Dear Audacious You Readers,
In the January issue focused on crushing goals, I talked partly about the power of affirmations. Affirmations are intentions statements for what we want to manifest in our lives. They’re rocket fuel for our brain and facilitate a higher vision to strive towards especially during turbulent times.
Nowadays, the military acronym VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) is gaining widespread traction because it’s apropos for our complex, disruptive world in the grips of a global pandemic! To combat disruption and thrive, adaptability is essential.
To inspire such a mindset, I recently shared with my subscribers an affirmation entitled “I Choose to Be.” Here’s the affirmation:
To be adaptive is a choice, one that requires daring and re-imagined ways of being. We’ll explore this notion shortly. But first, I found a kindred spirit in author and podcaster Glennon Doyle who recently posted on Instagram about the need to be adaptive, though she didn’t explicitly use that term. Glennon was responding to singer Adele’s emotional announcement about canceling her concert due to COVID complications. Check out her post below:
What a beautiful show of solidarity for vocal powerhouse Adele! It’s precisely this sort of public rallying and repudiation of old paradigms that is most urgently needed now. So, I ask you to envision:
What is required for you to be adaptive in a disruptive world?
Allow yourself the space to reflect on this question. Afterward, I invite you to engage in the exercise below to investigate this question more closely for yourself.
Experimenting Towards an Adaptive Mindset
1 – Jot down 1 – 3 concrete ideas to the question.
Where must you pivot in your thinking to minimize unnecessary suffering, create more wellness and flow, and be future-ready?
Glennon hinted at the need to adjust our expectations. Could this also be true for you? Might you need to clarify/re-envision your role(s)clarify/re-envision your role(s), set and actively enforce boundaries, or create new rituals/practices/models (e.g., for transforming worry and againstness into “productivity energy”)? Your language use will be especially important as you map out your vision so be mindful to affirm vs negate your ideas!
2 – Choose one idea to explore mindfully for at least two weeks.
To get started, choose an idea that perhaps has high value/relative low effort—a “low hanging fruit.” Sometimes, it’s the slightest recalibrations that have the greatest impact. Could this be true for you? Stay committed—here’s the effort part—for at least two weeks. Change takes time so be self-compassionate! And, when the going gets tough, reconnect to your “WHY” and/or a guiding affirmation.
3 – Journal the opportunities and challenges that emerge.
As you self-study, be sure to regularly journal your findings and take stock of your wins. Reflect on the opportunities that now seem lucid and the challenges as well as the effects on your wellness. Brainstorm a couple ways to convert any challenges into opportunities or to manage/eliminate them. Reflect on your learnings and insights, too!
4 – Keep striving towards habituation and your wellness.
Keep going beyond the two weeks! 
Refine or deepen your “low-hanging fruit” practice or integrate another one of your ideas. Keep experimenting towards re-imagined ways of thinking and being that allow you to centralize your wellness and thrive. The ultimate goal is to habituate a mindset of adaptability, not merely a new practice!
It is possible to thrive even when times are uncertain and turbulent such as they are now. But, we must be willing to adapt our thinking—re-imagine what’s possible, experiment towards a new orientation, and realign energies and resources for the greatest impact. These are a few innovative ways to create new meaning to meet the moment. Are you willing?
I’d love to learn from your mindful journey! Share your comments below or reach out to me directly.
Towards a Reimagined New You,
About Glenda M. Francis
Glenda M. Francis is the founder of Audacious Inner Works Institute, a personal development and capacity building service organization. She is an ICF credentialed life coach specializing in confidence building and women’s wellness and power.
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