Intelligence
Manual Skills
Physical Fitness
Creativity
Critical Thinking
If I were to make a top 5 list of the traits that are traditionally seen as MVTs [most valuable traits], you’d probably see those 5. One or two might be switched out, but a lot of people talk about those 5 traits but consistently leave out the most important trait of all.
This trait that allows some people to excel in whatever they do while others flop.
This trait that lets people enter completely new arenas of knowledge and not only survive, but thrive.
If you have this trait, you can do just about anything.
So what is this trait that will open doors of opportunity and create more chances for growth than you could imagine?
The ability to adapt.
Why Adaptability is Essential
Being adaptable is like walking into a pitch black room. At first you can’t see anything and everything looks foreign, but soon you’re able to start to make out shapes, and objects. Pretty soon you’re able to see everything and keep functioning as normal.
Anytime you walk into an unfamiliar setting, subject matter or area of interest that you’re not familiar with, it’s like you’re walking into a room that’s pitch black. At first you don’t recognize anything but soon you start recognizing patterns, and pretty soon you’re able to function as if you were meant to work without light.
M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I
In college, I worked for two summers with a non-profit doing community development work. the first summer, I was down in Pearlington, Mississippi. A small tiny town on the border of Louisiana and Mississippi. We were doing Hurricane Katrina relief and I was the “construction co-ordinator”, a laughable title considering I had done approximately 0 hours of any construction experience before that. After an hour crash course at a build-in-progress where my dad ran me through basic construction terminology and techniques, I got on my plane and headed down to Mississippi.
3 months and 5 1500sq ft houses later, I had learned to stick-build a house from scratch and we put 5 families that were in trailer homes back into a home. I worked with and taught over 500 people that summer over a period of 12 weeks. I guided them through the builds, and showed them how the houses were going to built and hundreds of people asked me for my “expert advice.”
…if they only knew…
The only reason that was possible because I was able to adapt, learn and react as necessary. But adapting is essential outside of small Mississippi towns too, its useful in whatever you want to do in life:
If you want to start a business, you don’t just come up with an idea and hope the market goes for it, you find out what people are really wanting and you adapt yourself to give them what they’re asking for.
If you want to travel the world, you’re going to have to learn to adapt you’re going to have to learn how to adapt you spending habits, spoken language, cultural habits, wardrobe, sleeping expectations, etc.
If you want to train for a triathlon, you’re going to have to learn to adapt your eating, exercise, and sleeping habits and even adapt the types of workouts you do.
There are a lot of skills that can help you do one thing really well, but if you know how to adapt, you can do just about anything.
You already knew this.
Every high school textbook talks about the survival of the fittest. When a personal, animal, or plant is introduced to a new environment, they either have to adapt or they die.
The consequences aren’t at morbid when you’re attempting the impossible [you probably won’t die], but can be just as scary [you could settle for a really boring life].
The number one characteristic of impossible doers is that they can adapt. Obstacles don’t stop them, they’re just a chance for creative problem solving. There’s never anything you don’t know, only things you haven’t figured out yet.
Don’t know how to do something, learn how.
Run into a problem, figure it out.
Need a new skill, master it.
That’s the attitude of someone who’s set on doing the impossible. Adapt, adapt, adapt.
How to Adapt:
I’ve done more things in my life because of the ability to effectively adapt to my surroundings than anything else. But, if adaptation doesn’t come naturally to you, here’s some straight-forward advice on how to make it a little easier.
Be Optimistic
Just because there’s an issue comes up, doesn’t mean there’s a problem. There are plenty of things that just happen. When you’re pessimistic, you start to focus on the problem, not the solution. When you’re optimistic you focus on what will work, instead of the things that aren’t working.
Be Flexible
Life never turns out how you expect. Be willing to roll with the punches and go with what works is essential. If you’re set on your way of doing something, and your way doesn’t seem to be working. If you find a better way to do something, do it.
Be Wrong
The best way to figure out if something works or not is to try it. This means you’re going to try things that don’t work. Probably a lot of them. Problem solving is a lot like guessing the wright size of a bolt. Just because the 3/8 wrench doesn’t work, doesn’t that wrenches aren’t the right tool. It just means that the 3/8th wrench doesn’t fit. Better try a 5/8 or keep trying till you find something that works. If you’re never wiling to be wrong, you’re probably never going to be right.
Be optimistic, be flexible and don’t be afraid to be wrong. You’ll find doing those things help you naturally adapt to your surroundings better and you’ll be amazed at what you can do when you adapt.
Hey Joel,
interesting concept !
Being optimistic and flexible truly helps with overcoming obstacles in life.
