The Critical Capacity to Adapt

Turning What You Love into What You Do
By Patrick O’Connor

Of the many qualities of the Road Less Traveled (RLT) subjects, adaptability stands out as one they lean on most. It is defined as “the process of adapting or becoming used to a new situation.” Often, this capacity is tested when changing conditions are beyond their control, which makes adaptability even more important.   

The capacity to adapt is a critical aspect of the RLT mindset, which is the extent to which people take control of the events that influence their lives. Do you make things happen or are you at the mercy of chance or fate? Do you get up and dust yourself off as often as needed? If so, you’ve been refining your capacity to adapt.

“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” ~Epictetus

Why is this so important?
The importance of adapting marches on. The old adage that the “only constant is change” seems more relevant every day. Wherever and whenever change occurs, adapting is also happening, as the two concepts are closely related. Adaptability is essential because the amount and pace of knowledge and information continue to increase. And technology is constantly changing, which affects all aspects of work and daily life. Rebooting, hitting the reset button, reimagining and reinventing are becoming the norm. In our modern world, it’s easy to become obsolete, forgotten or left behind. Adaptability is the key quality to keep up with rapid change and stay relevant and marketable. Two places where adaptability seem most prevalent are careers and daily living. 

Career
People will change careers as many as 12 times. This results in frequent zigzagging, which is changing jobs within a career or a career itself. Each zig and zag requires adaptability. Zigzagging seems to be built in, as all RLT subjects adjusted to multiple career changes. Gwen Rosenberg went from probation officer to beekeeper to candle maker to entrepreneur, among other jobs. Rachel Brown went from professional touring musician to middle school music teacher. Tom Fulton went from professional actor to high school performing arts teacher/administrator. George Miller II zigged and zagged from postal worker to child advocacy artist. And these a just a few examples. 

Work and the workplace are also constantly changing as the premium is now on knowledge workers in learning organization which puts an emphasis on lifelong learning. Also, mergers, downsizing, globalization, and technology have become the norm. As such, millions of workers have been displaced. At one time, this situation happened mostly to mid or late career workers. Now, it can happen to anyone at any time including those early in their career. And it can happen frequently over the course of a career which can last up to 60 years! 

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives. Nor the most intelligent but the one most adaptable to change.” ~Charles Darwin.

Daily Living
The best example of adaptability in daily living is the COVID-19 world everyone has endured since spring 2020. Consider all the adaptations to daily living that have become the norm. Many parents are now teaching assistants in hopes of keeping their children current on their studies. Contactless delivery, double-masking, massive job layoffs, curbside pickup, personal shoppers, social distancing, and Zoom happy hours are now part of daily living. Much of this will remain when the virus is eradicated. The capacity to adapt has been tested by the Covid virus unlike anything anyone could have ever imagined.

The Key to Adaptation – Lifelong Learning
Imagine a future filled with constant job and industry changes where the only security is your ability to constantly adapt. Lifelong learning is the vehicle for adapting to the changes that affect each of us every day. The world continues to change and there is constant risk in everything we do. 

Passion (what you love) and education/training (what you do) comprise the formula for career satisfaction. The education part can be anything from a high school career program (cosmetology, e.g.) to an associate degree (cyber security) to a bachelor’s degree (accounting) or beyond (dentist). One thing for certain is education and lifelong learning move people along the various steps of the career continuum. 

Upcoming segments
This blog completes one year of segments on how to turn what you love into what you do. I hope they have been informative and useful as people think about their roads and the roads of others. Upcoming segments will dig deeper into this topic, featuring case studies of people who have used the RLT mindset to turn what they love into what they do. 

“The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.” ~John Maxwell