Katy’s Journey Journal – Adaptability Is the Name of the Game

I had the honor of being the keynote speaker last week at a conference for investment advisers held in Mexico City. The theme was alternative investment strategies. Every time I speak, I learn something new from my audiences and for this, I am eternally grateful. The theme of my lesson for this trip/talk was adaptability. Of course, the theme of my teachings is also adaptability-being adaptable allows us to grow and lean into change, which allows us to use our brands well to sell ourselves and sell anything else we have going on.

So how did I get to practice being adaptable in Mexico City?

I woke up the morning of my keynote talk with food poisoning. I had trouble keeping anything down and I had body aches and a mild headache. Yikes!! So how did I adapt to this change that wasn’t supposed to happen? First, I cursed eating food I shouldn’t have eaten the day before! Then, I sucked it up, chuckled at myself, took two ibuprofen, choked down a piece of toast with Sprite for energy and smiled. How did my keynote go? Apparently really well. Let me explain. I felt out of breath on stage from the food poisoning, which was a new experience for me. However, no one else seemed to have noticed. Thank goodness.

My learning was that even with food poisoning right before a keynote in a foreign land, I have a choice in my response. I can choose to see the situation differently- from a different perspective and adapt my behavior and still deliver.

What does this mean for you?

Where in your life have you hit upon an unexpected circumstance that could stand to throw you “off course” or “ruin your plans” or business/career success?
What did you do in that moment to adapt to the situation? Did it work for you? Why or why not?
What can you do next time life throws you a different scenario than what you planned? How can you choose to see things differently in that moment in order to keep moving forward and deliver for yourself?