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Hint: You have to get out of your comfort zone

In a previous article, I ranked Adaptability as the number one skill to learn for the 21st century. I stand by it as strongly today. In fact, I stand by it so strongly that I created a complete guide you can check out after reading this.

How can becoming adaptable change my life?

The rapid-pace of technological advancements is ever increasing with no signs of slowing down. No job is safe from disruption and those who learn to adapt to new situations will be able to shift gears and continue to thrive. I can’t stress that enough.

And if you’re reading this while you’re still in the middle of the pandemic, surely you understand the urgency more than ever. In most developed countries, the unemployment rate has gone over 20 percent for the first time since the industrial revolution.

To compare, this was the unemployment map before the pandemic:

The vast majority of developed countries were below 10 percent. Source

Before the pandemic, the USA was at 4.4 percent unemployment rate, now it’s close to 20 percent. Here are the predictions from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

The thing is, there are still plenty of jobs that are left unfulfilled. Labor is just not skilled enough to fill these positions. We were simply not adaptable to learn fast enough to fill the positions.

The people who managed to pivot, learn, and take action are those who still had a job during the pandemic.

What can I do in 10 hours to become more adaptable?

There’s so much to adaptability that finding the best thing to do in ten hours was no easy task. Plus, becoming adaptable potentially requires serious rewiring of your brain.

At its core though, becoming more adaptable is simple. All you have to do is to frequently immerse yourself in situations that are uncomfortable for you. And since everyone is different, I can’t tell you what that is for you, you have to figure it out on your own.

Let me guide you through the first ten hours:

The first two hours [0–2]

For the first two hours, spend time listing skills and activities that make you comfortable and uncomfortable.

Here are types of skills you can think about:

Introvert vs Extrovert skills
Assertive vs Listening skills
Right-brain vs Left-brain skills
Doing vs Being skills
Visionary vs Detail-oriented skills
Rational vs Emotional skills
Design vs Engineering skills
Product development vs Sales skills
Art vs Business skills
Personal vs Professional skills
Goal-making vs Negative-outcome-avoiding skills

You can also refer to this list of 400+ skills provided by SkillUp Academy.

In addition, think about the activities you’re comfortable and uncomfortable with using Howard Gardner’s theory of nine intelligences:

And last, you can think of the following things as well:

Hobbies — things that occupy your time;
Passions — things you do for fun without external incentives;
Talents — things you learn quickly;
Loved ones — people you care about;
Moments of happiness — key moments of your life or recurring events;
Moments of sadness — key moments of your life or recurring events;
Personality traits — things that define you as a person; and
Values — things you strongly believe in.

The next hour [2–3]

Phew, that was quite the brainstorm! But eye-opening, right? The next step is to take the list of uncomfortable things you found and order them in ascending order of how uncomfortable they make you. For extra clarity, you can also note how important it would be for you to be able to overcome your fear of doing them.

The next hour [3–4]

Choose activities that make you slightly uncomfortable and schedule them to do in your calendar. Make sure it’s something you can commit to. Involve someone else you trust for extra accountability. You want to schedule at least six hours of activities that make you uncomfortable within the next thirty days. The more you do, the better.

When you schedule them, put them in ascending order of how uncomfortable they make you. Within only a month of practice, don’t expect to be able to do things you completely fear. Take it step by step. Stick to slightly uncomfortable things for the first six hours.

The last six hours [4–10]

Do the activities you scheduled, no matter what. If you find yourself having cold feet, here are two things you can do:

Involve someone you trust to do the activity with you; and
Ask yourself this question: “What’s the worst that can happen?”

Most of the time, when you ask yourself the above question, the answer is quite irrational. Realize that it is and push through.

Beyond 10 hours

I wrote this complete guide on how to be adaptable, check it out:

[Article] How to Be Adaptable — The Complete Guide

Summary

The first two hours [0–2]: Spend time listing skills and activities that make you comfortable and uncomfortable.
The next hour [2–3]: Take the list of uncomfortable things you found and order them in ascending order of how uncomfortable they make you.
The next hour [3–4]: Choose activities that make you slightly uncomfortable and schedule them to do in your calendar.
The last six hours [4–10]: Do the activities you scheduled, no matter what.

You can do this!