Nowadays, living on earth is easy, you don’t have to hunt for your food besides drive to the store to pick it up. You don’t have to build your own shelter from the things from your environment. Living has come to be effortless. So what this results in, is an effortless overall life. So it is relatively easy to get stuck on autopilot. Now this is not good or bad, it’s neutral. Over time this neutral attribute that in my opinion is key to our survival can effect the enjoyment of our life.
So in this article, we are going to discuss why we are stuck on autopilot and how to get off autopilot to fully live an enjoyable life.
First we need to discuss the two terms that the author Mel Robbins came up with. That is the fact that we have two sides of the brain, one side is the autopilot and the other sides if an emergency brake.
When your life is on autopilot and the autopilot side of the brain is doing most of the work then your life becomes neutral. When your autopilot is turned on, your life is neutral, nothing good is happening and nothing bad is happening. When you’re on autopilot, you can’t fully enjoy your life. Life is not enjoyable when you are on autopilot.
In other words, autopilot is when you are just going with the motions, just letting your life drag you along. You really aren’t creating your life, you are just living, hoping that one day something good will happen.
What Is An Autopilot?
Autopilot is your comfort zone, when you are in your comfort zone you are on autopilot. The issue of the matter is most of the world is stuck in their comfort zones. People are doing the same thing, talking to the same people, going to the same places, taking the road, listening to the same music, going to the same bar, drinking the same drink, and ending the night the same way by watching 13 Reasons Why on Netflix. Then you wonder why your life is so boring and not enjoyable. THE REASON IS BECAUSE YOU ARE STUCK ON AUTOPILOT. You are doing to same thing everyday because it’s comfortable.
Everything you do that goes against your comfort zone takes you off autopilot and your Emergency brake gets pulled. That is where you start enjoying life to the fullest.
Everything outside of your comfort zone is good or bad, great or terrible. The only way to experience the good or the great is to be outside of your comfort zone. Now if you have read my other posts and watch my YouTube videos or even read my book than you know I am all about habits and routines. The only routines that are helping you grow is your morning and your night routines. The routines you do throughout the day is holding you back from fully enjoying life.
Here Is The Kicker:
Your brain is design to help you not feel uncomfortable because your brain attaches pain with being uncomfortable. This is because when you were younger and you first felt the feeling uncomfortable, you may have experienced embarrassment or some type of other negative emotion, so then your brain attaches pain with being uncomfortable. Being uncomfortable is not a pleasant feeling, it’s an uncomfortable feeling(excuse the pun).
It’s like when you go on vacation, the first 10 days or so, you are uncomfortable and off autopilot, it’s an enjoyable trilling feeling but if you went on vacation long enough, you will eventually get put on autopilot and the trilling feeling would cease to exist. After a point on the trip, you begin to feel comfortable so then you get put on autopilot and you start to become not present and you begin to go with the motions once again.
How Do I Get Off Autopilot?
There is this rule I got from the book called The 5 Second Rule By Mel Robbins.
The rule is this: There is 5 seconds throughout the day where you are taken off autopilot and your brain is about to pull the emergency brake. These 5 second moments happen all throughout the day. An example of this is when you see someone you like and are attracted to out in public and your first instinct is to go up and talk to that person and if you don’t do it in 5 seconds, your brain kills the idea and starts taking you out of talking to that person. So then you get put back on autopilot.
You have ideas and things you want to do and start all day long but your brain constantly kills the idea because you don’t act on those ideas within 5 seconds. So the next time you get an idea, you have 5 seconds to write your idea down and if you don’t write it down or take action on it, your kills the idea.
So follow the 5 second rule and you will be taken off autopilot.
(Get The Book In The Image Below)
What If I Don’t Want To Follow The 5 Second Rule?
Then change up your routine, if you normally take a certain path to work, then drive a different road. If you normally talk to the same person everyday then switch it up and talk to someone completely new. If you normally go to the bar on the weekend, switch it up and go for a weekend trip to go site seeing. Just switch up your routine. If you are a strictly country music person then switch it up and try Hip Hop or EDM. Try new things.
Variety Is The Spice Of Life!
So to get off autopilot today, get out of your comfort zone. Do things that scare you everyday and I promise you will live the most enjoyable life.
Wolf Wisdom Empire 