Figuring out how to adapt is challenging. How do you adapt and stay aligned with your values? How do you know when to stick it out versus change course? And what’s the difference between being flaky and being adaptable? In this article, we’ll go over the key elements for learning, practicing, and master adaptability. 

You need this one thing to have adaptability – otherwise, it’s flakiness

You cannot possess the skill of adaptability without having a goal. A skill is the ability to do something well within a given amount of time. Someone who changes how they operate just to feel good is someone who operates capriciously. Adaptability as a skill happens within the context of a goal. 

The Skills for Success (SFS) Program defines adaptability as “your ability to achieve or adjust goals and behaviours when expected or unexpected change occurs. Adaptability is shown by planning, staying focused, persisting, and overcoming setbacks.”

Let’s consider one of the key words there: behaviour. The dictionary definition of behavior is “the way in which one acts or conducts oneself, especially toward others.” The etymology of the word “conduct” comes from a Latin verb that meant “safe passage” such as a channel. Your body is a channel for energy and your thoughts and values determine how that energy gets channelled. All matter is just energy in a different state. If you can keep conducting your “self” or your “essence” in pursuit of a clearly-defined goal – and trust God to manage your fears and anxieties instead of constantly stopping and starting to manage them yourself – eventually you will reach that goal. 

Component 1: Demonstrate responsibility  

Here are a few frameworks that you can use to structure your tasks and make it easier to manage your attention, so you can respond to the things that you are able to – the tasks required to achieve your goal.

• The Pomodoro Method 
• Task-Batching
• Brain-Dumping 
• Montessori Law of Visible Order 

What is the Pomodoro Method? 

This is a time management method in which you work in 4 intervals of 25 minutes. After every interval, you get a 5 minute break. At the end of 5 intervals, you get a half hour break. This is especially useful if you need to put in work on something, but you don’t know exactly what to do to complete the task. Or, when you want to dedicate time to something, but you have other things to do. You can tell yourself you’ll focus on Pomodoro on the tangible task you have to complete and one Pomodoro on the thing that you’re worried about. 

What is the Task-Batching Method? 

The Task-Batching Method is when you take small tasks that are similar in nature and batch them together within a specific time interval, such as answering emails or editing articles. You can combine this method with the Pomodoro Method. Interval 1 is for answering emails. Interval 2 is for reviewing one blog article. Interval 3 is for returning three phone calls. Interval 4 is gathering the links you need for tomorrow’s call. This is best for managing your cognitive load and gaining momentum. You may find that you finish tasks faster than you expected!

What is the Brain Dumping Method? 

There are so many thoughts swirling around in your head. If you’re not careful, you can go in circles and operate under the impression that you’re doing some serious thinking when in reality, you’re just stressing. A better idea is to write down every single thought that pops into your head. Every thought. “Car!” “Emails!” “Debt!” “House!” “Boss!” “Powerpoint!” This will give you a clear idea of what’s on your mind and what you can work on right now. It can also help you rank things. You can even create a category called, “Tasks that I need to apologize for being delayed on” and quickly send out emails telling people you’ll need more time, so that you stop thinking about them. 

What is the Montessori Law of Visible Order? 

This is a method taken from children’s development, but it can be incredibly useful for adults as well. Simply put, this method just means “a place for everything and everything in its place.” Life will not always be perfect, but when you know where to get things and where to return things, you’re less likely to feel overwhelmed by your environment. You can apply this method to managing your stress. Sometimes, we say we can take on more than we can handle, because we want to prove ourselves. A humble thing to do is admit that our identity holds no place for that task and to ask someone who has the skills if they can do it and to apologize for thinking that you could do it. 

Component 2: Persist and persevere

The best way to sense whether a change is worth paying attention to is by determining whether it’s a social change. This change can be on the micro-, meso-, or macro-level. It’s determined by a shift in patterns related to institutions, culture, norms, values, and behaviours. Since your goal is likely something in the material realm and therefore the social realm, then you’ll need to take those kinds of shifts into consideration. This helps you understand whether a change is worth changing your entire plans or goals for or whether it’s something that you can weather. 

