Change the Game with CLARAfi.COACH

From monitoring external events for changes to leaning into change with growth and innovation, here are 18 answers to the question, “How do you stay on your toes and improvise in business and life as things continue to change and evolve?”

  • Monitor External Events for Changes
  • Question Everything, Try New Things
  • Stay Focused
  • Don’t Always Stick to the Same Plan
  • Practice Mindfulness
  • Never Stop Learning
  • Take It Easy
  • Practice Scenario Planning
  • Don’t Compare Yourself to Others
  • Keep Up With Social Media
  • Develop An Agile Mindset
  • Staying Open-minded Leads to Agile Thinking
  • Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS)
  • Practice Yoga and Meditation
  • Understand Your Vision, Goals, and Capabilities
  • Celebrate Positive Changes
  • Never Stop Reading
  • Lean into Change for Growth and Innovation

Monitor External Events for Changes

In order to stay on your toes and improvise in business and life as things change, it is important to maintain focused attention. My best tip is to develop a way of monitoring external events in relevant subject areas. For example, something as simple as subscribing to industry newsletters can help identify both emerging trends and potential threats. This allows you to anticipate the changes that may occur around you and react quickly with an appropriate response. Keeping up with potential developments also helps ensure that your organization or tactics are always up-to-date, allowing for increased efficiency through maximum adaptation for a rapidly changing environment.

Michael Alexis, CEO, swag.org

Question Everything, Try New Things

The sudden and unexpected nature of change often requires us to stay alert and adapt quickly in order to succeed in both business and life. A helpful tip for staying on your toes is to continuously question why you do something. Instead of dwelling on a specific solution, challenge yourself to think about what else you can try – this encourages out-of-the-box thinking that may yield novel results.

Take, for example, one CEO who made it standard practice to consistently use different doorways while entering the office; each gave him a new perspective with which he conducted meetings or interacted with his staff. This uncommon tactic allowed him to see things differently and resist complacency when facing new challenges – it is a simple but powerful reminder to keep an open mind despite the ever-evolving nature of the industry.

Tasia Duske, CEO, Museum Hack

Stay Focused

As someone who works remotely, staying on my toes and improvising are two of the most important things for my success. The best tip I can give is to have a workspace that is free of distractions. I have my computer and my desk in a dedicated “office,” away from my living room and the kitchen. I make sure to close all notifications, and I don’t have any social media apps installed on my computer. Having a workspace that is free of distractions has allowed me to get more work done and be more productive.

Matthew Ramirez, CEO, Rephrasely

Don’t Always Stick to the Same Plan

In the spirit of the Super Bowl season, it is appropriate to note that the teams that make the best halftime adjustments are often the ones that win the most games.

There is a life lesson to take from that: Preparation is extremely important, but it isn’t the only important part of a successful life (or business). You have to react properly and promptly whenever the game changes. You can’t stick to a specific plan and think that, as long as you stay the course, things will work out.

The market can change very quickly, and you must be prepared to adjust to it. You must stay on top of the trends. The more you do that, the better you will be at spotting the next trend before it even takes shape. That is a great rule to abide by in business and in life: Be open to change and learn to anticipate it.

Rachel Blank, Founder and CEO, Allara

Practice Mindfulness

Practicing mindfulness is crucial to staying in the present moment. When you allow yourself to focus on what is happening to you now rather than in the past or the hypothetical future, you will be able to think more clearly about how to adjust to any changes in your life. You will be more action-oriented rather than worrying as much about the possible results of your actions.

Miles Beckett, Co-founder and CEO, Flossy

Never Stop Learning

Staying flexible and adaptable is a critical skill in today’s rapidly changing business and personal environments. Continuously learning and expanding your knowledge and skills will help you stay current and relevant in an ever-changing world. This can involve taking courses, attending workshops or conferences, or simply reading and researching new developments in your industry.

Be open to new ideas and perspectives, and be willing to consider alternative approaches to problem-solving. This can help you come up with innovative solutions and stay ahead of the curve in an evolving landscape.

Trey Ferro, CEO, Spot Pet Insurance

Take It Easy

Honestly, I just take it easy. It keeps you calm and focused, which is very important as things change and evolve in life and business. When you take it easy, you are more relaxed and open to new ideas, which helps you come up with solutions to any new challenges that arise. Plus, it allows you to think outside the box and come up with creative solutions that you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. So, my best tip is to take it easy and be open to whatever comes your way. That way, you can be prepared for anything unexpected and be able to adapt accordingly.

Shaun Connell, Founder, Writing Tips Institute

Practice Scenario Planning

To stay on our toes and be prepared for the ever-changing landscape of business and life, practice scenario planning. Through effective forward-thinking, practice the art of considering what could go well or what could go wrong and how to best prepare for each outcome.

Evaluate the resources available to you, think outside the box, and take action from that space. Beyond this practice, make sure to stay connected with those around you — it’s often surprising just how much knowledge and support we can gain from our colleagues or mentors.

Jim Campbell, Owner, Camp Media

Don’t Compare Yourself to Others

My #1 piece of advice is to not compare yourself to others as a means of judging your growth. This applies to both business and your personal life. Comparison can easily suppress any spark for personal growth or evolution that you may have, and you need to cut out these types of (often very unrealistic) distractions if you’re going to evolve in your personal and professional lives.

