You are a regular human “doer”.
Think about it. As you read this, just notice where you are in your day. I am guessing that you have gone through a series of “doings” that brought you to where you are now? Maybe you are now sitting in your first meeting of the day or perhaps it is the evening and you are winding down now. Just think about it. As you trace back through your day from the very start, how many things have you “done” today? Maybe it started with making the coffee, dressing yourself (and maybe your kids), dropping those same kids off wherever they needed to go, driving to work…brushing your teeth. Wait! Did you brush your teeth? You do one of those not so subtle “blow on your hands” to check …phew, you smell some sort of mint…tooth brushing - tick that box.
Think about it. All of those things that have brought you to this point in your day. How many of them do you even recall? If you drove to your usual destination, do you even remember driving? If you are wearing lace up shoes, did you think about how to tie your laces? If you made a coffee this morning, did you have to think about every step? I think you may be getting the picture. We do a heck of a lot of things on “autopilot” and thank goodness we do! Can you imagine if you had to think about every single thing you did? You would never leave the house!
So all good, right? Well…it is, until it isn’t.
Our brains have one job to do and they are masters at doing it - the brain’s number one job? To keep us safe. That’s it. Done. It is always scanning for danger and so it likes to put things on autopilot so it can focus on its job. Sure, there are many things you are doing - driving, brushing your teeth, tying your shoes etc. on autopilot and that is great. However, there are also many things that you are doing automatically that maybe, aren’t so great. They are the more sneaky things that we don’t notice overtly. It could be the way you think about something, the things you tell yourself you can and can’t do, perhaps how you interact with the “important” people in your life - they say something and before you know it, you've reacted.
This autopilot thing can create regular human doers, almost a little like robots. Always producing or as I fondly refer to it “getting sh*t done”. Although it often feels good, it can ultimately be exhausting and potentially not satisfying. And what about the things we are doing without thinking that could use some... umm.. thinking? Yes, those things. The habitual things we have put into autopilot that are getting in our way. The habits that we do that culminate and get us through our days. Habits. Good ones, bad ones. Doesn’t really matter.
What is my point with this post? That sometimes it may be useful to question and look at those things we are doing on autopilot that we would like to change. It is possible. It starts with awareness, the noticing of a result you are getting or maybe not getting, that you don’t particularly like. Maybe the way that conversation always ends up the same way with your kid, boss, colleague, partner etc. Or it could be a physical thing. Regardless, noticing a habitual way of thinking or doing something opens up an opportunity to change it. Once you are aware you can make a change.
The change does not have to be huge. I love the image of Michaelangelo and his sculpture, David. Just imagine. I’m guessing he didn’t take a sledge hammer to a block of marble and voila - there was David. I’m thinking that perhaps it was more like a “chipping” away at the marble until a big piece fell off. This is how real, sustainable change happens. Bite sized pieces, consistently. Both of those, in combination, add up to big results. Like compound interest, a small investment, over time can produce big returns.
If you are tired of "autopilot" running your life and you want to make a real, sustainable change, Contact me and together we can chip away at that thing you are ready to change.