One framework that you can use for this is the WOOP Framework. 

• WOOP (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan)
• SMARTER goals (adds “Evaluative” and “Results-Oriented”)
• Adaptive Goal Setting
• Agile Goal Management
• The Goal Pyramid

What is the Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan Framework? 

This is a framework that helps you think big and reach for the stars while also working within material reality’s constraints. It is one researcher’s response to positive thinking and manifestation approaches. Instead of rejecting the importance of belief and positive thinking, it helps people calibrate their belief (by thinking of their wish and their outcome) and work within the material realm (by thinking of obstacles and creating a plan). 

This wish stage is about identifying a very challenging goal. The outcome stage is thinking about the best possible result and how you’ll feel. The obstacle stage is thinking about what’s standing in the way (a thought, a habit, an emotion), and the plan stage is about coming up with an if/then statement for each identified obstacle. “If I feel like this, then I will do this.” 

Component 3: Regulate your emotions when appropriate

Consider some of these frameworks for emotional regulation: 

What is Gross’ Process Model of Emotion Regulation? 

Gross’ Process Model of Emotion Regulation focuses on how people regulate their emotions across five distinct stages: 

1. Situation selection: This is about avoiding situations that make you feel bad and going towards situations that make you feel good. 
2. Situation modification: This is about actively changing the external environment or situation in order to alter its emotional impact on you.  
3. Attention deployment within a situation: This is about shifting where you focus your attention within a given situation so that you can mitigate the impact that the overall situation is having on your emotions. 
4. Cognitive change of a situation: Changing your narrative or interpretation of a situation in order to mitigate its emotional impact on you. 
5. Response modulation: This refers to calibrating how you physically, emotionally, or mentally respond to a situation and making plans to deal with that emotion later. 

What is the Zones of Regulation Framework? 

The Zones of Regulation Framework is about identifying which zone of emotion you’re in so that you can identify the tools needed to move to another zone or to a zone that is useful to you. The four emotional zones are: 

• The Blue Zone (Low Energy): Sad, sick, tired, bored, or moving slowly
• Green Zone (Regulated State): Calm, happy, focused, or ready to learn
• Yellow Zone (Heightened State): Frustrated, worried, silly, anxious, or excited
• Red Zone (Intense State): Angry, enraged, panicked, or out of control

What is the Stop-Breathe-Reflect-Choose Framework? 

This is a regulation technique that helps people get through the space between a stimulus and a response. The four stages are: 

1. Stop: Stop the emotional reaction or response in its tracks. 
2. Breathe: Take deep breaths to calm your nervous system and emotional intensity. 
3. Reflect: Consider the potential consequences of your actions.
4. Choose: Make a conscious choice about how to proceed that is aligned with your values rather than reacting.

One of the things that makes emotional regulation difficult is that you will always be able to find someone to blame, and you will always be able to justify that blame. The important thing is to focus on what your values are: what is the life you want and who is the person you want to be, even if you’ve lived a life or been a person, up to date, that has not been this way. It’s also hard, because if you decide not to assign blame, you may hear things like, “He or she is only acting like the bigger person, because they know they’re wrong or because they now have money or because xyz.” Just keep reminding yourself of your values and trust that God will reward your heart, not social perceptions. 

If it’s hard in the moment to process this blame, there are a few frameworks that you can use: 

• The Accountability Ladder
• Systems Thinking
• Responsibility without Blame
• The Responsibility Process

What is the Accountability Ladder? 

This is an 8-rung ladder with two main sections: Below The Line (Rungs 1 to 4) and Above The Line (Runs 5 to 8). 

Below The Line is victim behaviour. This is when you believe that things happen to you. Above The Line is Accountable Behaviour. This is when you believe that things happen because of you. These sections are broken up into individual rungs. 

Below The Line Rungs

• Rung 1: Unaware/Denial: You pretend that the problem does not exist. 
• Rung 2: Blame Others: You shift the responsibility for solving the problem to someone else. 
• Rung 3: Excuses: You justify the fact that you’re not taking action by saying that you do not have enough time or that you’re confused. 
• Rung 4: Wait & Hope: You sit back and hope that things will improve on their own. 

