Given the certainty-seeking culture we live in, the aggressive need to micro-manage every aspect of our lives often leaves us scrambling in a pool of unrequited stress and worry when faced with an unplanned situation. In a world that’s constantly evolving and changing, it’s important to adapt ourselves to unforeseeable conditions to help maximise growth opportunities.
Here’s a look at why flexibility is essential and how one can make themselves more adaptable.
Importance
As Kevin Baretto, brand consultant at Id8 Media Solutions shares,“I understand that life doesn’t always go according to plan, and some of the best experiences can emerge from the spontaneity and unpredictability of a situation. While plans and routines can provide structure and direction, unplanned events can offer growth, learning, and sometimes even an entirely new perspective.” Besides igniting creativity, handling unpredictability makes one more open-minded, collaborative and accurate in decision-making. While higher levels of curiosity are linked to remarkable stress-tolerance, slowing down can also actually help one uncover mistakes in their previous decisions and re-evaluate their choices for better future outcomes.
Human physiology
When dealing with stressful situations, negative emotions like fear, anger and frustration, responsible for the core functioning of our brain’s problem-solving elements work less effectively. By evoking positive thoughts, the brain generates novel solutions to unfamiliar problems and helps us deal with situations in a much better way. “The mind and body perceive uncertainty as unknown and, hence, dangerous or harmful. So, they both trigger a fight-or-flight response. This internal stress can be seen in various forms in the body, like high acidity, headache, muscle stiffness, restlessness, sweating, restless leg syndrome, cravings for sugary products, and irregular eating,” reveals Mr Shreemant Yadav, psychotherapist at Faculty Minds, a counselling centre.
Shift perspective
Rather than viewing uncertainty as a threat, view the same as a challenge or an opportunity to alter the way you view problems and develop a ‘can-do’ attitude in resolving issues. By accepting the fact that things out of your control will act as barriers in your tasks from time to time, you set yourself up for a challenge to combat which helps unleash your creative juices and makes you feel more fulfilled.
Explore unknown
The moment of freedom to explore and choose allows you the opportunity to take a risk and dive into a situation which may provide you a fresh outlook. Mr Yadav reveals, “People will be more risk-taking, entrepreneurial, and confident when they develop the ability to accept uncertainty as a part of regular life. This acceptance can help them overcome four major fears – fear of failure, fear of making mistakes, fear of humiliation, and fear of loss. These four fears, triggered by uncertainty, hold everyone behind.”
Mindfulness
Mindfulness starts by understanding the difference between a response and a reaction. Unplanned reactions can come burdened with negative long-term impacts. By observing and tracking your mental responses to uncertainty over time, you will be able to understand how you really feel about a certain situation and focus on what you can control in order to deal with the uncontrollable.
Life satisfaction
Remember, higher life satisfaction and resilience comes with being more open to both the negative as well as the positive aspects of your journey. In order to build this inner satisfaction, think about all that you’ve been through in the past, how you overcame fluctuating affairs and felt an elevated sense of self-esteem at the end of the day. As Rachit Gupta, Policy Head at ICICI Bank shares, “Being human I acknowledge that there are numerous opportunities and challenges for me out there and I am a firm believer that the world is ever changing so there would be things that seem beyond my control at present but can turn in my favour. Hence, I stay positive and keep pushing for the best. Remember ‘fortune favours the brave’. What’s not in your control today can be easily controlled in the future.”
Rather than running away from and cribbing about unplanned circumstances, embrace them as opportunities to grow and evolve from as a much stronger individual.