Wendy Makinson, HR Manager, Joloda Hydraroll

Keep Up With Social Media

Social media is where all the magic happens. It’s where you will learn about the new trends, and the new slang, and get to see new people. Social media plays the role of keeping us all up to date. Things are evolving faster than we can keep up with, but social media makes sure we know when things change. This is why staying active on social media is essential for people running a business. Because, how else are you going to know when your target customers no longer use certain products or consider them safe (for whatever reason)? Social media is not an option for people running a business; it’s mandatory. Otherwise, you will be in the dark about a lot of things, a lot of which are crucial to keeping your business afloat.

Lydia Mwangi, Content Writer, Barbell Jobs

Develop An Agile Mindset

Developing an agile mindset is key to staying on your toes and improvising in business and life as things continue to change and evolve. By definition, agility is the ability to move quickly and easily. In business, agility means responding rapidly to market changes and opportunities. The first step to developing an agile mindset is being open to change.

Change is inevitable, so embrace it instead of resisting it. Accept that things will never be the same and that change is a good thing. When you’re open to change, you’re more flexible and adaptable, which are two key attributes of an agile mindset.

Kate Wojewoda-Celinska, Marketing Manager, Spacelift

Staying Open-minded Leads to Agile Thinking

Staying on your toes and improvising are invaluable habits for anyone in business or just for life in general. One effective tip is to always remain open-minded. For example, when it comes to problem-solving and adapting to change, don’t be afraid to draw inspiration from sources outside of your wheelhouse and even unrelated fields.

For instance, if you’re struggling with a tricky issue in the workplace, familiarize yourself with an approach used by professional athletic teams and see how you can apply it to your situation. This unconventional thinking can often lead you down paths that may offer useful solutions. Staying open-minded will help keep ideas fresh so that you can continually stay agile as things evolve around you.

Michael Alexis, CEO, tiny campfire

Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS)

Remember that acronym from when you were younger: Keep It Simple, Stupid (KISS)? Now is a good time to dust it off and grab it from the attic. When you can focus on keeping things at work and in your personal life as simple as possible, things seem to flow with more ease. Gut-check yourself every once in a while by asking, “Am I making this too complicated?” The answer is likely, yes.

Kelli Anderson, Career Coach, Resume Seed

Practice Yoga and Meditation

Practicing yoga and meditation can enhance mental health and improve creativity by allowing individuals to relax and gain new perspectives. These mindfulness techniques offer a way to stay sharp, focused, and adaptable in the face of change, promoting clarity and insight. In addition to yoga and meditation, consider incorporating other methods such as walking, journaling, or creative visualization to find what works best for you. Cultivate a calm and clear mind to stay ahead of the curve in both business and life.

Dilruba Erkan, Consultant, Character Calculator

Understand Your Vision, Goals, and Capabilities

Facing changes in business and life can be uncomfortable, yet staying on top of the situation and being prepared to make decisions is key to success. Understanding one’s own vision, goals, and abilities can help meet this challenge, as this will help you make a more informed solution.

Having a clear vision of what you want to achieve is the key to creating an effective plan and achieving success. Knowing your capabilities and goals can also give you a better idea of how to go about reaching them.

An excellent tip for staying on your toes and improvising as times evolve is to understand any gaps in knowledge or skills that may prevent you from taking actions that are necessary when you need to. And to do this, you have to be willing to learn what you do not know; being open to learning opportunities will keep you agile and ready for whatever comes your way.

Yemisi Iyilade, Project Management Professional, Eminent Coaching Academy

Celebrate Positive Changes

Celebrating positive changes and embracing how it affects oneself is one tried-and-true method. All change has an inherent balance of positive and negative outcomes associated with it. Learning to celebrate the positives can both help one make the best of a less favorable situation, as well as accelerate oneself into a more positive one. Change is inevitable, and embracing what comes redefines oneself to be ready for tomorrow.

Alexandre Robicquet, Co-founder and CEO, Crossing Minds

Never Stop Reading

My number one tip is to read, read, and read some more. Whether it’s reading experts’ posts on LinkedIn, reading zines like the Harvard Business Review, or listening to podcasts on Blinkist to discover new knowledge areas to explore, I find I can improvise better when I plug into the gurus like Avinash Kaushik and follow writings on niche subjects that really matter, like Erin in the Morning, which helps me to have the pulse of the community.

Lilia Koss, Community Manager, Facialteam

Lean into Change for Growth and Innovation

My best tip for staying on your toes and being able to adapt to changes in business and life is to remain open-minded, curious, and flexible.

By taking a step back to look at the big picture, you can identify opportunities to improve and adjust your approach, while keeping an eye on the changing landscape. Keeping up with the trends and learning new skills can help you stay ahead of the curve. Also, make sure to take time to rest and reflect, so you can remain energized and focused. Taking regular breaks allows you to reset your mental state, brainstorm new ideas, and identify potential solutions that you may have missed. Remember, change is inevitable; growth is optional.

Every day you have a choice. You can either fall victim to changing circumstances, or you can choose to see the changes that life is presenting you as an opportunity for growth and innovation, pushing you to lead yourself, your team, and organization with a bigger impact.

Anna Barnhill, MA, PCC, CEO, Barnhill Group Consulting

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