Above The Line Rungs

• Rung 5: Acknowledging Reality: You accept the current situation and you take responsibility for it. 
• Rung 6: Own It: You take ownership of the problem or situation and the potential outcomes. 
• Rung 7: Find Solutions: You look for ways to solve the problem. 
• Rung 8: Implement Solutions: You take action on your potential solutions and you actually follow through on those solutions. 

Component 4: Set or adjust your goals and expectations 

It’s hard to assess your skills level, your available resources, and your available source of support. 

When you’re trying to assess your skill level, there are a number of competency frameworks for different disciplines or jobs. For instance, let’s look at the most in-demand jobs in Canada for 2026. Their associated job codes are included (Source): 

1. Administrative Assistants (NOC 13110, 13111, 13112)
2. Planner (NOC 21202)
3. Human Resources Manager (NOC 10011)
4. Logistics Coordinator (Logistics Coordinator (NOC 13201)
5. Marketing Manager (NOC 10022)
6. Mechanical Engineer (NOC 21301)
7. Financial Analyst (NOC 11101)
8. Pharmacy Assistant (NOC 33103)
9. Accounting Technician (NOC 12200)
10. Software Developer (NOC 21232)
11. Electrician (NOC 72200)
12. DevOps Engineer (NOC 21320)
13. Welder (NOC 72106)
14. Registered Nurse / Licensed Practical Nurse (NOC 31301, 32101)
15. Early Childhood Educator (NOC 42202)

Here are some frameworks that you can use for assessing your skill level:

Now let’s see if we can find competency frameworks for assessing the skill levels of each of these occupations: 

1. Administrative Assistants (NOC 13110, 13111, 13112) = Institute of Certified Administrative Professionals (ICAP) Framework
2. Planner (NOC 21202) = Registered Professional Planner (RPP) Standards (Canada): Defines key areas including professional knowledge, skills, and ethics
3. Human Resources Manager (NOC 10011) = Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA)
4. Logistics Coordinator (Logistics Coordinator (NOC 13201) = Certified Canadian Logistics Professional (CCLP)
5. Marketing Manager (NOC 10022) = American Marketing Association (AMA) model
6. Mechanical Engineer (NOC 21301) = APEGA (Canada)
7. Financial Analyst (NOC 11101) = CFA Institute Competency Framework
8. Pharmacy Assistant (NOC 33103) = Can’t find an easy one
9. Accounting Technician (NOC 12200) = IFAC Illustrative Framework
10. Software Developer (NOC 21232) = SFIA (Skills Framework for the Information Age)
11. Electrician (NOC 72200) = Master Electrician (ME) Competency Profile 
12. DevOps Engineer (NOC 21320) = DASA (DevOps Agile Skills Association)
13. Welder (NOC 72106) = CWB/CSA Standards
14. Registered Nurse / Licensed Practical Nurse (NOC 31301, 32101) = CNO
15. Early Childhood Educator (NOC 42202) = Canadian Early Learning and Development Framework

Component 5: Plan and prioritize

For this exercise, we’re going to pick an in-demand job that doesn’t have a strict licensing or regulatory requirement, expensive learning materials, or extensive apprenticeship requirements: Accounting Technician. Keep in mind that having a combination of courses and experience is acceptable under the National Occupation Classification. An Accounting Technician is also known as a bookkeeper. 

These are the responsibilities of an Accounting Technician (which can help you figure out which skills you need to learn): 

• Maintain complete sets of books
• Keep records of accounts
• Verify the procedures used for recording financial transactions
• Provide personal bookkeeping services 
• Keep financial records
• Establish, maintain, and balance various accounts using manual and computerized bookkeeping systems
• Post journal entries and reconcile accounts
• Prepare trial balance of books
• Maintain general ledgers
• Prepare financial statements
• Calculate and prepare cheques for payrolls and for utility, tax and other bills
• Complete and submit tax remittance forms, workers’ compensation forms, pension contribution forms and other government documents
• Prepare tax returns and perform other personal bookkeeping services
• Prepare other statistical, financial and accounting reports

Figure out how an authoritative body defines technical works. In this case, we are using AN ILLUSTRATIVE COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK FOR ACCOUNTING TECHNICIANS published by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT). 

