Adapt Down or Adapt Up? (Less of the first and much more of the second please)
One of the guiding principles I follow is 'opening minds to what's possible' - and I have been on a lifelong journey to build the human spirit in everything I do. With this in mind, I have been experiencing an increasingly heart wrenching trend, more intense since Covid that I want to share with you.
The cycle is this – adapting down.
Thankfully humans learning to adapt has ensured our survival as a race and differentiated us from most other species in terms of what we are capable of. We can adapt and survive in some of the harshest physical, mental, and emotional circumstances. Our ability to demonstrate resilience is nothing short of a miracle in some instances.
This is not breaking news to you right? What I want to shine a light on here is an adapting cycle that I have seen play out in my 20 yr. human side of business experience, as a personal coach and in my own life journey that leads to a life apathy, in some instances, so strong that people simply give up and settle.
In the large part I have experienced that people have learned to adapt down instead of adapting up. Whether is comes from our early up bringing, our education, or society it has become the norm that with each hardship we face – we learn to expect a little less from life.
• With each broken heart we begin to love a little less
• Each unheard idea makes us more silent
• With each bad boss we begin to shine a little less
• With each failure we come to understand that success is for someone else
• With each example of terrible human behaviour that leads to success we begin to believe that kindness is weak
• With each feeling of loneliness, we learn to increasingly survive without connection
We go from being a young person full of unconscious, vibrant pure possibility to adults with a conscious level of life expectation that can be described as dull and mediocre at best. Each of you have, I’m sure been through this cycle multiple times.
The adapting down cycle does not build your human spirit – it is in fact a complete spirit killer. It contributes to our survival, yes but it means that our survive mode feels like eating from a ‘Beige Buffet’. Dull, plain, lacking in good energy and uninspiring (Beige Buffet credit @clairepratt – I love you sista!!)
If we lose our spirit, our lust for life, our ability to find wonder in the small things, our ability to see possibility then we lose the very best bits of what it means to be human.
Alongside the adapt down cycle, our brains have learned to accept ‘a little less from life’ as normal and in the worst-case scenario that we should be grateful for it and this brings me right back to why I do what I do – open minds and build the human spirit.
Before I leave you, I want to ask you a question.
What are you settling for that is beige or less than you deserve?
Are you putting up with a bad boss?
Are you settling for feeling lonely?
Are you adapting down to a constant stress cycle?
Have you normalised living with constant physical or emotional pain?
The most important part of this blog is this – you don’t have to settle for less, life doesn’t have to stay feeling like a ‘beige buffet’ and your human spirit is available for you to look after. You don’t have to settle, you can have that youth full sense of vibrant possibility in your life, and you can choose it consciously.
You just have to want overcome apathy, want more for yourself and decide not to settle – the rest I can help you with.
Get in touch - I'm here
All the love
p.s don't settle for beige x
