because that can change your life more radically than failing.
Problem: Maybe you’ve experienced a situation where you were considered the best in your field and for a time you revelled in it. You rested on your laurels and eventually someone else came along who was better. This happens when you don’t prepare for the unforgiving steam-roller that is the future. Innovation, progress, advancement… they will never cease to come towards you. Even if you’re effortlessly the best today, you have to work hard to stay that way.
Solution: Practise is essential. Constant and never-ending improvement is something you must never stop striving for. Read about your industry, practise your art, improve your skillset, stay on top of any technological trends. Make sure to Google things you don’t understand and experiment with new things you learn as you go. If you stop trying to improve, you will be left behind. That I can guarantee.
Problem: A major mistake some stubborn people make is to refuse to accept or even ask for help. They think success doesn’t count unless they accomplish it completely on their own. Or worse, they assume no one else knows what they’re talking about and they are the only one who knows what’s best. These people will not get ahead, and if they do, they certainly won’t stay on the top for long. Humans are social creatures and we got this far up the evolutionary ladder by helping each other out and accepting help when we needed it. Any successful corporation worth its salt will have more than one person in a powerful position. Rarely is there only one person who calls all the shots. That’s because having multiple perspectives heard at any given time means many different ideas can overlap and work together to cover all the bases. People from all walks of life have something to offer. Older people offer wisdom so you don’t repeat their past mistakes. Younger people offer creativity and innovation. Cautious people will check for errors and find them before it’s too late. Risk-takers will make bold decisions that will guarantee the company gets noticed. All are worthy and all are necessary.
Solution: Accept whatever help or advice is given to you. Accepting it doesn’t mean you have to take it. It just means you listen and consider it, because it may have merits. You may just take a part of it, you may not take any at all. But it’s wise to at least take it into consideration going forward. And when you need help, don’t be stubborn. Ask for it. People can’t read your mind. They won’t know you need help unless you tell them. Being tolerant and respectful of everyone around you will ensure you remain adaptable.
Problem: The kind of questions you ask yourself (and others) determine the quality of answers you receive. And your brain will always find an answer to any question you ask, even if it’s rhetorical. If you’re asking “Why can’t I make this work?” it will probably come up with something like “Because you’re a worthless idiot”. Maybe it won’t be so harsh, but the point is, it won’t help you solve the problem. It will just answer the question. Other questions most people subconsciously ask themselves end up being a little too limiting to offer any real solutions. Questions like “How can I solve this problem using what I know?” don’t inspire much creative problem-solving.
Solution: Ask new questions that aren’t too narrowly focused on this very specific solution you have in mind. Adaptability is about being open to new possibilities, so push yourself to ask questions like “What is the most surprising thing about this problem?” or “What is at the very edge of what is considered possible in this field today?” And make sure to ask yourself “What data am I wilfully ignoring because I don’t like what it says?” That one can be very enlightening.
Problem: When we experience a problem, we have a tendency to zoom in. To fill our line of vision with the problem and try to focus on it until a solution presents itself. We pull the problem apart until the parts of it get smaller and smaller, and we end up with so many tiny moving parts that it’s almost impossible to put them back together again. This sort of behaviour just makes everything more confusing. It stresses us out and makes us less likely to come up with a creative solution. Being adaptable means keeping your eye on the bigger picture. It means knowing what your end goal is, but not being attached to the package you initially thought it would come in. Remember that you want the present inside the box. The wrapping paper doesn’t matter.
Solution: Zoom out and see how the little parts of the problem interact. See the bigger picture. Find the patterns. When you keep your end goal and your core values in mind you will always know if you’re headed in the right direction, even when life pushes you off track. Have a vision and it will allow you to course-correct as you go. As long as you always remember what’s most important to you, you’re not in danger of getting swept up by the tide and veering off course.
Problem: Most people worry that when things change they will lose all they have worked towards. They focus on what they have to lose, instead of what this change has to offer them that might be better than what they had before. The thing is, the change sometimes needs to be altered and worked on a little further in order to become better than what you had. Because it may be unusable in its current raw state. So it’s important to always be willing to let go of the good to go for the great.
Solution: Learn to see every change as an opportunity to create something better. See it as a challenge to improve, not as a problem to be overcome and forgotten. If you get laid off, focus on the freedom this gives you to go after your true passion. Don’t focus on the stability and certainty you’ve lost. Be positive. That’s what will make you adaptable.
Problem: Our brains evolved to thrive on change. They love change so much that when something different, something new occurs, they fire off a cocktail of feel-good chemicals to get you addicted to the feeling. This gives you a burst of energy that you can use to make the most of this new situation. That’s why when we come up with an innovative idea we get so excited we just jump right into it and stay up all day and night working on it, but then when the novelty wears off, so does the energy and that’s when a lot of people give up.
Solution: The trick is to use this “newness energy” to keep yourself inspired and motivated. Whenever you feel the buzz of a new idea, jump on it! Make the most of it straight away. Don’t wait another second, or the feeling will wear off and you’ll have to start over. Once you seize your new idea and it starts to feel routine again, do something new again to give yourself another hit of dopamine. Brain storm with someone else in the field, sketch out a 10-year plan, build a prototype… anything that will excite you all over again and keep your energy going. This will keep you in the right mindset to handle the pressure and cope with any problems that come your way, because “newness energy” makes you extremely adaptable.
Problem: When everything around you is going haywire and you feel out of control, having something that always stays the same can be a huge comfort. Your brain loves novelty, but it also loves safety and stability (go figure, it doesn’t know what it wants). So when the world is going crazy, the ability to keep a level head and make a good decision is paramount. Having too many unfamiliar variables can get confusing. Having a constant is the only thing that will help you retain your sanity long enough to give you clarity during the storm.
Solution: When coping with a big change, having something that will never change – something that has stayed the same throughout it all – can ease you through the transition. A morning routine can be one of these constants. It doesn’t have to be as rigid as military boot camp. Something as simple as waking up to natural light, drinking a cup of tea and taking 20minutes to read a book before eating breakfast and writing down your focus for that day could make all the difference between getting into work frazzled and strolling in calmly and collectedly. Starting off your day right will look different for you than it does for me, but as long as you have a simple series of steps that you always carry out in the same way, it will help you feel at ease. You can have another routine for after work and another for any other time in your life, as long as you can create a routine that works for you and one that you can keep up every day no matter what, it will keep you feeling stable. It doesn’t have to be a routine though. Your constant might be a person you always know you can talk to, a pet you can always snuggle with when you’re frazzled. Anything that works for you.
Try out these tips and if you’re still finding my advice hard to implement, ask for help in the comments below, send me a message, or book a FREE breakthrough session to see how I can help you through Skype.
You can find more Happiness Strategy videos on my YouTube channel, so subscribe to make sure you never miss an episode! I come out with a new one every single Sunday.
Until next time, remember: Happiness doesn’t require energy. It requires Strategy.
