What is autopilot mode?
One way to describe it would be your morning routine- You get up, brush your teeth, shower, and get dressed, all without thinking about it. This is good, because you wouldn’t want to have to consciously think through repetitive tasks. We spend quite a lot of time going about our day in autopilot as it is a superb way to carry out mundane tasks. The question is, when you are on autopilot, are you going to a destination which you have chosen and really want?
People are inherently lazy. Once they are comfortable, they would rather remain comfortable than go out in search of risky adventure. When we act on “auto-pilot” our behavior tends to become repetitive. On one hand, auto-pilot functioning is the brilliance of the brain at work. We don’t have to learn certain things over and over again. I can type this post without having to focus (much) on the mechanics of typing, rather I can concentrate on the content of the material at hand.
Our own inbuilt autopilot is known as the unconscious mind. It is such a powerful part of the mind and can produce exceptional results in our life as long as we tell it exactly the destination of OUR choosing.
The following are signs that you are living on Default Settings
1. You know exactly where you will be in 5 years (and it depresses you!)
2. Your career is what your parents wanted you to do
3. You went straight from school to college to work
4. You did well in secondary school and automatically chose a university degree that was the hard to gain acceptance into (eg medicine, engineering or law)
5. and finally, your interests and/ or hobbies are all the same as from when you were a child.
So how can you step out of the autopilot?
It requires a conscious effort. It’s much easier to continue living on autopilot. You don’t have to do anything special for that, it just runs automatically. And you will need to repeat the effort, because the autopilot will switch itself back on again and again.
1. Paying attention
A possible strategy that you can experiment with, is to perform routine tasks with full attention. By focusing all your mental resources on those, the automatic thoughts get less space. This can be very helpful if you find that you are worrying. You can practice this by doing a routine task, like brushing your teeth or showering, from time to time with your full attention. It is not so much that you have to step out of the autopilot. This mode can make our lives quite convenient. But it’s very liberating to be able to choose to switch it off from time to time.
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 taking a different road when driving back home.
3. Change your perception
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. As Nelson Mandela rightly said, You are the master of your own soul, the captain of your own ship.
Paths to Freedom Network 