Squiggly sprint 24: Day 10 - Adaptability

Day 10 of the SquigglySprint and the topic of the day is Adaptability

I use the annual sprint as a writing exercise, as I aim to write a roughly 400 word career-based post prompted by the topic of the day. Sometimes it’s a direct follow up to what Helen and Sarah say, and sometimes the theme is more of an inspiration.

It’s not an easy challenge to set myself. I write quickly, but 400 words is still a lot, and it involves a good piece of brainpower at the end of the working day. Fitting this around work, commute, and sports is not easy. 

Given day 10 was a Friday, and I was already behind one post, I’m writing this on the Sunday afterwards. I could argue that in this post I am showing a great deal of adaptability, as I am allowing myself time to catch up.

Timing aside, this is a topic that I struggled with. Mostly, the other 9 have flowed pretty well, and it’s mostly been about finding the time to structure my immediate thoughts. Adaptability didn’t present me with any immediate ideas, and when I did think of something, I felt like I was repeating myself. So I’ve been metaphorically staring at a blank page for a few days.

So rather than write about adaptability specifically, I’ll use this to make a different point. 

I have had a lot of changes in the last few years. I have moved to a whole new country, and been made redundant from a job after a decade despite being a high performer. I was chatting with an old friend some time ago, and they suddenly started talking about how I didn’t give myself enough credit for how much I had changed in my life, and how I had responded to redundancy. Moving house, let alone country, and losing a job are meant to be two of the most stressful things one can endure, but they made me realize that I had just got on with it.

There’s a sentiment I love, that I think I got from AmazingIf, which is that the thing you are best at, you don’t even realize, because to you it’s so natural and easy that you don’t understand that others don’t do it.

Given I’ve outright been called adaptable by others, maybe that’s one of the reasons I struggle to write about it. Maybe I need to take the positive feedback and give it some proper introspection. Maybe it’s just something that needs more than 400 words.

Either way, the lesson I often repeat to people is to tell your friends and colleagues when they are doing something exceptional. They likely don’t realize that what they are doing is so special. Equally, when you receive that kind of feedback, take it seriously, because it might be something you can really lean into.