Hardest Thing About Adaptability
As I come close to my series of blog posts regarding Adaptability, I can’t stress the importance of linking all of these challenges and acting upon them. It is one thing to recognize the problems around you, and another to do something about it.
Gerard Egan, the author of “The Skilled Helper: A Problem-Management Approach To Helping”, provides helpful tips on how you can help someone who are going through difficulty in their lives. He explains that the hardest challenge of all is action because the ultimate goal is not to explore solutions but to resolve the issue. If you are playing the role of the guidance, it is up to you to observe the flip-side and provide the best judgement. Although people are willing to open up to opportunities, it doesn’t necessarily mean they know what to do next, therefore it is your role to slowly challenge them to actions and perspectives.
“Listen to how you responded when I asked you about what you might do about patching up your relationship with your father. Up to that point your voice was strong. But when you talked about what you might do, your voice got much softer and much tentative. See if you can notice any difference between what you say and how you say it.”(Egan, 173)
It can be easy creating an action plan but thinking about how to go through with it may create fear and discomfort. You may begin doubting yourself, your self-confidence lessening by each word and the uncertainty within yourself grows.
In the very end, no matter the influence, it is simply up to the you to gather every idea you’ve had, all the opinions given to you and figure out what you want to do. Sometimes people need to shape themselves into new ways of thinking compared to thinking themselves into new ways of acting. There is only so much help that people can contribute to motivate yourself into taking action. The key is to motivate and be motivated.
Source: Egan, G. (2002). The skilled helper: a problem-management approach to helping. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole.
