Living on Autopilot

Our lives are often on autopilot. We slip into a routine and that guides us. We do things in the same order everyday and we can seemingly coast through the day. If something disrupts the order that we’re used to, we’re thrown off kilter. I’ve gotten thrown off and forgotten to shave in the morning, or gotten out of the shower with shampoo still in my hair. Sometimes I wonder how I got home because I don’t even remember the commute!

You know when something doesn’t feel right, but you don’t want to investigate what it is or maybe you’re frightened by the answer you’ll uncover if you do dig deeper into it. If you know what’s wrong you may need to interrupt that momentum that we all have, and that takes work.

I’ve been in jobs where I felt like that. I knew something wasn’t right, but if I questioned it I’d have to figure out what wasn’t right, look at what was, find out if I wanted to change something, if I had the ability to. If I found out I needed to leave the job, I’d have to find out what I wanted to do, re-do my resume, apply for jobs, interview, start at someplace new. All of that takes hard work.

But, making a change is always hard work. You have to decide whether staying where you are is scarier than leaving. This applies to jobs and careers, relationships (is the relationship enriching you and helping you grow as a person or is it holding you back?), where you live (are there better opportunities in another city or do you need to downsize or maybe move into a larger house?).

Maybe coasting is alright, but that generally means that life is coming at you and you’re playing defense; you’re taking whatever comes your way instead of dictating to life what it should be. Life is more fulfilling if you have a say in what happens.

Think about what making the change means? What will it change in your life? It’s not making a change for change’s sake, it’s making the change to create a different life than you have now.

I did that with a job I didn’t like. I knew the time was right to cut the cord. Staying there was soul-killing. It was scary leading up to that moment, but when I knew it was the right thing to leave, it was very freeing.

It’s good to reevaluate from time to time. Living on autopilot isn’t very rewarding. Once you decide on a new route, life can be fueled by your own positive momentum instead of inertia.