Let’s understand the nouns in each of these responsibilities: 

Maintain complete sets of books

First, you would have to understand what books are. In accounting, books are “the books of prime entry which are also known as daybooks. These books record daily financial transactions, such as sales, purchases, and cash movements. They are also known as journals. Examples of journals include: 

• Sales journal/day book
• Purchases journal/day book
• Cash receipts journal
• Cash payments journal
• Petty cash book
• Sales returns/Returns inward
• Purchases returns/returns inward
• General Journal for non-routine transactions

Keep records of accounts

When you’re maintaining books, you’re keeping records of transactions. When you’re keeping records of accounts, you’re looking at the high-level analysis of different financial transactions and different categories of financial transactions. 

Verify the procedures used for recording financial transactions

There are eight steps in the accounting cycle: 

1. Identifying and Analyzing Transactions
2. Recording Journal Entries
3. Posting to the General Ledger
4. Preparing a Trial Balance
5. Making Adjusting Entries
6. Adjusting the Trial Balance
7. Generating Financial Statements
8. Closing the Books

There are three main types of recording methods: 

• Manual system
• Computerized/Accounting Software
• Spreadsheets

Provide personal bookkeeping services

• Tracking daily financial transactions, expenses, and budget
• Expense tracking and categorization
• Bill payment and management
• Account reconciliation
• Financial reporting
• Tax organization

Keeping financial records

Establish, maintain, and balance various accounts using manual and computerized bookkeeping systems

• Documentation by keeping invoices, bank statements, sales slips, etc. 
• Organization by maintaining records based on year and type of income or expense
• Differentiating between types of records such as ledgers, journals, financial statements, and payroll records
• Fulfilling specific purposes like meeting legal requirements (in Canada, you have to keep records going back six years) 
• Formatting them to ensure they are clear either physically or digitally

Post journal entries and reconcile accounts

Posting journal records means moving data from the daybook to the general ledger or the ledgers of specific accounts. This updates individual account balances and helps to create financial statements. 

Reconciling refers to comparing your internal financial records to external sources, such as bank statements and invoices. 

Prepare trial balance of books

A trial balance is an internal report that’s published periodically. It lists the closing balance of the general ledger accounts, such as assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, and expenses. 

Maintain general ledgers

This means ensuring the proper items are recorded under assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, and expenses. 

Prepare financial statements

This refers to summarizing a company’s daily financial transactions into standardized, formal reports, such as the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows, and the income statement. 

Calculate and prepare cheques for payrolls and for utility, tax and other bills

This means using computerized software or manual methods to process payroll, taxes, and vendor invoices. 

Prepare other statistical, financial and accounting reports

There are many types of financial reports (balance sheet, income statement, statement of cash flows, trial balances, general ledger reports, and compilation engagement reports), accounting and operational reports (accounts receivable aging reports, accounts payable aging reports, bank reconciliation reports, payroll reports/remittances, inventory costing reports, Sales Tax (VAT) reports, expense reports, and working papers), statistical and management reports (budgets vs. actual reports, cash flow projections, sales revenue reports, cost reports, key performance indicator reports, ad-hoc analysis reports), and tax-related reports (personal and corporate tax returns, workers’ compensation reports, and tax remittance forms). 

Component 6: Seek self-improvement

Let’s say that you were trying to get the job of an Accounting Technician. You would need to assess: 

• Do I have the skills to do this job? If you can’t automatically imagine yourself doing this if you were sitting in front of a computer on the first day (assuming you already knew the company’s policies) then you do not have the skill. 
• Do you have the resources? Do you have access to the standardized formats of different accounting frameworks for the preparation of different reports? Do you have access to the different software that allows you to create these reports? If the answer is no, then you do not have the resources. 

Opportunities for improving yourself may be answering the following question: 

What are the most widely used accounting frameworks and principles? 

The two are: 

• International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)
• Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP)

You can keep comparing your efforts against these frameworks.