People may have their eyes open and hands on the wheel but more likely or not they in a condition similar to autopilot as they navigate through life. But how can someone determine if an individual is on autopilot?
Five Warning Signs Someone is on Autopilot
When asked, here are some typical responses that people on autopilot tend to make to questions in these five areas.
- They know exactly where they will be in five years and aren’t necessarily pleased with the prospects. In many circumstances, it's a good thing when a person who knows where he or she will be five years down the road. It’s is a sign that they have direction, goals, and purpose. But unless this picture gets them excited, it is time to grab control of the wheel and change course.
- Their career is what their parents wanted for them. Many people make decisions to please other people. There is nothing wrong with this if the career is one that the person wanted for himself and he is happy with his career. But it may be worth looking into the mirror and asking, “Am I doing this because it is what I want to do? Or am I doing this to please someone else?”
- They went straight from high school to college to work. This can demonstrate feelings of obligation when it comes to following a life plan that was perhaps established by a parent. If a person does some traveling in between and returns home and is not compelled to finish their study, it probably means that it does not resonate with their calling.
- They were smart in school and so they chose a college field of study that was like law or medicine – a program of study where it was hard to gain acceptance. There seems to be a common feeling that because they had high grades, they should choose a course that requires a high score for entry. They might automatically discard a number of other potential career paths because they feel they were above them.
- They have the same interests as when they were young. Once again, this is not necessarily a bad thing. But consider how often people stay with an interest even when they are not having fun anymore. Why didn’t they quit earlier? Perhaps it is because they started at an early age and that's all they know in life.
The Perils of Habit and Following the Status Quo in Life
Autopilot shows up in many ways and one is as mundane as shopping. It is possible that there are people who really enjoy a trip to the supermarket. On a typical weekend afternoon the average supermarket is crowded with people quickly moving through the aisles as they try to do a week's worth of shopping in 30 minutes.
Marketers in the know realize that most of what people do at the store is done on autopilot. They have statisticians analyze the purchases of all of the people with the loyalty cards so that they can better understand the effects of changes in price or other promotions on purchases. In order to do this analysis, the statisticians first have to pull out the customers’ habits.
That is, they figure out what they usually buy and as it turns out, about nine out of every ten items purchased on any trip to the supermarket fits the pattern of what is purchased habitually. While a positive thing about being on autopilot is that one can get out of the store in a hurry, the downside is that lots of things can affect what a person ends up putting in his or her cart beyond what they are consciously thinking about buying.
Living a Thoughtful Life
The solution to this situation is to get in the habit of self observation, even when in the thick of an emotional situation. This can be done by asking these simple questions in the moment.
- Are these words appropriate?
- Are these actions appropriate?
- Are these thoughts and feelings appropriate? (Yes, thoughts and feelings can be on autopilot also)
- Is this way of "showing up" appropriate?
Self observation offers the possibility of living a life of choice. The alternative is to habitually go without reflective thought and the choices that thought offers, much like an airplane on autopilot.
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