#6 Diversity: Thriving Through Multiplicity

Diversity: Positive Change through Multiple Perspectives

What does it mean to be diverse? If you’ve read my writing about curiosity, discovery, and adaptability, you’ll understand that we can train our minds and bodies to be open, to see what’s possible, and create more options. When we are personally diverse, we possess a range of ways to meet our needs in terms of our thinking, our skills, and our resources. When an organization is diverse, it has a variety of ways to meet its  needs— the same thing goes for communities and nations. 

When we hold this quality of resilience, we are diverse in our thinking and have a range of options to achieve our goals and meet our needs. 

We tend to think of diversity in terms of peoples’ identities and background. This kind of diversity is essential to resilient communities, organizations, nations, and any collective situation. Diversity of people brings diversity of thought, and thus leads to an increased variety of perspectives, unique skill sets and mindsets, and leads to more holistic solutions. Without human diversity embedded in our systems, we will fail. Human diversity, be it at the level of a group, business, government organization, or otherwise, helps us to thrive. The same principles can be applied to our inner world and relationship with self.

When we cultivate the ability to think diversely, hone our skills, and access diverse skill sets, we build personal resilience. As with many of the 7 Qualities of Personal Resilience, thinking diversely begins with cultivating an open mind and body, and learning how to regulate our nervous systems. 

The Power of the Flexible Mind

Flexible minds can generate diverse options. Have you ever gotten into a jam, whether it be in your relationship, work, finances, or otherwise? Perhaps you felt stuck trying one solution over and over again without making progress? Maybe you felt so sure this one was the way that no other options came to mind or even entered the field of possibility. In these stuck places, thinking diversely helps us find the most aligned and beneficial way forward. 

Albert Einstein famously said, “We cannot solve our problems using the same thinking that created them.”

A mind that’s flexible, open to new information, and willing to shift with the changing landscape means we can devise diverse solutions to life’s challenges.

Have we developed a skill set to handle a given situation or meet a specific goal? If something unexpected arises, can we gracefully pivot and employ a different skill set moving forward? And if we don’t, is this an opportunity for us to learn, or would it be better to ask someone for support? 

It’s impossible for us to possess every skill. We can develop our capacity and competence in the things that light us up or are necessary to our functioning. And sometimes, we need to call in support. Thinking and acting diversely also means we know when we can’t do it alone. We can tap into our network to resource ourselves to meet our needs. 

The Magic of Interdependence

When we are personally diverse, we understand the importance of having access to a range of options to meet our needs, including collaboration. We know that we need each other and are inherently interdependent, and understand that we are better together. 

I have a client who loves to do it all himself. This client is extremely smart, capable, and innovative, so going it alone can seem more efficient. He loves to learn, which is such a beneficial orientation to life. And, at different times in his life he’s run himself into the ground trying to handle everything alone, to the point of where his health was negatively impacted and he required medical intervention. 

One person can’t do it all. Through his own personal awareness and courageous growth supported by our work together, this client has recently been breaking through this pattern, asking for support, and seeking out other professionals who are experts at their craft to join him. Since diversifying his options and his team, his business opportunities have increased tenfold, he is experiencing more feelings of productivity and success, and his overall life satisfaction has increased. It’s a beautiful thing to witness: to see someone feel better and do better with support from others. 

From Solopreneur to Team Builder: Support through Diversity

Being an entrepreneur myself, I know that it’s easy to get tunnel vision in the pursuit of forward movement. In my journey, I’ve had to learn new skills along the way to get my business to the phase where I could afford to pay others. I also found ways, in the early years of my business, to outsource help in affordable and aligned ways. If we can open our minds and bodies, whether you are running a business, doing a house project, or in a relational jam, we will find there are always options.  

So how can we lead with an open mind, think flexibly, integrate new learning, build our skill sets, and ask for support when we need it?

If you are hoping to grow your capacity in any of these areas, an essential step on your path is building your diversity of thought and skill through personal resilience.

I’d love to hear how you are utilizing diversity in your life, leave your comments below!