RUNNING ON AUTOPILOT
Did you know that we make roughly 35,000 decisions a day? That’s a lot of responsibility on your brain! Our brain needs more energy than any other organ in our body, and it can’t be expected to slow down for each of the 35,000 decisions it needs to make. So how does it preserve itself and conserve energy? It switches to autopilot. It kicks into subconscious decision-making mode to allow our conscious mind to work on the mentally taxing things that need more focus and attention.
Isn’t the mind amazing? The subconscious mind allows us to complete tasks, think thoughts, have daydreams, and multi-task all while not being fully conscious. A problem occurs, though, when autopilot becomes our default mode, and we sleepwalk through life. We become disengaged from both our present and future; living in cycles and patterns of our past without any awareness.
Autopilot feels like someone else is taking over and driving, not us. It disengages us from living in the present moment, and we become “creatures of habit,” thinking the same things, reacting in the same ways, and repeating the same behaviors. We spend half our life sleepwalking through it, and it’s hard to be intentional with your thoughts, actions, and choices when you aren’t even awake for them.
What does autopilot look like?
Predictable routines, doing things without thinking, pleasing others and not paying attention to what you need, constantly busy or distracted, attached to your devices, you feel “stuck” in your life, time flies and you can’t remember what you did in the day, you feel like you’re missing out on life, mindless eating, frequent complaining.
Autopilot disengages us from life. We are no longer driving.
So how do you hop back in the driver’s seat? How do you wake up to live a conscious, intentional life?
Wake up mindfully. Resist the urge to immediately scroll through your phone.
Stretch and be aware of how your body feel during and after.
Set intention for the day. Don’t just go through the motions.
Take the scenic route. Switch up your normal commute. Interrupt your daily pattern.
Pause and breathe before you react.
Be fully present while you do a mundane task or chore. Notice the temperature and sound of the water as you wash dishes.
Taste your food with every bite. Enjoy the flavors as they dance on your tongue.
Pump those brakes and get back in the driver seat of your life.