I decided to publish the main Lessons from my "Scotland Chapter 1" also individually.
At times, the Mind can get overwhelmed with summarised learnings and more readily accept new perspectives progressively. This version therefore has its main focus on angles and related questions you can utilise for your Self-awareness practice on Character-development and the trait of being adaptable.
Read the original blog post here: What is Adventure? – our personal stories
Today's segment titles:
We are not adventurous in equal proportions.
When you find yourself a little more risk-averse and not as ready to dive into new ideas, your level of Adaptability may be a little lower than when someone has been more explorative and put themselves through a plethora of situations that raised their levels of Adaptability through experience and a corresponding mindset.
I know that my more reserved peers have been at least surprised when I made choices they would not have made or admittedly didn't dare to make. Then again, my more adventurous nature was forged in the progressively more expansive choices made along the way. Mindset has a lot to do with it as you might have suspected.
When we don't believe we can do something today, doesn't mean that we are never going to be able to believe we can and at least try it.
When we dare a little further every day, we find ourselves having become who we wanted to be.
When you are still here reading, wondering about your current reactions to the ideas above, in some way you want to achieve some sort of change within yourself.
Do you? What is it?
The answers may arrive over time as your Subconscious works through the questions.
Accepting where we are at
and accepting our differences.
If you do not feel you have a desire to explore the part of your personality that likens to Indiana Jones, a good consideration may be whether you are ready to accept yourself as you are; and for starters, you can choose to seek out personalities in your surroundings who would be representative of that creative, daring, adaptable explorer spirit you can't fully identify with (yet).
What is the extent of your Self-acceptance currently?
How much do you notice in your Self-talk the desire to change in certain things?
What are they?
How would you verbalise them in terms of Character traits?
In a Leadership position, when you feel you are in certain areas like Adaptability not as advanced, consciously choosing your Team members and work partners who have these characteristics in their strength zone, is a way to build complementing skillsets.
My recommendation for Leadership practice usually includes that we don't shy away from things that make us different, rather invite a variety of viewpoints and personalities to encourage greater diversity which can lead to a much broader array of (often noticeably better) solutions.
Adaptability can be trained in
smaller magnitude choices.
You don't need to make any radical changes like I did.
Smaller, consistent adjustments can go a long way. Comfort zone expansion tends to happen over time.
We are changing in some way all our Life. The question becomes if we simply react to events and change that way, or we choose to consciously steer our Change process, our Personal Growth.
Reactivity may have many negative side effects, amongst them is that we may struggle way more and stay way longer in a territory of confusion than is necessary.
Proactively adapting can reduce these negative effects.
What ways can you see currently to introduce a bit of novelty into your day?
When there are ideas you previously discarded because they were too different to your current ways of doing things, can you this time pause and reconsider how they may add Value?
Any next time when you habitually respond to the same triggers, can you pause and reassess?
Will you look at your daily routine and take just one element and see how you could optimise it?
When you invest into increasing your Awareness, you will be able to transcend fears and doubts that hold you back today needlessly. Change and optimisation will come with more ease when practiced.
I attest to how this process of expansion and Character development helps us make not only more optimal choices, but also become very clear about our Self-concept.
Understanding our current state of Self-concept is a major element of Personal Growth.
Self-image, Self-esteem and the Ideal Self are components of that Self-concept (Carl Rogers definition). There may be gaps between how we see ourselves today (Self-image) and how we would like to be (Ideal Self). How much we value ourselves (Self-esteem – when improved to adequate measure, which we can practice continuously) will be fuel for progress.
Character traits, like being adaptable or wanting to be more adaptable, are elements which help navigate to close those gaps.
Self-reflection is necessary to know what we desire to change and why.
Why do you want to become more adaptable?
Has there been any negative impact due to a lack of it?
How does greater Adaptability look like for you in your current everyday choices?
Which of your strong Character traits could help improve your Adaptability?
How would you like to encourage Adaptability in the people in your surroundings, whom you work with?
