Emerging from auto-pilot in a post-pandemic world
I recently read an empowering book called Take the Stairs by Rory Vaden. If I am to sum it up, his message is that we live in what he calls an “escalator world” - always choosing to take the path of least resistance rather than the stairs. In so many ways, it describes what I have been hearing from clients in my coaching practice: day after day, they feel like they are living on auto-pilot. The pandemic exasperated these feelings, forcing many of us to work from home, socialize less and travel hardly - if ever - for some. And now with the endemic in sight, many are coming out of this state of hibernation wondering, what did I do with my life?
These feelings are not uncommon. While it seemed like our lives were put on hold forever, we now have the ability to step back out and do all the things we said we would... and yet, the change has been hard. We blame our circumstances, wishing that things could have been different for us. We rationalize and find evidence to validate our thoughts, which in turn deepen our feelings of disconnect and distance us from making any real progress towards the things we truly desire.
But what if doing the hard thing was actually the evidence we need to change our thoughts and feelings, thus flipping the cycle and patterns we’ve created? What if we simply change the doing piece first, and allow that to generate the feeling that reprograms our thoughts? Bruce D. Schneider, founder of the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC) wrote that “problems contain the seeds of their own solutions”. What if the solution to the problem of being on auto-pilot is to simply and intentionally not be on auto-pilot.
Vaden says in his book, “frustration shows up only in the absence of perspective”. Yes we could continue to take the escalator. But we could also take the stairs - and maybe that will make us feel slightly more accomplished which in turn might make us think that we can, in fact, do more everyday. While the metaphor of the stairs vs the escalator may seem inconsequential, one must shift to the broader meaning which is, how intentional are you being in your day to day? What are some things you could do to begin, ever so slightly, build intentionality into your life and begin living on purpose?
