Adaptability is the flexibility to meet a challenge.
- Why: Often our biggest obstacle to dealing with change is the ability to change ourselves, our ability to adapt. Adapting to change provides confidence and growth. Believing you have the ability to succeed, you pursue a challenge as something to be mastered rather than as a threat. You are empowered — you own it!
- How: Developing your adaptability skill can be a goal setting process that calls for planning, persistence, and cooperation to define and develop.
- ☐ Think about your challenge and research the idea. Perhaps a skillful solution already exists.
- ☐ Discuss the skill idea with others to be sure the idea is understood and can meet its intended purpose.
- ☐ Consider creating the skill as a goal that is reachable along with the steps necessary to reach the goal.
- ☐ Steps may include a definition About the skill, Why the skill meets the challenge, and How the skill meets the challenge.
- Example: Using the idea of “Who am I going to call when …,” I want to extend my social support system to include people who have skills or qualities I may need. I will start with the simplest and move to the most essential members of my social support system. I further want to adapt my phone contact app to include these people in my contact list.
- ☐ My challenge is to extend my social support system using my phone contact list. (About…)
- ☐ Preparing for the future shapes me to adapt to the unexpected. (Why…)
- ☐ I research my phone contact app and begin with the easier contacts moving to more complex. (How…)
- ☐ I consider services such as electricity, water, gas, plumber, and roadside assistance.
- ☐ I consider healthcare such as physician, dentist, and veterinarian.
- ☐ I consider emergency services such police, fire, suicide, and poison control.
- ☐ I consider family, associates, and friends and the roles they play in the social support system.
- ☐ I consider In Case of Emergency (ICE) contact.