Back in the days, I had my vision of the world and thought that my life would turn out this way.
Surprise surprise – it didn’t happen !
For me, the best way to deal with it is to take your surroundings and molding it into the shape that’s possible and that still resembles your dreams.
Got to end the this comment with one of my favorite quotes. This one comes from George Bernard Shaw:
“The reasonable man adapts to the world, the unreasonable man adapts the world to himself. All progress therefor depends upon the unreasonable man !”
I’ve heard that quote before and I love it! Can’t wait to see the way you adapt the world to yourself Mars.
So true – fake it until you make it – works for me..
That was our unofficial motto the whole summer, haha.
Really good post, Joel; and great story about your experience during the Katrina relief effort. Totally agree with your ingredients for adaptability also; especially the willingness to make mistakes. You’ve got to get over the idea of being averse to mistakes and failure or you’ll never be able to move beyond the familiar. An attitude that has worked well for me is “try stuff and see what happens”, rather than trying to make something in particular happen. It’s a more open minded, curious approach to life rather than trying to asset your will on it all the time. More give and take.
I actually find making mistakes is part of the fun. It sucks making them, but they usually make really great stories, and you’re sure never to make them again!. Curiosity itself has also been a great asset to me in learning & figuring out what I really enjoy doing.
Great stuff.
I’ve been calling it “agility” lately, but adaptability might be a better word (although it’s not a video game attribute, so you lose out there).
There are very few things that will actually cause a tragic situation – so why not be optimistic, flexible, and wrong.
Otherwise we end up living the same existence we’re trying to escape. The one where there is one career/life path for everyone and deviation from that path is unacceptable.
I’d rather try and fail a thousand times than end up leading the “safe” life.
Most likely, though, the number of failures will be far fewer and the rewards will be greater than I’ve imagined.
Failures are definitely a part of life so when you stop worrying about avoiding them, you’re freed up to enjoy the entire journey, instead of worry about screwing up the whole journey by doing 1 thing wrong.
Manual skills…if only I had them. That’s something I’ll never be able to master (at least with any natural ability).
Cool story about Mississippi…never knew that.
Oh…and if a 3/8 wrench doesn’t work, the proper procedure is to get pliers, curse, and round off the bolt!
haha, thanks Chris. I’m always working on manual skills, but there is much to be desired still =)
p.s. I’ll keep your method in mind next time the dang wrench doesn’t work. It sounds a lot more fun!
Hell yeah! Adaptability, the core of the adventure gene! (yeah, gross oversimplification, but I like it)
Adaptability is crucial, underrated, and under-practiced.
I was telling somebody today that adapting itself was one of my favorite things to do. I love learning how to learn to do other stuff =)
p.s. anybody who reads this comment, should go read “the adventure gene” now. It’s awesome.
I like to think of this as the “MacGyver Principle”. Now there was a guy who could adapt to any situation with nothing more than a Swiss Army knife and a roll of duct tape. I like your 3 points of advice for learning to adapt. All 3 relate to and play off each other. If I am optimistic I will be more willing and able to be flexible with any situation and “roll with the punches”. The more flexible I am the more willing I will be to admit that I could be wrong and then adapt to the situation. Good message Joel.
dang it! that’s a good post title. I’ll have to keep that in mind when I revisit this principle in the future!
This is awesome, Joel! The ability to adapt is not only great, it’s essential to our survival, livelihood, and happiness. Thanks for a great post!
A lot of things come & go, but the necessity of being able to adapt interestingly is one of the things that is constant.
I love the concept of adapting. In the Marines they taught us that the greatest skill a Marine has in battle is to improvise and overcome. That sounds like adapting to me. I agree with what Andrew stated as well – this is key to adventure. If it were all planned it would suck as an adventure. Just go and let it rip, you will figure it out.
Well done.
Improvise & Overcome. I like it. There aren’t always strict rules to follow in life (and especially in combat), so you take what you know & figure out the best solution for it.
You are right. It is a good thing we can adapt in the middle of almost any situation.
hi Joel – Nicely written article – I had a guess at what you’d say the most valuable trait is – and I guessed PERSISTENCE.
I guess persistence is part of adaptability, but adaptability is so much more than just persistence.
As you said, flexibility is an essential component. We all know very persistent people without an ounce of flexibility, and it’s like they’re banging their heads against a brick wall.
This is one of your best posts, keep them coming Joel.
Dom
Persistence is great, but like you said, sometimes it ends up with people banging their heads against the wall. Adaptability figures out whatever is necessary to get the job done and then makes the adjustment.
Thanks for the kind words Dom!