The Crucial Role of Adaptability in Today's World

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Welcome to Jon Michail’s Personal Branding Masterclass. Jon is the founder and CEO of image group international, an award-winning image consulting and personal branding pioneer established in 1989. This podcast will bring you old-school wisdom, inspiring ideas, strategies and hacks for the new tech world. Here you will learn everything about personal branding: the system, the techniques and the right mindset to have a successful personal brand, image and reputation.

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Hello, everybody, and welcome back to my show. Today we'll dive into another skill that's critical for personal and professional growth. We're gonna be talking about adaptability. So in a world where change is constant, adaptability is a superpower that certainly empowers you to thrive. As Viktor Frankl said, the famous Holocaust survivor, anything can be taken from a man but one thing, the last of the human freedoms to choose one's attitude, in any given of circumstances, is to choose one's wipe. Adapting one's attitude to circumstance, of course, is the ability to pivot, embrace new technologies, navigate uncertainties, you know, that means personal and of course business with greater confidence that certainly my experience and turn challenges to opportunities. So whether you're a leader, an entrepreneur, or one with the ambition to succeed, adaptability is a part of your secret weapon. And I'm going to explain to you various reasons and the benefits of that as we go through this programme. So the essence of adaptability lies in being open to change in seeing change, not as a threat, but as a chance to grow up. It's about being flexible, resilient, and agile. Now, I know you don't wake up every morning, and thinking or what a great day, another day for change. Human beings don't like that, by nature, we'd like to be comfortable, we get very complacent. And we'd like to be sort of just cruising along. And that's, that's the most positives about that as well. But of course, in the world is changing constantly. You don't want to make this a habit. Because the problem with habits is you get too comfortable with habits, and then they are very hard to break. And I think we can all relate to that. So it's a mindset that says I can learn, I can evolve, and I can conquer whatever comes my way. And of course, this is where motional intelligence and self awareness comes into play doesn't matter how great your IQ is, if you're lacking all the other aspects, including EQ, in this case, you're going to find it very hard to shift that mindset. And we know this because that's how human beings are experienced clearly shows that. So three business examples I'd like to sort of share with you today and put the focus more from a business perspective. Of course, personal sort of is always interrelated is the change in work environments. Now we all know, the whole work environment has changed dramatically in the last three years with the lockdown. So there's adapting to your new office spaces, it could be remote work from home, hybrid models show that adaptability as work environments of all. 

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Now, a lot of people love also, and this is the interesting thing about working from home. You know what also that does, it makes you get comfortable. So there's positives and negatives with everything. But normally, when something's working with you positively, very rarely do people create the opposite and say, hey, you know what, there's some negatives in this as well, I suggest, you know, when you get it get more dialectical, by going in the middle, you'll certainly be able to see benefits on both sides, because some of the negatives can also be benefits, by the way as well. technology shifts while technology I don't have to tell you much more about that. It's it's out of control. And of course, I in recent times as basically shifted that dramatically. Now we're not even AI as an example, just written a report two days ago that says in the next few years, 100 million jobs will be lost. So if you think that technology is not important, you know, and you are not adapting to the situation. That's the threats that are facing specifically many people around the world. So embracing new software apps, digital tools to stay efficient, will indicate adaptability. And the next one is market trends. So by being aware by reading, studying, talking to people, adjusting your business strategies to meet changing market demands, and consumer preferences is vital for success. A lot of people complaining right now but the economy, all sorts of things with prices, getting out of control, things getting expensive, etc. Yes, all all of that is relevant. But it's what are you going to do around that to adjusting yourself to the new market conditions because there's no point worrying about stuff you can't control, you can only the only focus should be present into the future and what you can control and how you're going to create new possibilities moving forward. And trust me, there's a lot of possibilities. So adaptability is a vital trait. 10 transcends both personal and professional realms. And in your personal life, of course, it serves as a means also to navigate life's challenges gracefully, heartless, children, relatives, friends, etc, it gives you the opportunity to foster the ability. Well, actually, if you're fostering the ability to adjust to evolving circumstances, as we know, even from a family perspective, it's always evolving as well. And it's a great trait to have access to, because it gives you then more odds from your perspective than more choices. And of course, more choices in this example could be a positive. So within our life journey, we extract all sorts of valuable lessons from experiences, and emerge from setbacks, even stronger experience shows, and of course, history shows that, so in your professional life, of course, adaptability distinguishes you, as an invaluable asset to the organisation. because it enables you to wholeheartedly embrace new strategies, technologies and roles that certainly what you're projecting to the world. And of course, people feel confident with that. So in my experience, we all can adapt even at times when I think it's impossible, you only got one life in this bomb anyway, I don't know where we're going after this. So if you don't adapt with what's going on, and you're going to fight every single challenge that comes up, before, you know, you're going to virtually give up on exhaustion.

