Do you feel like you are just going through the motions? Is life boring, dull, and repetitive? If that's the case for you, here are nine ways to switch off autopilot mode and start living with more joy and purpose.
1. Question Your Automatic Habits
Do you automatically make coffee the first thing every morning? Why? That might sound like a silly question if you love your coffee. Seriously though, we do many things out of habit and not need. Start questioning your automatic habits, and you can remove a lot of needless repetition from your day.
2. Make a List of Your Top Five Values
What do you value? How much of your life is spent living according to those values, and how much isn't? Make a list of your five most important values. Start prioritizing the truly important things to you to find more purpose in life.
3. Start Tracking How Your Time Is Spent
Ask the average person, and they'll tell you there isn't enough time in the day to get everything done. Is that really true? Start tracking how you spend your time. Time-tracking apps or a Time Tracking Spreadsheet can reveal how much time you waste every day just going through the motions.
4. Take Time to Dream
What dreams have you been ignoring? Time flies. Before you know it, several years have gone by without you chasing down or making progress on an important dream. Don't let that happen anymore. Regularly revisiting your dreams can help you step out of your routine and into the extraordinary.
5. Give Some Areas of Your Life a Total Overhaul
As the saying goes, "live a little!". Dye your hair. Get a new car. Move. Buy an entirely new wardrobe. It doesn't matter what the change is. It should just be big enough to shake up your routine. Make courageous changes in your life, and you can start feeling like you're living again.
6. The Next Time You Pick up Your Phone, Don't
You can grab your phone mindlessly and waste hours before you know what's happened. The next time you reach for your phone, don't pick it up. Instead, leave it be and get up and do something. Go for a walk. Do something meaningful rather than sleepwalking through another meaningless session on your phone.
7. Challenge Yourself to Do Something New
Read a book if you don't usually. Go to a concert if that's something new for you. Challenging yourself to experience something "different" is a great way to start living life rather than just coasting by.
8. Question Your Motivation
Why do you do what you do? Start questioning your daily actions and the motives behind them. Instead of mindlessly walking through your routines, pick them apart. You might find some opportunities for more purpose and engagement.
9. Remember This...
Today is the oldest you have ever been and also the youngest you will ever be again. Remind yourself of this every day. That powerful fact of life can motivate you to make meaningful changes and get out of autopilot life mode.
FAST-ACTION STEPS
✅ Get a time-tracking app or spreadsheet. Start using it every day. Identify at least three hours of time-wasting activities that provide little value to your life. Spend that time doing something meaningful instead.
✅ Write down five things you've always wanted to do. These should be activities that you can make happen, not things that are impossible to achieve. Choose one and experience it this week.
✅ Remove one habit from your daily routine that doesn't provide real value and give your life purpose. Instead, do something out of character. Do something that really challenges you and pushes your boundaries.
Quote:
“Fearlessness is like a muscle. I know from my own life that the more I exercise it the more natural it becomes to not let my fears run me.” - Arianna Huffington