This is Johanna Rothman’s September 2025 Create an Adaptable Life Newsletter. The unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. Do you like uncertainty? I don’t, and I’m not alone. That’s because uncertainty feels as if it’s an unmanageable risk. We even have sayings such as, “Don’t rock the boat,” to explain why we […]
How Would You Act if You Optimized for Uncertainty to Gain More Resilience? Read More »
This week, two things occurred that made me wonder about resilience and how that can help us be more effective. The first was a conversation with academics about the state of the 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds in college. Because of the pandemic, they spent a couple of formative years isolated at home. The academics claim
How Can We See Where More Resilience Can Help Us Be More Effective? Read More »
I recently learned about three kinds of fun on a scale: Type 1 Fun, where the thing you do, this current experience, is fun right now. Type 2 Fun, where you thought this thing would be fun, but you get frustrated and possibly miserable as you go through it. Only in retrospect, when you see
How Can More Type 2 Fun Offer You More Resilience? Read More »
This is Johanna Rothman’s July 2025 Create an Adaptable Life Newsletter. The unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. Last week, Mark and I were on vacation in Key West. While we were there, we took several wind-and-wine sailing trips. At the end of each sail, the crew passes out dark Dove chocolate
How Can You Manage Your Feelings to Start a New Chapter? Read More »
We’ve all heard that freedom isn’t free. We have to work and fight for it. But too often, we hear the “fight” part and not the “work” part. That means we start to choose just one of two alternatives (yours vs mine) instead of looking for more options. Worse, we might think that freedom is
Which Freedoms Will You Work and Fight For? Read More »
I’ve seen several of these situations recently. I suspect you have, too: A friend or colleague “retires” from their day job. Within a few weeks, they’re either back at that day job or some other job. Why? Because they have no idea what to do in retirement. An organization wants to “transform” the entire way
When Do You Want a Total Transformation vs. Being Satisfied with Practicing Change? Read More »
This is Johanna Rothman’s May 2025 Create an Adaptable Life Newsletter. The unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. A few weeks ago, I met a friend, Dave, for lunch. We’d had to cancel that lunch two weeks in a row. The first time was because I was sick. While I selfishly decided
How Do You Know When a Selfish or Generous Decision is Best? Read More »
I feel as if I’m living the Satir Change model. I’ve had “Monday” every day this week. My computer keeps rebooting itself (sigh). My website hosting provider had a snafu, so my website needed some changes. Then, this morning, I screwed things up with my (other) site. (It’s all fixed now.) My car died on
How Can More Adaptable Thinking Create More Success for You? Read More »
We often hear “strength” used to describe leaders in our communities, at work, and certainly in politics. Often, those who talk about being “strong” equate that strength to “power.” While I do think there is a power component to strength, I don’t agree with literal power, where the “strong” leader uses/abuses his or her power
What Does Leadership Strength Mean to You? Read More »
I’ve been fighting a head cold all week. That means I’ve had various Queen personas: the Nap Queen, the Cough Queen, and the Sneezing Queen. I hope I am in my final iteration of being a Cough Queen because I have things I want to accomplish. That feeling of being pulled away from my objectives
How Can We Find Ways to Escape Our Various Undertows? Read More »