When the Business Freezes Without Adaptability
β
I sold my last business a few years back.
β
And for a split-second, I thought I knew what came next.
β
I'd built something. I knew how to do it. I was good at it.
β
So naturally, my brain went: just do it again.
β
Muscle memory is efficient that way. It'll carry you right back into what's familiar... whether or not it's still the right move for you.
β
But I knew that would happen, so I forced myself to pause.
β
I didn't want to rebuild the same thing just because I knew how. I didn't want muscle memory making the decision for me.
β
So I asked a different question:
β
How else could I do βthisβ?
β
Because here's the thing:
β
My identity didn't change when I sold the business, because it wasnβt attached to my role.
β
I'm still a business thinker. Still an entrepreneur. That part's wired in.
But the vehicle? That could change.
β
The role? The tools? The format?
β
Those could flex.
β
So I stepped back.
β
I knew I would need to be committed to something. I like solving problems. I like working hard. I want to solve problems with other talented people who are also committed and like working hard. I need to be in a challenging, proactive environment.
β
Those were my criteria.
β
Everything else? Flexible.
β
That's when starting a podcast came to mind.
β
Was being a podcaster my final goal? No.
β
But it let me have the conversations I wanted to have. Those conversations were part of my process of figuring out what the next chapter could look like.
β
The podcast was a way to apply what I know in a completely different format.
β
I cared more about the intention than the outcome.
β
Most business owners I work with get stuck in the opposite place.
β
Something changes. The plan falls apart. A key person leaves. The market shifts.
β
And they freeze.
β
Because their identity is tied too tightly to how theyβve been doing things.
β
When that changes, it feels like losing themselves.
β
Here's what I see happen:
β
They'll come out of a coaching session fired up. Ready to change.
β
They know they need to stop being the bottleneck. They write it down. They commit.
β
Then Monday happens.
β
They show up and do the exact same thing they did before, because the paper with the plan isnβt in front of them, but the old way of working is.
β
The muscle memory is too strong for them.
β
This is a symptom of an adaptability problem.
β
So what is adaptability, really?
β
It's about anchoring your identity to what you actually control: your values, your skills, your intention, while staying flexible about everything else.
β
The role can change. The tools can change. The market will definitely change.
β
But if you know what matters underneath all that, you're not starting over.
β
I sat down with Jason Feifer to dig into this exact tension.
β
He studies how the most impressive leaders and entrepreneurs navigate change without losing themselves in the process.
β
Jason is the Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur magazine, which gives him a front-row seat to how leaders adapt when the old answers stop working.
β
We talked about how to separate the criteria you can't compromise on from the things you can flex on.
β
How to define identity beyond a job title.
β
How fear, when it's pointed in the right direction, can actually fuel adaptability instead of paralyzing you.
β
And why the most successful people aren't the ones who get it right the first time. They're the ones willing to be bad long enough to get to good.
β