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Writer's pictureRISE Ann Wicken

What’s the Difference Between Adaptability and Resilience?


Over the last few days I’ve been using these words extensively and interchangeably. It got me thinking, are they one in the same? I’m beginning to realise they actually mean different things and we live and use them differently.


Okay, so I broke my foot my last week. No points for guessing what my initial reaction was. #%@! this can’t happen because I have to teach Yoga and Fitness Classes. PANIC!

After a dressing down from the Doctor and Orthopaedic Surgeon about what I could do I very quickly had to acknowledge and accept that my reality had changed. It became apparent pretty darned quick I was going to need to adaptable. I could hardly deny the reality of the situation whilst bum shuffling down the stairs and crawling back up (a sight to behold).


Admitting and accepting my changed reality allowed me to find new approaches and management strategies in response to this change. Adaptation!


The way I see it you need two things for adaptability: recognizing something has changed and the ability to create alternatives.


Faced with this new challenge, 2020 seems to be dishing them out left, right and center, I had to believe I could ‘push on’ regardless. I knew I had sufficient physical capability, but needed some gentle reassuring to believe I had the problem-solving capability. After 24 hours of feeling a little sorry for myself (we don’t get long to dwell in self-pity in this house) I began to generate alternatives. Subsequently I felt better about myself and knew I had the confidence to find my way through this.


I suspect there is a feedback loop in there.

When we believe in ourselves and practice adaptability we become more resilient. Being more resilient creates greater adaptability and generates a stronger belief.

I suspect that belief in ourselves leads directly to greater adaptability and that’s where people might confuse resilience and adaptability.


Resilience Helps Us Move Forward

Practising resilience increases our ability to move forward, past change and despite setbacks. It builds self-confidence and belief.

Notice resilience is primarily an emotional topic. It’s how we feel about ourselves: our physical self, our problem-solving and confident selves. I don’t think my way through resilience, I feel it.

Adaptability Helps Us Create Options

Practising adaptability helps us discover new ways of working and living.


We need both adaptability and resilience in our lives. If we expect and accept change, we can build our resilience and find ways of moving forward. If we practice adaptability, we can create more resilient lives and workplaces.


On A Side Note

If you’ve seen my predicament over the last few days you’ll see I’m wearing a new leg accessory, nope it’s not a leg warmer. Got to say it’s most inconvenient but not a show stopper. I can still move, breath and teach and there are some benefits to being on crutches; binge watching Netflix guilt free, no domestic duties, one pair of socks lasts twice as long, your husband becomes your wife, and you get really good at pistol squats and one leg deadlifts.


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