The Essentials Skills for the New World

Over 2000 years ago, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus remarked that the only constant thing is change. And, of course, I follow that up with a reminder of the quote from Charles Darwin, who said, “it is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.”

A reflection on that is that every time something comes up in your life, the adaptability to face that particular challenge is what makes the difference. Because if you didn’t meet that challenge and adapt, there could have been severe consequences that would potentially have led to some damage. So the reflection of looking at change and adaptability, as well as image development, is essential.

More so in today’s times. Think about it.
Since the Industrial Revolution, we’ve been facing constant changes. With technology, in recent times, this has become even more accelerated. Rapid change impacts us individually and collectively. And not always for our best.

However, it forces us to face our problems and challenges to which we need to respond with a new spirit, energy and new eyes. Think about your life ten years ago; what was happening then isn’t happening now.

We each have unique challenges we need to adapt to, that’s a fact of life, and you cannot avoid that. But we also know we don’t particularly love change as human beings.

How many people do you know that wake up every morning saying, ‘it’s so great to be alive?’ There is more change today than before; now, we’re comfortable just being comfortable. The key here, though, is to be open to the possibility of adapting.

Because without that possibility, you’re locking yourself into what I would call a box that potentially can become devastating down the track, especially in today’s world. With all the macros and micros impacting us.

Of course, the Mind and Body Spirit are totally out of sync with the individual. These changes might be personal or professional; they can be big or small or chosen, in other words, at times forced upon you, or specifically decisions you’ve made yourself.

When you make your decisions, they are your most powerful decisions.

Jon Michail

However, they’re also some of the most difficult because we don’t particularly love change, regardless of the type of change though it’s an inescapable part of life and something that should not be evaded.

And I will explain this to you from the perspective of looking at the workplace right now. The workplace around the world is changing. There are all sorts of challenges, including finding people, in some cases, depending on the people and the industry. This is part of adaptability.

Often circumstances are something that is really out of your control. So the best thing you can do there is to focus on what you can control. That is your mind-body-spirit, and it’s about making it more adaptable.

I’m sure that sometime in the past, you have faced situations like this, where things have changed around you have had to “survive”. For example, in the last couple of years, with the lockdown and COVID, people have had to adapt to working from home. It’s been favourable for many people and downbeat for others.

It’s up to the individual, at the end of the day, the circumstances they face. But the key here is stability. It’s the key even; it doesn’t matter. Whether or not you agree with what’s happening, the choice is to adapt by action.

Adapting as a Skill

Let me tell you something that you won’t like to hear, simply doing as you have always done, and resting on your laurels, is a surefire road to disappointment.
And worse, you know, that could lead to added stress. If you look at anxiety or depression, it’s all about paralysing you in fear.

Furthermore, your imagination is also constantly changing your outlook on the world.

And of course, imagination follows creating; if you’re not creating, okay, another action, again, you can get very stale very quickly. And the final of that is action. Action, action action.

So I would recommend, sometimes, action, for the sake of action, is better than doing nothing at all. And I’m saying there’s also the opposite; sometimes, you’re better off doing nothing. But my point in today’s podcast is, of course, to inspire you to get on with a concept called adaptability and make it part of your being.

I also know some of you will ask me, but Jon, what if it’s not in our nature to be adaptable? I get that. But I’m going to tell you, right, now, you have limited choices because it’s the only way we grow well, you know, learn this new life skill, I would say, and it is a skill.

And if that’s the case, and in time, yes, you can become adaptable; that is clear evidence of that. And of course, as a coach, we see this weekly on our clients that at times, but come and visit us, we’re a little bit stuck, did not want to move, you know, utilise different tools about getting people to move forward. Okay, and I’ll explain more about that in a second. I believe one of the reasons that also change is explicitly not practical, other than all the psychological and subconscious reasons. So I’m not going to go into that today; I’m going to keep it relatively simple because you also need to have a reason to change or be adaptable. So part of my work is to uncover and find out the big reason you need to adapt.

So we can get into some change or, in many cases, transformation. And we know from history and our own lived experiences that we can embrace adaptability and change if we want it badly enough. And yes, as I mentioned earlier, it’s a learned skill. Research and my own experience told me that getting under your comfort zone is not easy. And this is where a good friend, mentor or branding coach can help you and can provoke you into action. Okay. And a lot of this is some tough love at times, because the nicey-nicey. What I would call his warm and fuzzy approach sometimes does not work. And the check was inexperience.

It shows me that it can make things worse. So sometimes you’ve got to hear what you don’t want to hear. A trusted and respectful friend, mentor or coach can play a significant role here. You want to be conscious of that because although everything is up to us individually, we have the power to create and carve our destiny to some extent. All the help along the way, the support mechanisms, you know, we can even call them conduits, you know, to your well-being are essential here.

If you look at this from a medical point of view, if you’re looking at a doctor, they don’t heal you; you heal yourself. Doctors are only a conduit, no different from any other form of support available out there. Think about it from a macro perspective, and see how it impacts you on a micro-level.

Accepting Change as a Constant for Life and Business

Also, remember that you might experience yourself as someone who doesn’t like change, as we’ve already discussed. And you know, we know this because most people don’t like to adopt; they want to keep going with the old and what makes them feel comfortable. But it’s important to remember that change is inevitable, either way, and the world is changing quickly, with your will or not.
It’s up to us to get what that means explicitly for our lives—the same thing with reputation management in your career and business. Massive changes are happening with or without your blessing. All that is happening with Wall Street, with the Ukraine war, the climate crisis, the economic breakdown, you need to keep everything in your view. You got to view the change and adaptability from a macro perspective and then apply it on a micro level. How does this impact my life? The macro elements of change that are happening worldwide will impact your micro will affect you.
You might not see that yet, but guaranteed, it builds over time. And there are also some changes that you can’t control, like some of the ones I’ve noted, but my focus today is what you can control.
And that’s where your self-power comes into play.

You know leadership is always with you; it’s inside you, not outside of you. It’s an esoteric concept, you know, as opposed to exoteric. If you feel uncertain or insecure, remember that a diamond is a chunk of coal made good under pressure. That’s it, when you look at that metaphorically, as a simple concept like that, again, if you agree with that, then you’re a rough diamond that needs a little bit of cutting, a little bit of polishing, and, of course, a little bit of tender loving care to take you to the next level.

And this is where I would strongly recommend looking at this as adaption is good for you. So it’s better to embrace the course of change and make it your own because when you do that, you have more control over some of the actions you will be taking moving forward. I’ve said in past blogs, that changes are available for all businesses, from SMEs to multinationals.

For more on this topic, you could always listen to my last podcast episode on Innovate or Die, what leaders can learn from brand Netflix, and you will understand what I mean.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this it.

You can find me on social media. My Twitter is Jon_Michail, my LinkedIn is Jon Michail, and you can find us as Image Group International on Facebook. As always, I thank you for your time, and I look forward to chatting with you next time.

Have a great week. Cheers.

Jon Michail, Image Consultant | Personal Branding Coach | Business and Personal Branding Strategist | Author | Group CEO and Founder, Image Group International |

Image Group International are Entrepreneurial Activists. Rebels With a Cause!

Jon Michail, Founder and award-winning Chief Imagemaker together with his team at Image Group International help executives and entrepreneurs to build, grow, and monetise their personal brands (online and offline). They help their clients by positioning them to stand out so they attract their ideal clients. 

They are committed to maximising an individual’s personal impact, influence, and value in the ever-changing and disruptive business environment.

Image Group International is recognised as Australasia’s leading personal brand image advisory, with over 29 years of proven results.