Should You Become a Chameleon

Life throws curve ball after curve ball, and if you weren't aware, it doesn't stop until it's out of balls or you make it stop. It sucks, but what are you going to do? Wouldn't it have been nice if someone had pulled you aside at an early age and told you how ugly adulting was? Oh, they did? Well, then the fact is 50 percent of us didn't listen. 

Now you're an adult and life kicks you harder at every corner you turn. You're starting to feel like life beat the hell out of you before it taught you the alphabet. The truth is, we all could use some sympathy from time to time. Well, it's in the dictionary. You can find it. Just look between shit and syphilis. 

No, it's not sympathy you need. You need a new plan and probably some new skills. You haven't become the adaptable creature that survives in a harsh and ever-changing, increasingly fluid world. You need to become less human and more like the chameleon. If you think about that sentence for a moment, you know it's a valuable skill if you can change to adapt to any surroundings. 

The importance of adaptability can't be overstated. When was the last time you did epic shit? 

You think about those self-advertising, self-aggrandizing, Tate brothers. Particularly Andrew Tate. He comes off as unlikable, but he's successful and having the time of his life. It's because he does epic shit. He's adaptable to the world around him and the situations at hand. 

"It's not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can manage change"

 - Charles Darwin

The pace of change today compared to when Darwin wrote those words is incredibly fast. Things go by in the blink of a metaphorical eye. The more adaptable you can become, like the chameleon, the better you'll fare against any threat or challenging environment, whether professional, personal, cultural, or social situation. 

Being adaptable in your professional life will help you to handle change. As new tech, new employees, and new challenges arise adaptability as you go becomes a must. We all have to be able to handle what's thrown at us, even when it's new. 

Being adaptable will make you a more resilient person. The most resilient people bounce back from anything. When you're adaptable, you can more easily handle uncertainty in situations. Strict regimens aren't as needed to feel in control. Change is seen as an opportunity, rather than scary. 

Taking advantage of new opportunities is an ability of people who are adaptable and see the changes as a chance for something more. By being adaptable and seeing things in a more positive light, you can take advantage and use changes around you as a chance to improve your position. Maintain an open and growth-orientated mindset and you'll be adaptable enough to embrace the chaos of change. 

Are you someone who can pivot quickly? Adaptable people pivot more easily. The ability to pivot when needed helps in both your personal and professional worlds. From facing an unforeseen challenge at work you might go home and your significant other has unexpected plans that counter your ideas for the evening. Being able to pivot and embrace the chaos of rapidly changing situations will keep the peace and can make you the hero. 

You'll be stretching your mind. By being adaptable, you'll have more of a survival mindset. That's becomes you will be open to learning new skills. New skills may seem unneeded today, but what about tomorrow? Do you have the ability to manage your life through the loss of a job, a career change, or a major domestic change? Any of the three can be like throwing you out of the raft into the rapids. You'll either sink or swim. But if you're adaptable, you've learned the survival skills along the way to start getting past major life-changing events. And you'll continue to learn more until life is good again. 

Final Thoughts

Adaptability is an incredibly important part of life. It's something many embrace early on, and some struggle with. That's why some people's stress levels are higher than others. 

By adapting, you learn to overcome situations that are foreign or ones you're not ready to handle. You take the situation as it comes, and you adapt and push forward. It's a skill we can grow, by starting with the small changes and embracing them. The small and often irritating changes you work on today will be your practice scenarios for later when it's a much bigger deal you're trying to survive through. 

Whether it's in our personal lives, professional, or social, there are times when you have to deal with things you didn't expect. They're new, they're unnerving, and sometimes scary. The resilience you develop by being adaptable helps you get through these new and unexpected problems with more poise and can make you the hero in that story. From calming the waters of a domestic decision to mastering a new skill at work you become the person that can handle anything, and that's someone people want to be around because they're not always stressed out. 

Think about how you first react to changes. Use both big and small changes, and examine your responses. Do they come as no big deal? If so, your adaptability is a strong skill. If they stress you, worry you, or put you on your knees (metaphorically) it is time to work on being more like a chameleon. Learn to deal with small environments without taking change as a nightmare, and then build your way up. It'll help in all walks of your life.