Showing Up: Part II

Happy New Years everyone.

 

A new year to start fresh, open a new chapter while closing older chapters, an time to let go, embrace, reevaluate, recondition, and reset. Don’t just make 2014 better, make it different.

Today’s post is the second of a two-part post that highlights the two ways we Show Up for life and in our work. If you missed the first part, you can check it out here. The second one up is:

#2. Default Autopilot

The alternative to prepared spontaneity is showing up on Default Autopilot.  Most of us easily fall into this way of operating and it works for us because we show up conditioned like well-oiled machines.  Mornings at the office look and feel the same; we know what to expect. Our output and productivity at work is the same because you’ve built up a high competence in your work such that you can do it with your eyes closed. Conversations at home and with your friends sound the same because you know what to expect.  Through a default autopilot mindset, you’ve built up a tolerance and a level of comfort to the work and life around you such that it becomes automatic.

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Default Autopilot is a mindset.

In DA, routine habits take precedence over creativity and purposeful action. It gives rise to constricting patterns as you become used to showing up as you always have despite repeated unwanted results. We have virtually no awareness of our thought pattern and how they control our behavior. Default Autopilot makes us feel like we have no choice because we’re locked into a certain perspective and pattern of thinking. It limits our potential, is a high trigger for stress, and narrows our thinking.

A quick personal story of how the default autopilot story usually plays out. After college graduation with my business degree in tow, I assumed the usual 9-5 job. It was a great position for a new grad working for a great company, Stony Brook University Hospital. My work was straight forward, day started at 8am everyday, lunch break at noon, chit chat with fun co-workers, paycheck the 1st & the 15th, 45 minute traffic-filled commute to and from work, dinner at home, and then off to bed to do it again the next day. This pattern showed up in many other jobs since then. Pretty simple right? I knew what to expect, I created a routine; it worked. Except it didn’t.

Showing up on autopilot is easy and that’s why so many of us do it. We play the role, go through the motions, we become content and then we forget. Forget that we do have a choice. We forget that we can choose to see and do things differently. 

Choosing ignites Change. Change ignites breaking the pattern.

We can choose the course of our workday by breaking up the pattern in small bites.  During Monday morning’s status meeting, maybe you might break the autopilot pattern by injecting 3 different ideas to spur productivity for the department. Or maybe for lunch you may take a mind-clearing walk around the block. And maybe instead of the knee jerk worry you have of making the wrong a decision, you can choose to see a different perspective and a more positive outcome.

Default Autopilot is a mindset. The choice is yours.

Keep me posted on how it goes ariane@arianehunter.com

 

 

 

Top 6 Blog Posts of 2013

Whether you're a long time reader or just discovering my work for the first time today, I want to thank you for stopping by today. I've been journaling since 2009 and most of my writing on here has been a manifestation of my purest thoughts in written form.

Take a moment to peruse through some of my favorite posts of the year so far.

#6 Flowing Through Struggle – June 25, 2013

Although struggle is a part of our daily human existence when does it become something we come to identify ourselves with in our daily lives? Here is my recount of what happens when we experience ‘struggle’ and how to break out of it and into a more peaceful rhythmic flow. 'Flowing Through Struggle'. Read on.

#5 3 Ways To Meditate (or commit to any practice) Daily – May 27, 2013

From the days of starting and stopping a meditation practice without really getting into the flow of it, I finally discovered a way that has brought me to the cushion every single day. When what we value aligns with inspiration there’s nothing that can stop us. '3 Ways To Meditate'. Read on.

#4 To See Us Dance – February 6, 2013

Following an internal nudge I had received that led me to take up dance classes, I decided to post a video of my learnings. So much of what we do comes from an internal desire to move and be in flow. Dance brought me closer to movement through mind, body, and soul. I highly recommend if you have the desire to move your soul, follow it. 'To See Us Dance'. Read on.

#3 5 Lessons For Your Spititual Path – May 1, 2013

At some point in our lives we find ourselves on a spiritual path. Whether we know it or not, we’re always on the path. And when we become aware of this we hold ourselves to a higher standard as we learn to let go of the trivial things and embrace a new understanding of life itself. This post points to some of the challenges we encounter while on the path and the 5 lessons that will keep you grounded. '5 Lessons For Your Spiritual Path'. Read on.

#2 Love Is – February 22nd, 2013

During an early morning rendezvous with my journal, I found myself feeling particularly connected with this idea of Love. To define it from words does it no justice. It is a sensation truly meant for connectedness between each other. 'Love Is'. Read on.

#1 A Letter To You, From Change – January 30, 2013

In creating this post I knew I wanted to write about ‘change’ but what else could we possibly say about change that hasn’t been said before? If we look at change from a different perspective, instead of experiencing it with anxiety and nervousness, we learn to look at from a softer view. Read on for a thoughtful letter from an inevitable part of our lives that only wants the best for us. This is 'A Letter To You, From Change'. Read on.

 

Thanks for reading and I look forward to sharing with you in this space for the remainder of 2013.

Cheers!

 

Ariane Hunter

Breaking the Status Quo & Living Greatly