Rugged Flexibility: The Key to Navigating Change

We live in a constant state of change. Although this is widely acknowledged by most people, change still appears to be the biggest threat to our survival. What do humans do when they perceive something as a threat? They resist it.

This concept of resisting change is referred to as rigidity (the opposite of flexibility).

Of course this is not new information to you as I’m sure you can recall many instances where you have fought change or resisted something just because it wasn’t the norm. This is human nature and is deeply ingrained in our bodies and our brains (specifically the "reptilian" part of our brain). After all, change is unknown, and the unknown is frightening.

The survival mechanism behind rigidity has its value at times, however, most of the time it is an instinctual drive that kicks in the second that we feel the ground beneath us quake. The biggest problem with this reaction is that we have absolutely no control over most of the changes that we experience in our lives.  

Therefore, if we allow our brain to revert into an instinctual pattern to keep us protected from an inevitable change in our lives, we risk falling into the trap of relying on our sympathetic nervous system, or our fight or flight response. When this happens, your logical thinking brain gets shut down and you start reacting to a situation and making decisions out of fear. When we begin to react to situations out of fear, we lack the ability to grow.

Simply put, rigidity leads us to act out of fear, and fear directly inhibits growth.  

Embracing Rugged Flexibility over Rigidity

If we know that change is inevitable and that rigidity stops us from experiencing growth when faced with change, what do we do instead?

We embrace something called rugged flexibility.

Rugged flexibility is that concept that you can bring a sense of strength and agency (ruggedness) AND the ability to let go of the need to control (flexibility) to any situation. This skill to embrace both strength and flexibility is called non-dualistic thinking and allows us to make decisions based on “both/and” thinking. When we do this, we accept the things that are out of our control (such as the loss of a job) while being open to new concepts, ways of thinking and trajectories that will open us up to growth. In other words, rugged flexibility allows us to problem solve our way out of a challenge.

The “rugged” part of rugged flexibility is determined by your core values. These are the things that stay consistent no matter what external changes happen around you. Some examples of core values may include perseverance, honesty, courage, integrity, community, respect, compassion, or growth.

Even if you have experienced a sudden and unexpected job loss, you can still navigate this change while keeping your core values of courage and community. You may feel that your ability to be courageous has suffered a blow if you are concerned about your future financial situation, however, you can still take a courageous stance by applying for jobs that seem outside of your comfort zone or transitioning your career altogether. You may also feel a sense of loss of community if you have recently been let go of your job which was a source of many of your friends. However, you can find community from other sources such as starting a new hobby or taking a class to learn a new skill. The concept here is that you are maintaining the same core values but learning how to implement them in a more flexible way.

Your core values are the main source of your ruggedness. Becoming exceptionally clear on what your core values are will help you decide how you can implement rugged flexibility the next time your world gets rocked by an unexpected change.

When you learn how to navigate change with growth and flexibility, all while maintaining your core values, you build your resilience to external challenges. The more you do this, the more stability you will feel the next time you experience an unexpected disruption in your life.