Living on autopilot.

The human mind and brain are amazing do you not agree... let me ask you a couple of questions.

1. How many of you woke up around the same time today as you normally wake up each monrning because you went to bed at the same time as normal last night.
2. And who amongst you has a morning routine that is by the clock.

Our brains have the ability to automate any task that we repeatedly do, can you remember learning to drive trying to get the cordination right clutch, gear stick, biting point, accelerator, and focusing on the road.

And now you do not even think about it you jump in your car and off you go automatic drivers ignore this part you just focus on the road. However lets take a moment here and have a look at what else is automated in our lifes because if you were like me the day was just a blur before I knew it Wednesday had come and gone friday arrived the weekend was just a glimpse ring any bells.

I not asking you to understand how a car or the brain works because we do not need to  we automatically benefit from it. Although some insight can be useful but the one thing that is useful to know is that learning and skills are physical....The minute you learned to do something like drive your brain changed it made connections creating the ability to drive amazing eh.

So what you cry...well imagine you had to learn to drive every time you got into the vehicle or having to remember what key fits the door or having to remember how to tie your shoe laces every time you put them on see how grateful you have become already.

Habits are created the same way routine ever tried to introduce a new one or give up a old one hard isn't it. Well try to break the habit that is stopping you from starting something new once the brain accepts it then it becomes permanent.

Ever considered how you greet people I bet you greet people you know the same way everytime and strangers also.

Try and greet people in a different way and see what it does to your brain so when someone comes up to you as say's " How are you" think about your answer and reframe it in a different way. How about when you make a mistake do you react in the same way I bet you do be honest.

Well stop and catch yourself doing it, and tell yourself something else and you might realise how harsh you are to yourself or others when they make a mistake. We all fire situational arrows however how many expand the problem out of proportion and fire the second arrow.

What I am saying is do not fire the second arrow, sit with the problem for a little while and look at it for what it is and not manifest it into something worse than it is. And become overwhelmed, you do this to, don't you, it takes practice because it is automated and we have to stop, slow down and think about how we respond or react.

The first step is to be aware that you have bad habits, that doe's not add value this may sound easy but remember you act on autopilot all the time so we lose conscious control remember we do not think about how to drive we just do it.

So developing your conscious skills is  key to success, you need to be aware of the unhelpful autopilot decisions you make that are affecting your life. By paying attention to the present moment understanding what is happening right now at that present time and sitting with it and understanding it and seeing it for what it is.

Remember practice builds the physical skill we need to change

Pay attention in a particular way on purpose in the present moment because you choose to pay attention and be non judgmental it does not have to right or wrong good or bad it is what it is just remember not to fire the second arrow.

Manage your own mind your day becomes a lot more interesting and your personal awareness develops so you can capture the best parts of your day and the overall benefit is you become more effective and enjoy your daily life more.

 As always your servant...Happy Days.