Are You Living Your Life On Autopilot?

So, I shared with you last week about the ridiculously long ride home from dropping off my daughter at school - all of which could have been avoided had I made a different choice in my routes.

You would think after processing it, then writing an article about it which I posted on LinkedIn, that I would not make this mistake again. But I did. The VERY NEXT DAY. 

And what’s crazier, is that I probably sat in line at the elementary school for at least 5 minutes before I even had any awareness about it. It was as if I were in a trance and suddenly came to - realizing I was back in the same situation but having no real understanding of how I got there.

And so once again, I got to question my life choices while watching every family in the town of Milton, GA walk their elementary aged child to school. 

It occurred to me that this was different because yesterday I made a conscious choice to turn right whereas this time there was zero conscious thought. I was so caught up in thinking about my day, my tasks, my priorities, that I was on autopilot. 

And I share this with you because this is why change is so hard. It takes consciousness. 

Our default is our default because we’ve done it so many times that we could do it in our sleep. I’m sure you’ve taken a trip somewhere familiar and somehow miraculously ended up where you needed to be but you didn’t  have a real sense of the drive because you were on autopilot.

But have you ever had to detour? Have you ever chosen the back roads? 

If you have, then you know the difference.  You don’t know the routes. You have to pay attention to the navigation. You have no idea where the next turn is, what the speed limit is, etc. You have to pay attention closely - otherwise you could get lost. 

When you are trying to make changes in your life, you’ve got to give yourself the grace period of building a new default. And the only way to do it, is to have consciousness, every single day, until you eventually have done your “new route” so many times it has become the default. Then you can check out. 

So often clients complain that they can’t make changes in their lives. They are frustrated with themselves and feel a combination of hopelessness, failure, and eventually apathy. Sometimes they feel like their friends and family members are irritated with them or worse, have lost respect for them. 

But the problem is they don’t understand the process of change. Because once you understand how to work it, nothing can stop you. 

How many times have you tried to change a habit or a thought and given up?

How has that habit or thought impacted your life?

How would things be better if you could finally create a new default for yourself? 

In my coaching practice, I help people navigate the process of change so they can be in control of their choices and have the smoothest, sweetest ride possible.

Looking for a new route? Schedule a free consultation, or book a coaching session.