How to Steer on Autopilot
Aug 31, 2026What are you thinking about right now?
How about now?
And now?
Did you choose those thoughts or did they simply arrive?
That in itself is our first Aha!: that those thoughts you think, simply land, you don’t intend them. That’s not to say that you can’t purposely direct your attention to a topic to give it deliberate energy – especially if you’re attempting to problem-solve or generate a new idea – however even those solutions-oriented or brainwaves of brilliance, weren’t chosen either. They simpy arrived.
But from where?
Let’s say you go out for dinner with friends. After that enthusiastic 15 minutes of catch-up talk, and a third visit from the server, you all decide to order. Do you choose an alcohol starter or mocktail? Do you choose a single food like steak or fish, or something battered, creamed or casseroled? Did you decide to try something new, what was on special or a routine favourite? Was your dish fuel or a reward? Did you look at the dessert menu first to know how much room to leave in your belly?
I’m going to challenge the fact that any of what you decided upon was your conscious choice. It felt like it was – that you thought through every aspect then decided – but it wasn’t.
Here’s the thing. We are programmable and programmed beings. As a result, between 95% and 99% of everything we do is automatic. What that means is that even when we feel like we have thought through every aspect and make conscious decisions, we actually decided out of programming.
Now, that programming could have come from childhood – you have favourites and an installed pallet that may go back to much earlier times – but you are also being programmed by television commercials, movies, sporting events, colleagues, work requirements, perceived time or money, and countless other measures. We learn best when we are spoon fed. Advertisers, influencers and governments know this so they repeat simple images, tag lines and narratives countless times which eventually become so habitual and routine for you, they feel like your very own thoughts and choices.
So, what's the value of even questioning our choices?
Aha! ~ You can't steer a car on autopilot.
As Bob Proctor used to say, "Mental activity does not constitute thinking." Most of what feels like deliberate choosing is simply your program doing what programs do: run. Efficiently, quietly, and completely without your permission.
Stop running the program. Start running your life.
Here's how you know when you're actually thinking. It feels uncomfortable. Real thinking goes against your programmed grain. It creates friction because you're asking your brain to do something it wasn't automatically set up to do. That friction isn't a warning sign. It's a green light.
And here's something worth knowing about emotions. They only last 90 seconds. Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's research confirmed that the chemical surge of any emotion moves through your body and clears in about a minute and a half. What keeps it alive longer is you, choosing to replay the thought that triggered it.
So, when a decision feels charged, wait 90 seconds before you act on it. In that pause, ask yourself: am I deciding based on habit, social pressure, someone else's expectation, or what's trending in my feed? Or am I choosing something that actually aligns with who I intend to be?
That’s thinking on purpose.
Your intentions are your internal GPS. But a GPS only works when you deliberately program the destination. One conscious choice at a time, you override the autopilot that’s defaulting you into the results you habitually realize. Start navigating toward the life you want, one deliberate choice at a time.
The thoughts will keep arriving. Choose which ones you want to drive.
Every though we’ve heard countless times that 96% of everything we do is automatic, we still believe we are making conscious choices … because the choices feel so real! We’ll delve more into what that override looks like at 2:00 pm eastern Tuesday. Email [email protected] for the link to join!
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