Several seemingly unrelated events made me realize we don’t always see our current options and adapt to them. While Mark and I like our routines (laundry and grocery shopping on Sundays), sometimes that does not work for our other weekend timing. We need to change, to adapt to our needs work for us. My left
How Well Are You Adapting to the Current Situation—to the Options You Have Now? Read More »
I have lots of writing and other projects I want to start—and finish. I confident I can rank all that work, so I can start and finish what’s most important to me. While I rarely have trouble with starting energy, I sometimes have trouble with finishing energy. Here’s how that works for me, especially for
How Can You Use Which Kind of Energy to Start and Finish? Read More »
I love learning about tools and how to use them. Here are some of the tools I use often: Manual tools I use in the kitchen. Electronic tools for my work, such as visualizing the flow of work, systems thinking models, as well as the tools I use to write and publish. Thinking tools, such
How Can You Know the Right Tool to Use for Your Current Problem? Read More »
When you think about where to invest your money or time, what do you consider? Winning? Losing? Maybe reducing the chances of losing too much? Many of us do not want to lose, a classic case of loss aversion. Yet, that is not the same as playing or choosing to win. I’m not suggesting that
How Can We Play to Win, Not Just Manage Possible Losses? Read More »
How do you decide what to do next? Most of us find it quite tempting to continue whatever we have done, up until now. When we continue, we don’t need much adaptability or resilience. But what do you do when Something Happens? That something might be wonderful, such as a lifecycle event, or when you
How Can You See Your Adaptability and Resilience as You Make Decisions? Read More »
I’ve had several lovely conversations over the past couple of weeks with friends and colleagues of long standing. (They’re not old people, which is why I’m not calling them old friends.) Each of them wants to do something different with their lives, something that matters more than what they are doing now. They often said,
How Can We Stop Waiting to Do What We Say Matters to Us? Read More »
Everyone I know wants to do good work with fair compensation. Often, that work gives them purpose and fulfills their need to do something that matters. However, everything is changing. Managers feel pressure, and that pressure flows down to the people they are supposed to lead and serve. Then, there’s AI, in the form of
How Will You Reinvent Yourself and Your Work So You Can Do What Matters? Read More »
This is Johanna Rothman’s December 2025 Create an Adaptable Life Newsletter. The unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. Now that I’ve had this big birthday, people are asking me if I plan to slow down. As always, with these interesting questions, the answer depends on the context. If the context is driving,
How Does Our Reaction Speed Assist or Limit Our Best Lives? Read More »
I have not been regular with my posts on this site because I have been learning a ton. That learning created delays in all my work. But I needed to finish this work, a Kickstarter for Effective Public Speaking, because it might change how I choose to write and publish in the future. While I
How Do All the Delays Help Us Get Through Our Learning to Finish? Read More »
I always have an appetite to do more—more writing, more walking, more exercising. (You are not surprised, even if you are laughing at me. That’s fine. I can live with your laughter.) And I realize we are just six weeks from the end of the year. (Six weeks!) Originally, I wondered how I could fit
How Much More or Less Could You or Should You Do This Year? Read More »