Are you living on Auto-Pilot? Because you are about to crash…
It is mind-blowing how many of us are living our lives on auto-pilot. We do the same things, meet with the same people, have the same conversations over lunch, go to the same supermarkets to buy our groceries and watch the same TV shows when we get home. Even the arguments that we have with other people seem to evolve around the same issues.
Our life is built around certain behavior patterns that we follow without thinking.
In fact, multiple psychological findings suggest that about 95% of what we do, we do automatically. And only in 5% of cases do we actually make conscious decisions about our life.
This auto-pilot behavior keeps us securely tied to our daily routines, preventing us from growing professionally, slowly killing the excitement of relationships, and sucking the fun out of our lives.
But the really devastating part about living your life automatically is that most of us do not even realize that we are doing it. Our days blend in together. We have a hard time recalling what we did last week and we have very little to look forward to. We find ourselves reacting to outside circumstances, rather than controlling events of our life. Deep down we keep wishing for more, without being sure if there is more or how to get it.
Fortunately, there are few things that you can do to switch off the “auto-pilot mode” and put yourself back into the driver’s seat, by choosing the direction of your life and getting there:
1. Be present. As ridiculous as it sounds we spend very little time in the moment. Our mind needs direction and guidance. Being left alone it wanders around and gets easily lost in past events, problems, fears, future plans, and aspirations. It takes a conscious effort to get your thoughts back to the present moment and practice being in the NOW. But it is a very gratifying experience! When you focus your attention on a single thing such as smiling, driving, eating our delicious sandwich or really listening to our child talking about their day at school, we get a lot more satisfaction out of every second that passes by. It brings our consciousness back to being alive and our life instantly becomes colorful, more interesting and more exciting.
2. Make a vow to do something new every day. The best way to break free from the repetitive pattern of pre-existing habits is to promise yourself to try something new every day. It does not have to be huge or time consuming. It can be something as simple as buying a strange tropical fruit that you have not tried before, painting a pretty picture with your children or taking a different road when driving back home.
I am sure that there are tons of interesting things that you have not tried yet. Now is a perfect opportunity to do it!
3. Do the opposite of what you would normally do. Look at your “normal” routine and think about what you could do differently. If you usually eat lunch at your work desk, go outside and eat it in a park instead. Surprise your beloved with an unexpected gift or flowers, just because you feel like it, not because there is an official reason for the celebration. After a day of work, instead of spending your evening in front of TV, take your family out to the Zoo or to see a movie. Ask yourself what would you normally do in certain situation and do the exact opposite!
This is also applicable to such negative situations that trigger our automatic reactions like anger, frustration or offense. Whenever you feel like expressing these negative emotions, stop yourself and try to respond consciously. You will be really surprised at the results!
4. Do not think that you get it. All the information that we receive is limited by our senses, past experiences, beliefs and knowledge. Our mind tries to cover this up by creating categories and slapping labels on situations, events, other people and even ourselves.
We often base very serious judgments on the illusory feeling that “we get it” or that “we know better” and this misconception directs our behavior.
Do not delude yourself with a notion that you have figured it all out! Instead keep in mind that everyone, yourself included, deserves the “benefit of doubt”.
5. Say it differently. We all have certain words and verbal expressions that we use unconsciously as an automatic response to situation. For example, for many people sayings like “Oh my God!”, “Whatever”, “It’s like so cool!”, “What the hell?”, “Sorry”, “Shut up!”, “He will kill me!!!” have become auto-pilot expressions that they use without thinking. But the problem is that to express our genuine feelings we rarely talk like that.
Moreover, neurologists have run multiple tests and proved that using what they call “words-parasites” slows down our thinking process, not to mention that they make it challenging for other people to follow the conversation.
Find your own auto-pilot words and consciously replace them with different phrases. Make your language more powerful, rich and expressive!
Every second we are faced with different choices. We can either make them consciously or react automatically. Even now as you are reading these words, you can choose to apply what you have learned and make a conscious decision to change your life. Or you can just nod your head in agreement, close the window, make yourself a cup of coffee and get back to your normal routine.
I sincerely hope that you will make the right choice.
It is mind-blowing how many of us are living our lives on auto-pilot. We do the same things, meet with the same people, have the same conversations over lunch, go to the same supermarkets to buy our groceries and watch the same TV shows when we get home. Even the arguments that we have with other people seem to evolve around the same issues.
Our life is built around certain behavior patterns that we follow without thinking.
In fact, multiple psychological findings suggest that about 95% of what we do, we do automatically. And only in 5% of cases do we actually make conscious decisions about our life.
This auto-pilot behavior keeps us securely tied to our daily routines, preventing us from growing professionally, slowly killing the excitement of relationships, and sucking the fun out of our lives.
But the really devastating part about living your life automatically is that most of us do not even realize that we are doing it. Our days blend in together. We have a hard time recalling what we did last week and we have very little to look forward to. We find ourselves reacting to outside circumstances, rather than controlling events of our life. Deep down we keep wishing for more, without being sure if there is more or how to get it.
