Flexibility
Flexibility
In the fast paced and ever changing modern world, having the ability to be flexible in your outlook is important in your everyday life, not just professionally but personally too!
This ability is important for a wide variety of reasons as being flexible greatly assists you in not being overwhelmed or perhaps stifled by the changes that will undoubtedly take place.
Flexibility is therefore a personality trait that describes the extent to which a person can cope with the inevitable changes in circumstances and think about problems and tasks in novel, creative ways. Flexibility really comes into effect when the unexpected occurs, bringing a requirement for a person to change their stance, outlook, or commitment.
Being flexible gives you a greater level of control and direction of both your personal development and personal life. If you are flexible you are effectively able to “bob and weave” to deal with the changes rather than simply operating or being seen as an immobile object that is passively battered by the constant waves of change. Some of the benefits include being adaptable to deal with and benefit from change and as a result accepting and doing the best you can to manage the unexpected.
In a changing world being flexible enables you to remain employed as the working world evolves with roles being made obsolete while completely new roles are created. There is also perceived improvement in life satisfaction for those people who are more flexible and accepting of the changing world rather than those who try and maintain the status quo.
Developing greater flexibility in your personal life can also help you be more flexible in your work. Some change is predictable and planned this could include a job change, or a change in living arrangements. You can prepare for these and therefore you can look at all the permutations and actions and in effect build in flexibility.
There are also those changes however that you will experience that you might feel cannot prepare for. What happens if you lose your job, get sick or suffer an injury? It can feel like these come along at the most unfortunate, most unexpected and most challenging times
It is possible for you to prepare yourself for these challenges by accepting that change is inevitable and continuous and as a result you will deal with it the best way you can. This will subsequently make you more confident in your ability to be flexible and capitalise rather than damaged by change.
Action:
Identify changes you have experienced and how well you dealt with them to establish how flexible you are in your outlook. Think about how you could have dealt with them, and how things could have been different with a different approach at the time.
