What helps you adapt to rapid, unpredictable, unexpected change?
I asked this question of student leaders at a province wide conference.
See student answers on the chalkboard below:
My answer on the chalkboard was:
GO SMALLER
One day at a time.
One hour at a time.
One class at a time.
Microseconds sometimes..
Your Turn
How do you keep moving forward?
What helps you adapt to change?
Thriving Under Pressure 
Setting time aside each morning and each evening in silence has helped me reconnect with my journey “within the global journey” of the past 14 months.
It doesn’t have to be long. Five or Ten Minutes is enough to bring me back to center.
Silence is so important. But too often we escape silence with overdoing. Because first thing “we hear” is ruminating thoughts.
But if we give silence a try, for short bursts of time — stillness replaces thought.
^ Your Great Tip ^
Thank you for sharing Michael! Your daily “change adaptation” practice reminds me to RE-integrate it into my own.
Silence is golden after all.
Thank you!
Long time Andrea and hope you are well.
One day at a time or as you say one hour at a time is the way I cope.
I have recently used my pinterest boards more frequently and have put your pics on them. I have put the top one on my ‘progress but not perfection’ board and the one underneath on my quote board.
Maybe I will copy them in my journal.
Thank you 😊☘️
I love the idea of Pinterest boards! Visuals help tremendously. Especially when it comes to centering oneself.
I use a similar technique that combines both of your ideas. I use a journal to “word sketch” my thoughts. Part Imagery. Part Words.
A daily reminder of my celestial bearings on the road of life.
👟👟 🌟 ✨
😊🙏☘️❤️
Every thought a ripple, its up to us just how we want those ripples to expand… For Positive or Negative. Change is constant… Let us be the change we want to create.❤
I can feel the flexxxx and floooow in your words Sue! Literally echoing the critical parts of adaptability — openness to the process of change. 🌊
🙂 Always in the flow…. of Heart… so many heads right now not using their Hearts… ❤ Thank you sending thoughts right back… Love and well wishes.. ❤
For a person with PTSD, change can be daunting
Some of us were raised in survival mode, our issues always start with feeling safe and secure when change is around.
For me focus, meditating, in my breath allows me to calm and center
For me some change is easier than others
PTSD people need to embrace change more
Simply reading your comment: “focus, meditating, in my breath allows me to calm and center” has a ripple effect on my own peace of mind. Thank you for this!
You have lived through so many changes Marty. Especially with PTSD and all the changes it takes. A continual, moment to moment shift from survival to at empowerment mode.
Thank you for showing up and sharing your experiences. You help heal us all.
Change hits all of us differently
It’s a challenge to find balance between isolating, hiding from change and accepting change
Then we work on calming the nervous system as we face risk
Individual differences in personality, culture, gender, age, biology, psychology, sociology, and so much more impact how we adapt to change. Thank you for underscoring this Marty.
Add in situational circumstances, including lockdowns (we’re on our third full lockdown in Canada – with no preset end in sight) and it’s no wonder that our collective nervous systems are fluctuating between fatigue, grief, and overload.
Which is why your writing hits such an important note right now Marty. Sharing all the ways we can calm and care for ourselves.
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” Viktor Frankl
Who can challenge Viktor
Exactly! He’s an inspiration for life ^^
Having nervous system trained to spot danger makes taking risks, change difficult
For me it’s rewiring decades of old habit
Hopefully this is the final peeling of the onion
This is my hope for you too!
The number one thing that has helped in the last year has been staying away from the news. Print. Television. Social Media. It has spun out of control – too much opinion, too little facts.
Instead: I do research on my own. Scientific journals. Real life (socially distanced) conversations and observations. Questions and Reflections. Collecting data.
Discernment in “information ingestion” has been my saving grace in adapting to change.
Information Overload = Pandemic 2.0
Thank you for highlighting the power of discernment and critical thinking in adapting and adjusting to the rapid changes of the last 14 months.
“Information Ingestion” practices we follow in our own household too.
Reminds us of our own power to think. Independently. Simple “media consumption” Changes. On Repeat 🍃
Same for me. Moving forward matters more than the size of the step taken. I am also taking small actions to embrace change.
Stay blessed 🙏😇
Love how you wrote “Moving forward matters more than the size of the step taken.” Thank you for the reminder. Full Circle Reminder to Keep Looking UP ✨
🙏🙏🙏
For me it’s awareness. It brings me everything under any circumstances. Insight, calmness. And it helps me to adapt to change 😊
Amen to awareness and waking up to what’s right in front of us.
For the only truth — is right here, right now.
1:07pm on May 20, 2021 in Ontario, Canada
Everything else is a figment of our imagination.
Thank you for the reminder!
You’re welcome. Tibetan meditation me a bit of mindfulness brought me the insight and it’s been a welcome gift 🙏
19:07 on May 20, 2021 (Amsterdam)
A Global Awakening 🌷
Hi Doctor Dinardo, I thoroughly enjoyed this inspiring article, especially the interview – you were tops!
I was, for most of my life, one who resisted change. As you rightly alluded to, my issue was both loss of control and uncertainty of the future. This was particularly amplified when I emigrated from the country of my birth, leaving members of my family behind, to a country 10,000 kilometers away.
