Flexibility is considered the cognitive style needed for societies to flourish and is a prerequisite for successful innovation across life. Flexible thinking is associated with a better quality of life and well-being, and is considered to be a fundamental aspect of health. It cultivates psychological resilience to negative life events, including better coping and emotion regulation within work, relationships, and leisure.
We’ve been told over and over again to stick to the plan no matter what. This idea is so deeply embedded in our psyches that inevitably these inflexible plans get blown to smithereens, leaving us picking up the pieces, once again despondent and pessimistic about ever becoming successful.
We’ve got a lot of separate bubbles moving around in our daily lives. Work, family, health, finances, and housing are the big ones, the ones we naturally prioritize. Some rise to the top, some fall to the bottom or cling to the sides. They bump up against one another all the time. Sometimes when they collide, they burst on impact, often creating a very real conflict with our plans.
This point of conflict becomes our choice point: the true place of power. What we do here determines not only the fate of our specific eating and exercise plans, but our success in supporting the greater goals they aim to achieve.
What we call “the Joy Choice” strategy is the perfect imperfect option that lets us do something instead of nothing.
This strategy is based on the assumption that many of the plans we make do not work out, and it is all about learning to effortlessly and joyfully negotiate all of these choice points. A big part of that approach is having flexible beliefs and strategies that work for, rather than against, you and all the meaningful things that make up your life.
Flexible thinking is our true superpower. It drives creativity and resilience in the face of challenges and unexpected sudden change.
In fact, striving toward any plan or goal in a flexible way is considered paramount to continued engagement and long-term behavioral pursuit, not only in lifestyle behaviors but across many parts of life. Source:
Psychology Today