ABA — always be adapting.

There will never be a place where you can rest forever.

Like sharks, we have to keep moving to stay alive. Stop swimming, and we sink. We don’t get the oxygen of life without motion.

The world keeps shifting in ways we didn’t see coming. Sci-fi made us think robots would take over our chores — toast-making, grocery deliveries, cleaning toilets. The physical stuff.

But then — BAM — AI hits, and it’s not the blue-collar jobs on the chopping block. It’s the knowledge work. Software engineers, writers, designers — all feeling the tremors. Meanwhile, craftsmen, plumbers, and woodworkers are riding out the wave, grounded in skills the machines haven’t quite cracked.

We've been here before. The industrial revolution. The dot-com boom. The smartphone killing the home phone. Whole ways of life gone in a decade or less.

Wailing and clinging to a sinking ship doesn’t work. Of course it’s scary. Of course it’s hard.

Hell, I’m scared too. Coding — the one thing that’s carried me financially — might get automated. I’ve watched the job market shrink. Demand goes up, salaries go down. What used to be shooting fish in a barrel now feels like swimming with sharks. People searching for a year or more just to land one decent gig.

But here’s the thing: we can’t stop moving.

Sink or swim.

Pick up the new tools. Learn how to work with AI instead of pretending it doesn’t exist. Maybe even start learning a physical craft — something that anchors you in the tangible world.

This isn’t about hustle culture. It’s about survival.

And I’m not saying this from some pedestal. I come from a family that had to rebuild everything. My parents fled a revolution in Iran. They lost their home, their language, their financial footing — and had to adapt to a whole new system, overnight.

That was a political revolution. What we’re living through now? It’s a technological one. And the ground is shifting just as fast.

If you stand still, you’ll sink.

How you adapt is up to you — there’s no one-size-fits-all here. But the truth is this: you will need to keep adapting. Always. There is no staying put. There is no opting out of problem-solving.

This is the game of life.

Yes, take your vacation. Catch your breath. It’s okay — necessary, even — to pause and forget your problems for a while.

But when you come back, come back ready.

There’s power in meeting life head-on. Power in knowing that you will always be evolving into new challenges — whether it’s navigating a layoff, becoming a new parent, or building a second life in a new country.

Your world will keep changing. And so should you.

Claim this directive: always be adapting.

When you accept that change is the game, you’re already ahead.