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So what you want to do is get really smart, knowing that you haven't got unlimited energy, you just haven't the human body had is a bit like a battery, it just can't go on 24/7 without checking out. So you got to get really clear about that. First of all, you know, get yourself to an equilibrium, get yourself balanced. Okay, if that's if challenged, this is a challenge for many people today. And of course, then start looking in other areas. And of course, that's where also, your adaptability comes in even just doing that exercise that I've just mentioned, is also part of adaptability, the COVID lock down has been an excellent example for many of our clients of how they've adapted and thrive, once they got into action, stop feeling sorry for themselves. And by the way, some of them also are in trouble. Because they are not willing to adapt, you know, they thought things are gonna change, go back to normal, and so on. So what I suggest is we focus on what we can change, as I noted earlier, and forget about the things we can't, that's the reality of the world. So adapting to our purpose, though, and finding meaning in what we do, and who we are, I believe will give you a greater sense of that balance I mentioned earlier, and of course, indicates that you're adaptable to what is going on in the moment. Once you do that, all adapting becomes easier. And then it's all based on your purpose related actions. And this is a key word purpose related actions. So it's not about actions for the sake of actions. It's about actions with results as per the purpose of the values and sound that you represent. This is very important. And here's the secret. Adaptability is not just a skill, it's a mindset. It's a way of thinking it's a way of approaching life, you know, working with curiosity, resilience, and a belief that you can not only survive, but thrive in any situation. And of course, this is the example if you think Oh, it's too much for you. Oh, and this is where great people around you how cluding professionals, for example, if you've ever experienced the following, selling the following quote, We are no longer able to change a situation we're challenged to change ourselves again, that quote came from the great Viktor Frankl. And the thing about all of that is that's what you've got, that's the power. That's the God given power, whoever your goal is that you have to claim otherwise, is to not realise the greatness of what was created. That's you. So I can certainly relate to that. And there are clients, of course, tell a similar when we get on this track. So in the context of personal branding, of course, adaptability is the key to stay relevant if you have a look at my personal brand over the years. It's adapted constantly, as a designer, running different businesses, venture capital, all sorts of enterprise startups. This is adapting this is adapted to the market and you know, so it's a spirit of basically okay, this is what we're going to deal with. That's the problem. How are we going to find a solution? And that's, of course, problem solving. So solution focus is also part of adaptability. So your person ran should also ball as you You do, because what who you were 20 years ago is not the same person. 

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So your person brand should also ball as you You do, because what who you were 20 years ago is not the same person. So adaptability, though, ensures that you can pivot when necessary, and embrace the new opportunities, and also maintain a brand presence that reflects who you are today, and of course, your expertise, because that's what people are gonna certainly be paying you for, either as a consultant, or if you're selling products, online, et cetera. So adaptability plays a big part. So as you can probably recognise, certainly adapting to changes is part of my being, it's part of who I am. And it's always been there. But I know and I have empathy for this. And by the way, it doesn't mean that I like that for everything. At times I'm I procrastinate on something longer than somebody else. What I'm talking about is I've got access to knowing what that looks like and what it could do for me. And that's the key here, be open to that. And of course, what that will do is give you some powerful new choices. So I want to thank you again for joining me today. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Please rate us on Apple podcasts and subscribe to the show for more valuable content. When you're ready, and you want help on your journey. Remember that you can always contact me you can find my email address in the episodes description. You can also contact me on social media my ex Twitter is John underlying Michael my LinkedIn is John Michael and you can find me as image Group International on Facebook. Have a productive week full of joy and Cheerio.

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Jon Michail’s Personal Branding Masterclass Podcast is sponsored by Image Group International, a global team of practical, digitally savvy personal brand and image strategists based in Australia, committed to maximizing your impact, influence and authority in the business world. To learn more and apply for your personal coaching, seminars and group workshops, please visit imagegroup.com.au or call 1800 631 311.