Flexibility | #02 #inspiration #personalgrowth #believerance

Hi, I'm Dr. Natalie, and today we are going to be speaking about flexibility. So this is something that I think is incredibly important. And I had to learn the very hard way. You know that saying, if a tree is hit by the wind, if it's too rigid, it will break, but if it's flexible, it will, like, bend and go with the flow. I think that's a really important attitude in life. Too many times we have a business idea or we have a plan or a project or a dream or a goal or how we want someone to be, and then we work so hard in the path that we've taken and the moment there's an obstacle or someone says no or it can't be done, we give up, we are defeated, we are upset. You're demoralized. But when you have a flexible attitude, you. You don't take no as, no. Right? It's not a wall, it's not the end of the world. You can be flexible in the approach. So a lot of the times I always say you need to know why, why you're doing something. What are you actually trying to do? The goal or the dream or where you're trying to go. But the how is flexible. The how can be many different ways, even ways you've not yet thought about. You tried this path, it didn't work. You tried this other route, it didn't work. Then you went this other way, then it worked. Think about it as a destination, and there are many different roads and routes you could get to it from. Are you taking a boat? Are you taking a plane? Are you walking? Are you driving? How many ways can you get to where you're trying to get to? So. So don't lose sight of that. Hold on to what is important and then be flexible with how you're going to get there. And that applies to every area of your life. Something that someone taught me is what you can control is only skin in you. Look at yourself. It's only internal stuff that is really in your control. Anything external of you, there's going to be other variables. There's going to be other people or decisions or rules or laws or bad weather. There are so many things you can't control. So what you have to hold your power to is what you can do and then be flexible about everything else. You had all these plans, you needed the weather to be good. Then it started raining. Do you throw away the day? You're not gonna get that time back. You adjust your attitude, be flexible. What can we do in this situation? You Know, it's funny to talk about this, because I feel like this changes how you see life completely. You know, I watch people now that I'm used to being like this, and when something doesn't go their way, their reaction is so violent, they are very angry, or they're very upset, or they give up, and that's that. But once you practice being flexible in your attitude to things, you start to see that there's so many other ways to get stuff done. Just because someone has said no, okay, thank you. What's the reason? What's the feedback? Aha. Now, how else can we go about this? What else can we do? Let's not just all lose hope. And it is a skill. I think the more you do it, the faster you react and the faster you bounce back and say, okay, this didn't work. What's another way? What's another way? Too many times someone comes to my office with a problem, Madame, this is not working. They said, no, this happened. There was an obstacle. Okay, what's the solution? The first thing you tried didn't work. Don't give up. What else can we do? How do we make the most of this situation? What have we learned from this? You have to have a flexible attitude. Otherwise you'll just be upset all the time. Whose life goes according to plans? Absolutely no one. It's impossible for things to work out exactly how you want them to work out. Another way to practice with flexibility is to experiment. This is another thing I'm constantly encouraging. Experiment on yourself, on your life, your business, your ways. Try new things. It keeps your mind flexible, and that's how you will learn faster. We do not learn by reading books. Yeah, you have access to that information. It will be in your mind. But have you really learned it? Have you practiced it? Have you implemented it? Is it a part of who you are now? You learn by doing so. Experiment. Try different foods. Try a different type of diet. Try a new type of exercise. Try driving home in a different route that you know than you normally use. Try approaching things in a new way. If it doesn't work, that's fine. I tried this for three weeks. Didn't work out. I don't want to use that in my life anymore. But to have that attitude of experimentation, adaptation, trying, not being scared of something new, not being so rigid in your principles. When is the last time you argued with someone and they convinced you for their position? When's the last time you let go or you learned something and said, oh, wow, okay, next time I talk to someone, about this topic, I will use your argument. We are all very rigid out of fear. Most of the time we take our conditioning as autopilot. Whatever we were told, whatever we were taught, whatever our parents, the church, the social media, someone has told us, we just take it as a given and then we hold on to it. But life is not so static. Be flexible, be open minded. You never know when you learn something or see something new. And when you have a mind that is more open and flexible, you have more access to information. If you do the same thing all the time, every day, the same route, the same way you dress, the same places you go, the same people, you see you're not opening yourself up to new experiences, to new opportunities, to new information. When you're flexible and open minded, then you're constantly opened up to new experiences. You're always seeing new things. The same path you take all the way home every day. You will now start to notice all these different things. I didn't realize there was a shop there. I didn't realize this mall has expanded. I didn't realize there's a new building on this side. Because you're just in your own shattered life. You're not being flexible, you're being rigid. And it's true, when the wind blows, those who are rigid will break. And I see this all the time and it's so hard to watch because I'm like, it doesn't have to be that way. It's all in your own mind. A lot of these things are just about attitude. And once you adjust your attitude, and when I say adjust, I mean you have to live it and practice it. Once you adjust and you're doing it and you start to be an open minded person, life changes around you. The same life you are living now has expired, expanded. You have more opportunities, you see more access, more information, more people, more experiences, more gaps in the market. You see how many other ways you can market your business. You can have fun on the weekend, you can improve your relationships just because you were open minded. Too often someone will tell us, oh, this is how I feel about something. That's that this is who I am. It is what it is. Such people, I'm like, okay, enjoy your life. But it's a harder way to live, I think, because those people you're constantly pushing back and you're resistant to, to the world because the world is fluid, the world is flexible. Life is constantly changing. Tell me, anyone's life that has not changed in the last three years. Is there anyone in the whole world who kept their same routines for the last five years. The way they wake up, the way they eat, the way they walk, the way they do everything. It's not possible. The world changed and the world is going to keep changing. I don't just mean big things like Covid, but there's constantly change. Look at how the Internet has changed. What's possible in our one generation's life, our parents and grandparents, what was possible in their lifetime compared to us? The world is always changing. It's growing, it's evolving. Life is fluid. Even the people around you are constantly changing. Your job is constantly changing. What is possible is always changing. So why do you think you, as an individual, you should not change? Also, why would you be the one who is rigid? Be flexible, be open minded. Don't just be quick to say no, to refuse people's ideas or say ah, ah, ah, those things, I don't believe in them. So I encourage you to experiment with something in your life to see where you are so rigid. To see where you can change your mind, where you can learn something new, where you can grow. See how you can test out different versions of who you could be. Because when you imagine yourself in the future and the person you're trying to be, if you could be that person instantly, you'd already be there. The way you're going to get to that person is by trying different things, different ways, different paths, different attitudes, different strategies, and eventually you'll find yourself there. So experiment, try things, be open minded, and most of all, be flexible.