With the ever changing and uncertain world we live in, all we seem to hear about is how we have to be resilient to get through the tough times. Our businesses, families, communities, relationships are constantly reminded, if they’re going to survive they need to be resilient to whatever gets thrown at them. We tell our kids, no matter how many times we get knocked down, we just have to keep getting back up and everything will eventually work out if we try hard enough. I don’t know about you, but to me that seems to be an increasingly hard way of living. 

Resilience is the new buzz word that we hear getting thrown around these days and while yes, it is important to have a level of resilience in life, I believe that we are fundamentally missing something with what we are teaching our children and ourselves. 

What we are communicating to the younger generations, is that bad things are going to happen to you time and time again throughout your life. You're going to have a lot of crap thrown at you in your life and being resilient means to continue to bounce back each time and push through it. We are teaching them that to be resilient is to be resistant. They learn to build a shield of armour around themselves, so that no matter what happens to them they cannot get hurt.

We’re not saying teaching people about resilience is wrong and we shouldn’t do it. What we are saying is that what if there was a different way to approach it? Over the last few years, despite the importance of resilience being drummed into us continuously, the rates of suicide and depression in teenagers and young adults continue to rise. Instead of just trying to hold on, what if there was a way to thrive during challenges and tough times and not just survive? What if we could learn how to turn a tough situation into a positive one? What if we could become better at adapting?

Adaptability is the notion of creating more from less. It is about understanding the situation you are in and being able to identify the opportunities that could come from it. No matter what situation we find ourselves in, there is always an opportunity to create something new and positive from it. Some situations have greater opportunities than others, but wherever we find ourselves in life, there is always something big or small to learn from what we are going through. While at the time it might not seem that way, reflecting back, there will inevitably be an opportunity that is there to be captured.  

For this very reason, at ‘The Adaptability Movement’ we have seen a huge opportunity to get this message out to more people to help them learn to become more adaptable students, employees, partners, parents and human beings. We are excited to help people to discover more purpose by helping them to regenerate, grow, prepare and thrive, to live a conscious life where anything is possible and opportunities are endless . We have developed programs around these 4 pillars, along with the foundation of connecting communities, to create an environment where individuals can flourish.   

This week, we launched our new podcast ‘Resilience Sucks’ with the purpose of highlighting how being more resilient is sucking the life out of all of us. Through this podcast we are going to explore many different topics around becoming more adaptable in the 4 major areas of your life:

• Business, Career & Finance 
• Relationships & Family
• Health & Wellbeing
• Mindset & Mindfulness

On the podcast we have an amazing lineup of everyday people who have had to adapt in their life to find a new direction, more purpose or even a new country. Through listening to their amazing stories, we extract practical action points which anyone can start to implement instantaneously to help them to start to live the life they wish. You can listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or watch the video on YouTube.

Having the ability to be adaptable means that no matter where you find yourself, you’re able to seek out the opportunities and look for ways to get the most out of each situation. The aim of our programs is to equip individuals with the tools to be able to create the opportunities and develop practical strategies to get the most out of everyday and every circumstance they find themselves in. We all go through challenging times and we never know what’s around the corner. Being prepared to be able to adapt in any environment and any situation is key no matter if you’re working in an office, a student at school, a parent looking after the kids at home or a professional athlete trying to get the most out of their career. There are times in everyone's life where they need to become agile and adapt if they want to live a life of purpose and happiness. It’s not always easy, but it is necessary. 

You can find out more about The Adaptability Movement and seek to become involved at www.theadaptabilitymovement.world or follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn.

Author

Ben Haren

Co-Founder of The Adaptability Movement