Adaptability as a Business Strategy

You’ve heard about survival of the fittest. It’s the principle that tells us that only those who can handle change and cope with adversity survive. In other words, adaptability is necessary – and it can mean the difference between success and failure in your business.

 In this chapter, we’ll talk about why great leaders must be adaptable, and provide some tips about how you can increase your adaptability and learn to go with the flow.

 How Adaptability Can Help You Succeed

In our professional lives, things seldom go the way we want them to. There are too many variables at play for that to always be the case. Often, the things that derail our career or our personal lives feels as though it’s out of our control.

There have been many times in my life when I’ve had an expectation that hasn’t been met – and I’m willing to bet that’s true for you, too.

 The bottom line is that what you do in the face of adversity is what’ll determine whether you’re able to quickly recover, reset and get back on the path to success.

 If you have a setback, do you get up and keep going – or do you give up and move onto something else?

 Great leaders learn to go with the flow. They understand that success doesn’t happen overnight. Their adaptability helps them get through failure and come out the other side a winner.

 Tips for Increasing Adaptability and Going with the Flow

 Some people have a high level of adaptability naturally. If that’s you, then you’re probably in good shape.

 But what if it’s not? What if you’re easily discouraged or daunted by setbacks? Is there anything you can do to increase your adaptability?

 Yes!

 Here are some tips to help you increase your adaptability and go with the flow.

1. Make contingency plans. You should always have a Plan B. It doesn’t mean you’re planning for failure. Instead, it means that you’ve given thought to what you’ll do if Plan A doesn’t go as planned.
2. Practice resilience. If you’re like most people, you probably experience tons of small setbacks. When one happens, pay attention to how you react and think about how you can switch up your internal monologue to be more positive.
3. Come up with a daily affirmation to remind yourself that you can deal with disappointment. You might try something like, “Even if things don’t go my way today, I’m going to keep going and not get bogged down by it.”
4. When something goes wrong, don’t react immediately. Take a few deep breaths and let yourself feel the disappointment. A lot of times, we get wrapped up in disappointment because we’re trying to hard to overcome it. It’s okay to feel disappointed – but it’s not okay to let it get the best of you.

 These tips can help you learn to be more resilient. Even a big disappointment or a disappointing failure doesn’t have to mean that your goals are out of reach.

 

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