Autopilot - living and acting without thinking and direct intention; usually in repetition, doing what has been done before.
When we live in autopilot we have no control in changing who we are. Instead we are consistently living in routine, in ease of repeating what we have always done.
If you love the life you are living, your character and the actions you are taking - and you are seeing the results you want to see - then this isn't a problem and makes your life easier…
BUT IF you are seeing negative consequences in your life, character and actions, then living in autopilot will continue to drive you down the path you don't want to go.
In order to change you must reactivate your frontal cortex, specifically designed for individual mental tasks, putting your mind back into control of cognitive behavior, personality expression, decision making, and moderating social behavior.
In the reactivation of your frontal cortex you can CHANGE.
How to stop living in Autopilot?
1. THINK
Begin thinking about your routine, your actions, your thoughts, the things you eat, what you listen and watch, the words you say to yourself and others, how you walk into places... literally dissecting everything that you do.
When you begin to think and dissect, you activate the frontal cortex and put yourself into an awareness state around your thoughts, character and actions- here you are able to begin changing yourself.
2. REFLECT
At the end of each day, you should be reflecting on how the day went, how you did, how you responded.
Did you do the things to get you ahead or did you fail?
Did you say kind things to yourself and others or did you have negative thoughts and react in outbursts?
Did you spend enough time with your family or did you spend time with your tv or phone?
Did you learn something or did you binge watch tv? Did you pick healthy meals or did you eat trash?
Did you connect to the real world or did you disconnect?
Alongside your reflection, there should be feeling. If you had an outburst, you may feel some remorse or guilt - this is good.
If you made bad food choices, you may feel shame or regret - this is good.
If you listened to trash music, binge watched tv and disconnected from the real world, you may feel lazy, sad, maybe even depressed… THIS IS ALL GOOD.
It's good because you are FEELING the consequences, you are aware and making the mind and body connection to your actions.
3. CHANGE
Get a journal and write down how you feel about the actions you've been taking…what you reflected on. What do you want to change? Be detailed about it. Who do you want to be? How do you want to act/react. How do you want to look and feel? How do you want to speak to yourself and others? Etc
Begin becoming the new person you want to be by living in the frontal cortex. Making conscious, wise and intentional decisions. Stepping into the person you want to be NOW.
THE DOWNFALL...
Most will forfeit the above actions because it takes REAL effort and commitment, and these days we have all been trained to live in instant gratification and unfaithfulness.
The TRUTH is…there is NO INSTANT GRATIFICATION IN REAL CHANGE. Real change takes REAL and INTENTIONAL effort and actions that are CONSISTENT.
Being a minor addict, I have went through the journey of leaving many addictions behind. Not only some drugs, but also behaviors, food, friends, television shows etc that were destroying my life and mutilating my behavior and character.
In the journey of change, the above was part of what I learned, but I also learned something that is also very important. YOU WILL FAIL, again and again until one day, you get it right and THEN you truly begin to climb the mountain into a new life.
In the journey of change, you can't quit. You have to be committed for life. Once and addict, always an addict is right. You will always be an addict (a slave) to what is in control of you.
It isn't always drugs. Sometimes it's sugar, sometimes it's television, sometimes it's anger, sometimes it's belittling others, sometimes it's laziness, sometimes it's excuses, sometimes it's immorality AND sometimes it's something beneficial and good. And that's what we want. We want our "addiction" our devotion, our idol to be something GOOD.
And how do we know something is Good? It develops us into someone we are internally and externally proud of…someone who contains the fruit of the spirit: Love, joy, kindness, self-control, patience, meekness, faithfulness, gentleness… etc.
If you are lacking this spirit, something is off in your life. And you must learn to activate the parts of you to make a change. You must develop the awareness inside of you. You must think. You must reflect and you must act in continual commitment towards good. You will fail again and again. But with effort and consistency you will win in the end.
If you are struggling to stop living in autopilot, addicted to whatever it is you are struggling with, I would love to help and support you through your journey.
All you have to do is ask .
If this post is helpful to you, please share on your Facebook wall so we together can help others! Thank you!
Love, Haley