Sometimes we can easier see how we would want to help others or how we think they could do better (working on decreasing our superficial judgement), so when you are able to verbalise suggestions for others, you can then take your own advice and apply it on yourself.
I've found that to be a very humbling and useful practice.
How we deal with complexity through discernment can help us be more adaptable.
We could say that our world and Life are infinitely nuanced. If we would want to comprehend it all, our Conscious Mind wouldn't be able to cope with it. Our Subconscious Mind has immensely larger capacity, but that level of complexity may venture into the territory of Intuition already.
In the everydays our Analytical Mind sifts through information so that it lets through only the relevant and necessary (limited by our current filters) to the Conscious; everything else goes into the Subconscious.
And still, there is so much information what we have to deal with consciously.
Discernment is our ally. Not only in what we invest energy into, which choices we make, but for me it's clearly a supportive function in how well we can adapt.
When you don't discern well and are swept away by complexity, you would notice your decision-making slowing down, at times to a halt. You may experience confusion and your stress levels go up. Natural survival instinct could kick in and instead of adapting you may choose "fight, flight or freeze".
My practical example is when I crystallised my niche in Leadership Coaching and what kind of services I wanted to offer tied to it. A plethora of information and types of approaches seemed so confusing and energy-draining in the beginning. Part of the learning.
In a new area (with those new choices we make as we adapt) you grow in Confidence with time as you progress, discerning what works best for you and the people you choose as a primary audience and clientele.
In terms of services you can make it hugely complicated if you want to.
I experimented with many types, until I arrived at today's lean offering that stands for the flexibility and individual tailoring capacity that so far mutually best supports personal space and impactful investment.
Whose example inspire us can matter. The example aligned with me is a long-time Mentor Joseph Rodrigues, a successful Entrepreneur and advocate of Flow, who led by example: showing that we are able to get highest yield when the investments are transparent and crystallised and yes, creating amplified Value through simplicity.
The inspiring examples we choose can help us improve and we likely resonate with them, because they show us what's possible in the lifestyle we aim to create.
What is your compass for discernment now?
Are you clear about the Core Values that guide your choices?
How do you make sense of the complex heap of data you face every day?
What helps you find simplicity and clarity in decision-making?
Optimising our response to uncertainty.
Adaptability is to me an expression of Growth Mindset, because it shows up as the Courage to make new choices combined with exploring, scientific Curiosity. We welcome the possibility that new choices will lead to different outcomes – which have the potential to be better than the ones we make today.
We see learning instead of failure. We integrate lessons and exercise the ability to move on instead of despairing for long or giving up.
We seek a fresh perspective that helps us overcome periods of uncertainty and learn to accept that there will always be uncertainty, but we don't need to allow it to diminish our mental-emotional capacity to find ways of surviving through or even mastering such times.
The "same old, same old" in structures does not always mean stability and safety. It can also mean that something is suboptimally working or even crumbling around us.
If we are not ready to face the inevitability of Change, we are less likely to activate our power to adapt.
Novelty, even in small proportions, means learning.
Learning helps create fresh perspective and update outdated ways of thinking.
Even if we are primarily traditionally minded and treasure classical knowledge and long-standing habitual approaches which work fine, we can at the same time explore the New as well.
It doesn't need to be a binary option only. We don't need to feel that we are losing something by changing. Our Past is an incorporated part of us.
How much it drives our Present is up to us. If we are ready to make new mistakes and experience plenty better things as well, adapting our ways of living can be a worthwhile decision.
The notion is that we adapt in an everchanging world while remaining anchored at our centre in treasured Core Values.
I'm very glad and grateful that I had the strength and followed my Inner Compass to get out of my own perpetuated negative Life patterns and dare take the chance of positive Change.
What are your reasons for waiting?
What do you need to move toward your own better version of Life?
I bring all my learnings into my shares, reflection exercises, Coaching, so that my personal investments and revelations enrich not only my Life, but through my Work all your Lives too.
To explore the opportunity of working together
Reach out via message or head straight to the Coaching Session preparation form.
See you there!
T.
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