Too many people are living life as if it were a rehearsal.
Drifting along on autopilot and vaguely hoping that at some point in the future, things will improve.
If this is you, then let me tell you that it is time to turn off the autopilot and reclaim control over your life and performance.
Here are some important exercises not just to think about, but to act upon today! Try them out for yourself and begin to turn off your autopilot.
Performance prompts
If you find yourself living life on autopilot it is important to incorporate performance prompts into your life. Try asking yourself the following each morning to prompt positive emotions for the rest of the day. What am I grateful for this morning and what can I achieve today? Also try actually writing down your annual, monthly and weekly goals and revisit them frequently to monitor your progress. In your workplace, before attending meetings take a few moments to ask yourself what energy can I bring to this meeting and what objective specifically do I want to achieve? Effectively showing up for real!
Find the Passion
Are you passionate about what you do? If not, then ask yourself why? Were you once passionate about your job and if so, what has changed? Be 100% honest with yourself and accept that you can significantly influence your own situation regardless of how hopeless it may seem. If you can rediscover (or find) your passion then building motivation or even better, improved habits become more realistic. What interests were to passionate about when you were a child or teenager? Are you passionate about any hobbies today? Do you volunteer for anything and if not is this something that might interest you? In your workplace, are there any tasks/projects that you enjoy? Have you come across others work and thought that it might be something that you would enjoy? Do you have specific skills that you are not currently using in your role?
Capture the Joy
It can become very easy to drift along and take things for granted. A useful way to turn off our autopilot is to express gratitude. Journaling is a useful way in which to capture joy. Spending five minutes each morning or night capturing what things in our day, large or small that we should be grateful for. The very act of writing these down ensures that we focus upon them even for a few moments. It has been shown that when we carry this out repeatedly over a number of weeks, we notice more readily those positive aspects of our lives and feel emotionally more resilient when things get tough.
Bring the energy
Peak performance is only truly possible where we take care of ourselves holistically. If we are eating the wrong foods, not being active enough physically, getting an inadequate amount of sleep, not taking care of our relationships and mental health then it is inevitable that we cannot operate to our potential. Are you spending quality time with the people that you care about? Do you balance this with taking time for yourself not watching YouTube or Netflix but walking outdoors, reading a book, doing a course, making something, meditating, trying something new?
Founder of create10, Joe McDonald provides one to one coaching, supporting clients in discovering how to turn off their autopilot and enhancing performance. Also, interactive workshops and flexible online courses available. For more information see www.create10.ie