Monday, September 12, 2011
1:13 PM
I was standing in line at an airport vendor express lane and the checkout lady asked each person, "would you like water or fruit with your coffee?" I was buying tea, a banana and water and assumed she would not ask me the standard question of "would you like water or fruit with your coffee?" But, as I stepped up in line, she asked me the same question as she rang up my tea, fruit and water. I politely said I am all set, she didn't even notice how funny her question was with my order. She got me thinking of how much we get on autopilot regardless of the situation.
We all do it in different situations, we go on autopilot. I drive the same way to work every day and in the last 6 months there has been a lot of construction that has changed the lanes, the off ramps and even the lane you can make a right turn in, etc. I can't drive to work on autopilot, even though I go in to the office at the same time every day. The road literally changes weekly and sometimes daily. I will miss my exit and be in the wrong lane from one day to the next. It has caused me to pay attention every morning because I never know what roadwork they did the night before.
Paying attention is a good thing. Are you on autopilot? Do you go through the motions at work and at home? I find I get on autopilot about all sorts of things. Some are small things like making dinner and having the same thing every week, even though I have stacks of cookbooks I could use for a different twist. I will get on autopilot in business too, if I don't stay alert. Years ago, I was on autopilot hosting the TN conference calls, until I started adding new information each Monday and reading before each call. I believe autopilot leads to complacency and complacency leads to mediocrity. If you want excellence, you need to pay attention, get off of autopilot and get excited.
So, how do you get off of autopilot? Here is what I have done to excel.
- Start with evaluation.
- Look at what you do and how you do it regularly.
- Be enthusiastic, enthusiasm makes everyone more alert.
- Do something you have never done. This one works for me every time!
- Get inspired, read a book, then share it with someone.
- Personal growth! It will deter autopilot because if you are growing & learning, you have different information to share, which in turn causes enthusiasm.
- Choose an attitude of gratitude and stay positive.
Strive for excellence, autopilot is overused.
Angela