Automatic Pilot - Grasshopper

It’s a noticeable fact: We live most of our lives on automatic pilot.

Along the way, we get conditioned into preferences, points of view, prejudices, habits, and beliefs. They run automatically and we label them as “Us.”

We let them fly the plane, even if we’re headed into the side of a mountain.

I’m reminded of the old story of how native Africans once captured monkeys. They would put peanuts inside a hollowed out coconut shell. On one side of the shell was a knotted rope with the knot on the inside of the shell. The other side had a larger hole where the monkey could squeeze their hand in and grab the peanuts. The problem was when they closed their hand around the peanuts and made a fist, they couldn’t withdraw it from the shell. The natives would just slowly pull on the rope and bring the monkey towards them and capture it. At any time, the monkey could have released its grip and let go of the peanuts and freed themselves. Most didn’t and they left no heirs.

“Monkey see; monkey do” is our legacy, until it isn’t.

It’s always a good time to take a “look-see” at who we call me, and notice if that’s who we want to be.

There are so many automatic programs running our lives. Some are quite useful and keep us on track. Others keep us running into walls. That’s just a fact, Jack!

What do you do automatically that gets the same, unwanted result? When you discover what it is, you also find out who’s flying the plane. It’s not you, but some automatic program pretending to be you. Think of it as your evil Avatar.

Sometimes taking notice of this habit is enough of an interruption of our behavior to lead us down a path of change. But, sadly, noticing it once often is not enough. We have to train ourselves to be on the lookout for it every time it rears its ugly head. This noticing alerts us that we’re not at the controls. That’s when it’s time to interrupt the automatic program and take back the levers of life.

An old friend, who was a pilot and an air traffic controller, told me that better than 90% of aircraft crashes were due to pilot error. Let’s just say they were on automatic pilot.

“Notice” and “interrupt” are two words that can save you from a lifetime of flying blind. They’ll help you take back the controls and fly right past avoidable binds.

All the best,