How prepared are you for the unexpected. “Life happens” – and doesn’t it always seem to do so at the most inopportune times?

You can perfectly plan your schedule, and then life inserts itself, throws you off base, and leaves you bewildered about how this could have happened when you were so well organized.

To cope well with interruptions, abrupt or otherwise, brush up on your flexibility and resiliency skills. Flexibility helps you work around the obstacles that block your path, and resiliency brings you back to center.

These disruptions invariably happen when you’ve gone to great lengths to cluster your appointments or rely on others’ timely contributions to your initiatives. They also happen when you get some bad news that requires immediate action and takes you away from your core focus.

Using these examples, if someone cancels an appointment at the last minute or your colleague is stalled on a team project, you need to change course to maintain your momentum. Reshuffle quickly and decisively. Don’t obsess over the details; they will fall into place as you move forward.

You have a choice in how you react to disruptive events. You can crumble and be unproductive and pout about how unfair it is. Feeling sorry for yourself for a short time doesn’t move you towards your goals and isn’t exactly the image you want to convey as a leader.

Instead, ignore those options and stay focused, adapt, and do whatever it takes to stay on track. You maintain control, especially when you realize that you never have control about exogenous factors.

If you follow the path of flexibility and resilience, not only will it help you stay on track, but it will reinforce the positive momentum you need to move ahead.

Header image by Ivan/Adobe Stock.