What works today won’t work tomorrow

What works today might not work tomorrow.
What clients loved in one project may feel outdated in the next.
Even the systems we’ve relied on for years can slowly start limiting our growth.

So... what happens then?

Is something wrong with us?
Have our skills become irrelevant?

No.

What we need is the most important skill for staying relevant, competitive, and fulfilled:

Adaptability.

The skill we should have learned in childhood.
The second-best day to start learning it? Today.
I grew up in a hardworking family - an architect mother and an entrepreneur/engineer father who also ran an art gallery. I witnessed discipline and work ethic from an early age.

As a teenager... I didn’t always appreciate it.

I LOVED the aesthetics of my mom’s drawings and visiting artists’ studios with my dad. But sometimes I would say, “Dad, when are we going home?” or “Mom, stop drawing, let’s cook something!”

My dad used to repeat one sentence constantly:

“Develop the ability to adapt. Be adaptable. Do not bend to circumstances.”

I used to think, what are you even talking about, dad?!

And what a surprise that exactly that quality helped me reach my goals, build the life I want, and find solutions in EVERY situation even when it feels like a complete dead end and you have no clue how to get out.

Being able to adapt. To what life is currently throwing at you.

That’s how you stay on the safe side of life.

Adaptability is what keeps you moving forward.

How do you develop this in a practical way?

1️⃣ Find the core of what you do.
Something that makes you… YOU.

For me, it was freedom in creative expression.I always felt something was off about how creative professions are taught.

Why waste TONS of time and money on renderings that are inflexible and ugly? Why was this the only way I was taught? Why must drawing imitate photography? Why is creativity often labeled “not serious”?

So I defined my core:
Freedom of expression using tools that allow me to bring ideas to life... FAST.

2️⃣ After finding your core, look at tools.

For me, that meant the iPad and AI.

Did I love the iPad when it first came out? Hell no.
But it aligned with my mission.

It solved my anxiety in front of a blank canvas. It allowed me to test ideas with multiple concepts, brushes, and colors without redrawing everything.

Then... AI. It became another extension - outsourcing technical tasks, research, and idea generation when needed. My creative process suddenly had fewer boundaries.

3️⃣ Learn the foundations. They remain the same.

For drawing:
Shadows = depth.
Perspective = proportion.
Lines = confidence.

Then... we experiment.

For AI:
Understand how prompts work.
Understand what to outsource.
Understand how to keep humanity in your work.

Foundation = freedom.

4️⃣ Keep an eye on technology.

Observe what’s emerging. Experiment. Scale up. Scale down. Create miniature worlds. Stay playful. Stay bold.
Adaptation requires awareness.

5️⃣ Listen to people’s needs.

If something stops working, ask why.
Talk to your clients. Pay attention to their struggles. Their desires. Their language.

That’s where evolution happens.

Keep what makes you you, and combine it with innovation.

Speaking of innovation!

I’m currently finishing a mini course that teaches how to design interiors in less than a day integrating AI while still drawing by hand.

A challenge? Not for me!

It’s almost done and going live early next week. (And yes, the core remains ;) )

Look at this living room concept I just designed and filmed for you!

I’m also expanding my design and drawing academy into the real world.
Not sharing details yet... Soon ;)

Through all these shifts, one thing stays constant:

The core.

Adaptability is not changing who you are.
It’s evolving how you express it.

That’s the #1 quality for moving forward in life AND in your career.

With big drawing energy,
Anna at @andshedrawsbig