AdaptAbility: How to Survive Change You Didn't Ask For

Learn the secrets to taking any change in stride.

“Change is hard,” we say, and it is even harder when change is thrust upon us. In today’s tough times, we may be forced to reinvent our career or downsize our lives; at any point in life, we may lose a love or a dream. Our first reaction to change we didn’t ask for may be to rail against fate. But what if we could see past today’s turmoil and spot the opportunities that lie within unasked-for change? That is the promise of AdaptAbility, bestselling author and executive coach M. J. Ryan’s paradigm-shifting new book on not merely surviving but thriving when change is required.

Why is it so hard to accept change? Paradoxically, it is for the very reason that our brains usually work so well; we are designed to learn something and make it automatic. The problem is that when circumstances change, our “efficient” brains keep trying to do things the same old way. In AdaptAbility, Ryan provides strategies to retrain your brain and optimize your response to change, step by step: by first accepting the new reality, then expanding your options, and finally, taking effective action. She offers cutting-edge tools for becoming calmer, less fearful, and more flexible, creative, and resourceful in your thinking. Best of all, as your “adapt-ability” increases, so does your confidence that you will be able to face whatever life sends your way and find new ways to flourish.

M. J. Ryan, internationally recognized as a leading change expert, is one of the creators of the New York Times bestselling Random Acts of Kindness series and the author of This Year I Will . . . , The Happiness Makeover, The Power of Patience, Trusting Yourself, and Attitudes of Gratitude, among other books. A member of Professional Thinking Partners, she specializes in coaching individuals and teams around the world. She has appeared on the Today show and CNN, and is a contributing editor to Good Housekeeping and Health. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and daughter. Visit her website at www.mj-ryan.com.