The inevitable beauty of adaptability

 

 

   “𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓶𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓫𝓮 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓮𝓵𝓮𝓼𝓼, 𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓶𝓵𝓮𝓼𝓼, 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓻. 𝓦𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓹𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝔀𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓲𝓷 𝓪 𝓬𝓾𝓹, 𝓲𝓽 𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓾𝓹. 𝓦𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓹𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝔀𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓲𝓷 𝓪 𝓫𝓸𝓽𝓽𝓵𝓮, 𝓲𝓽 𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓸𝓽𝓽𝓵𝓮. 𝓦𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓹𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝔀𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓲𝓷 𝓪 𝓽𝓮𝓪𝓹𝓸𝓽, 𝓲𝓽 𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓽𝓮𝓪𝓹𝓸𝓽. 𝓦𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓭𝓻𝓲𝓹 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓲𝓽 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓬𝓻𝓪𝓼𝓱. 𝓑𝓮𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓶𝔂 𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭.” – 𝓑𝓻𝓾𝓬𝓮 𝓛𝓮𝓮

Today, though I had originally planned on writing on something different entirely.I felt the urge to talk to you briefly about adaptability, the one soft skill necessary not only to survive but also thrive in this era of  rapid change on all levels of human existence.To define adaptability, according to Oxford Learner's Dictionaries, it is the ability to change or be changed in order to deal successfully with new situations. Considering the mind-boggling pace with which technological progress, among others, is taking its place in our lives, it seems to me that in order to stay afloat and thriving, one must stay informed at all times and embrace those changes to their benefit or otherwise perish.

Taking technological advances for example, approximately 5 billion people use the Internet. Users pose a question to Google 8.5 billion times a day. It is estimated that by 2040, 95% of purchases will be done online. The Compound Annual Growth rate for AI will be 42,2% by 2040. In the same context, AI is believed to  have replaced around 85 million jobs in the US alone by the year 2025. For those of you who haven't been living under a rock this past year, AI technology has been progressing  pretty fast and it has to be emphasised that businesses and individuals both love its efficiency, as it is saving them not only precious time but also increases their revenue, not to mention all the drastic impact that it is already making on businesses, education, medicine but also on the way we live our daily lives.

For more incredible information, check out this amazing article on the mindblowing growth of technology. A great and informative read which I highly recommend : 

How fast is technology advancing in 2023? 

It's a lot to take in, how fast it's all going and like in every cusp of change in human history, it's up to every individual to choose whether to adapt or to be left behind.Without getting too philosophical, we all know all too well that life loves putting challenges in our path. Consider it as a test of sorts. What choices will you make? Will you choose to jump in head-first, embracing it fully, determined to make the most of it or will you hide behind the excuse you are not yet ready and need to think things through first? Paulho Coelho said it so well:

“𝓦𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝔀𝓮 𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓽 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓽 𝓲𝓽, 𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓮 𝓼𝓮𝓽𝓼 𝓾𝓼 𝓪 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓷𝓰𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓪𝓰𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮; 𝓪𝓽 𝓼𝓾𝓬𝓱 𝓪 𝓶𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽, 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓷𝓸 𝓹𝓸𝓲𝓷𝓽 𝓲𝓷 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓷𝓮𝓭 𝓸𝓻 𝓲𝓷 𝓼𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔀𝓮 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝔂𝓮𝓽 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭𝔂. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓷𝓰𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝔀𝓪𝓲𝓽. 𝓛𝓲𝓯𝓮 𝓭𝓸𝓮𝓼 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓵𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓫𝓪𝓬𝓴. 𝓐 𝔀𝓮𝓮𝓴 𝓲𝓼 𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓷 𝓮𝓷𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓾𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓭𝓮𝓬𝓲𝓭𝓮 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓸𝓻 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓪𝓬𝓬𝓮𝓹𝓽 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓭𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓷𝔂.” – 𝓟𝓪𝓾𝓵𝓸 𝓒𝓸𝓮𝓵𝓱𝓸   

I will not tire you with an overload of information on the specifics of adaptability in the workplace or school.That was not the reason for this post. I would, however, like to outline some of the benefits of adaptability that I hope will serve you well, whatever the nature of the change is in your present moment. Having had to adapt to harsh circumstances in my family life as a child, I could say adaptability is one of my superpowers and has helped me through quite tough circumstances. It is a necessary skill to possess. Let's have a look why.

1.Happiness. Making the choice to adapt to whatever change life threw at you instead of playing the victim and feeling sorry for yourself, actually helps you feel happier and more content. 

2.More opportunities. Career wise, an employer is more likely to consider an adaptable person for a new job opportunity or promotion,as they will be better equipped and prepared to face the challenges and obstacles that will inevitably come with it.The same is true for students of course. Moreover, it is my firm belief that being adaptable makes you more attractive as a personality, drawing  friends and relationships to you. Who could say no to that?

3. Overcoming the unexpected. You know as well as I do that the unexpected is the only constant in life. An adaptable person is more than ready to face it head on.It is necessary, therefore, that you hone your adaptability skills and you'll be more than prepared to face just about anything.

4.Better understanding of other people. An adaptable person understands that each person has their own point of view and is more willing to listen and understand what they're about and accept them for who they are. That in turn  makes them more empathetic towards others and thus more likeable. 

 

 

5.Open-mindedness. An adaptable person is better equipped to accept the new, the disrupting breakthroughs. They'd be the first to embrace them, to ride the wave and not allow emotions or insecurity to accept the changes. Open-mindedness results in clarity of thought and the ability to solve problems quickly and effectively.

6.Usefulness.  Daily tasks whether at work, school or at home constantly change. This requires of you to be coolheaded and be able to prioritise and find solutions to deal with it all. Such an ability is most useful to you, as it enables you to be of service to your family, your employer, your community and definitely makes you stand out.

7. More efficient leadership. An efficient leader is open to change and open-minded, meaning he is adept at adapting to changes or viewpoints that are not necessarily fanourable to  him. This in turn allows them to lead with empathy and understanding, thus setting the example for everyone in the team/family/class. Finally, an adaptable leader is more open to experimentation, changing traditional approaches to situations and is not afraid to fail their way forward.A win-win situation in any case.

 

That's all from me today. I do hope that in some small way this post will be helpful to you today. I will leave you with the words of Helen Keller who said:

“𝓐 𝓫𝓮𝓷𝓭 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓻𝓸𝓪𝓭 𝓲𝓼 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓮𝓷𝓭 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓻𝓸𝓪𝓭… 𝓤𝓷𝓵𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓯𝓪𝓲𝓵 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓷.” 𝓗𝓮𝓵𝓮𝓷 𝓚𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓻

Sending you nothing but positive thoughts and energy for an amazing day,

Lia