Through a variety of factors, I came to a decision that I would in future, commit to accepting all changes and adapting as would be required. Now I sleep better! Fond regards, Peter
Thank you for taking the time to watch the CBC-TV interview on embracing change! And for your generous feedback.
Motivating people to make a lasting change is a big part of the work that psychologists do. And one of the reasons that I transitioned from practicing as a psychologist for 18 years (1998-2016) to teaching, speaking and writing about psychology (I retired my psychologist practice 5 years ago) is so that I could reach more people. (Plus I love change!)
I also appreciate the transformational experience you shared from your own life. Moving 10,000 kilometres away from your country of origin is what psychologists call “exposure therapy”.
You had no choice face your fears and resistance to change. ADAPT OR DIE is a truism. Which is why when you shared that your only choice was to “commit to accepting all changes” finally allowed you to sleep at night!
Acceptance paves the way for what’s to come. We can’t add more to our lives, without first letting go.
Fitness helps me adapt to change. Especially unexpected and unpredictable changes like the pandemic. I turned 53 on May 10. And there is no doubt that walking, running, and calisthenics keeps me flexible in mind, body, and spirit! 🏃♂️
Me too Linda! Fitness helps me get UNSTUCK and move on. Literally! Movement is my transformation medicine.
‘Aging’ can take some getting used to… even without added aggravations like bad health and grief. What helps me is working through extra tiredness and limited energy levels is by accepting, mindfulness, and appreciation. We have so much to be grateful for living in a democracy, having a roof, food in our stomachs and someone to love. Cheers!
1) Acceptance
2) Mindfulness
3) Appreciation
4) Safety
5) Love
Your ^ recipe for adapting to change is powerful! 🏠❤️
Thank you Dr. Andrea. It doesn’t always work, but does often help enormously. I’d love a recipe to combat tiredness though.. My husband reminds me as I’m 89 (a lie…) it is to be expected. Mentally I’m around 40…(I can’t possibly be that old…) Best wishes. x
…
You asked the best question!
Energy Management is one of my favourite topics to teach!
Recent Interview:
THE WAY MY 84 YEAR OLD MOM TAUGHT ME:
Age a MINDSET.
My mom runs, walks, bikes, every single day and so do I.
BECAUSE
I am 51 and I’m not slowing down anytime soon.
I am just getting started….
Dr. Andrea 2.0🕺
“When you change the way you look at things — the things you look at change.”
I hate unexpected change. If I’m the one making the changes, then I’m good lol, but changes out of the blue that are uncontrollable? Nope. Soooo, I remind myself that change is inevitable in all things. Our bodies are changing every second; our opinions are always changing as we gain new information. Sometimes remembering that change is the only constant calms me down.
Ditto! The change we choose is exciting and freeing. We’re in charge. We’re the queen. BUT when it comes from the outside (like the last 14 months – hello situational anxiety on fleek!)
Which is why your mindset is so calming Dr. G. Your words lifted me up to the penthouse of my brain. In fact, if you re-read your comment from the beginning to the end. It’s as if you began the dialogue in limbic system (where fear lives) and travelled UP to your prefrontal cortex, where the power of logic reminds of us our strength.
Oh wow! It’s amazing you even noticed it in this way ❤
Smiling up in Canada as I read your reply! I noticed how my mind and body responded as I read your words. I was like “oh damn, I am going to take that change down” .. to oh damn… why bother fighting it .. the only constant is change.. time to FREE MY MIND with words. 🕺🏼🔮
LOL exactly ❤ This is how my brain works all..the…time, like bring it down kg, bring down (or up).
Prayer and gratitude. Have a great weekend, Andrea!
The most powerful change partners of all! God and Gratitude 🙏 ✨
Yep! How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
Your words always stopped me (and the elephant) in my (our) tracks. Best analogy for bite size changes EVER. One I’ll never forget.. 🐘 💭
An old expression, but a timeless one.
Accepting ‘what is.’
Amen Eliza!
One of my most shared posts this year is on acceptance.
Title — Acceptance: Your Peace Depends on It
One I meditate and pray on daily. Including as I type this note to you.
Change is something that has so many negative connotations for people but the challenges that accompany it can bring so much personal growth, which is a positive! To adapt to change, I try to talk to those around me about what I’m having difficulties with and I find that the more perspectives I get the more helpful it is in figuring out how to move forward x
There are 8 billion unique perceptions of life on this planet – and what better way to gain a fresh perspective than to seek others’ input and experience.
Gaining perspective by seeking others’ input is a brilliant technique for adapting to change.
Thank you for reminding me to do the same Christy!
I work on keeping my focus on what I can do and not worry about what I can’t do. Every morning is my time with the Lord, a sacred space that settles my soul and reminds me of all that I truly do have to be grateful for. And I’ve found that putting people first in all things is the biggest small change I can make. People will always be more important than stuff and clutter. I love the idea of the ripple–even a small rock makes ripples in water, no matter how big the ocean. Thanks for this, my friend.
The variety of your adaptation to change techniques is incredible Dayle. When one fails on a given day (because that’s life — pre and post covid) then you have 10 more to choose from! 🌊🙏☀️