Life On Autopilot

What if I told you there is a way to get more things done?  You can be more productive if you just do one little thing and follow through.  All you have to do is PLAN.  That’s right, so simple.  Just make a plan.  What do I mean?  You need to plan your days and your week.  Most people’s plan is just to go to work, do their jobs, then come home and chill.  Well, if that is all you want out of life, then it’s a good plan.  But you are reading this post, so I suspect you don’t fit in that group.  That’s awesome, so let’s talk about this plan and autopilot.  Let’s start with the things you should plan on your list.

Things To Plan For

If you want to be successful in different areas of your life, you have to plan activities that will help you grow in those areas of your life.  For example, if you want to be healthier, you need to plan for exercise.  Here is a list of things to put in your plan:

• Family time
• Time with friends
• Health & Nutrition
• Learning & Education
• Relaxation
• Volunteering
• Work
• Errands
• Chores

This list may not be exhaustive, but it’s pretty good.  Look through the above list for the things that are important to you and write them down.  Once you have them written down, write three activities you could do for each one that would help you be successful.  Once you have your activities, go to your calendar, whether that be your Google calendar, Apple calendar, or a physical calendar, and start blocking off time slots for the activities you wrote down.  Make sure you hit each thing on your list, at least once a week, preferably every day, if you have the time.  And don’t just write them down on that day.  Schedule a block of time for each activity.  Yeah, it may seem a bit nerdy, but guess what…it works!!!  Once you are done, set it to Autopilot.

Set It To Autopilot

Once you have your activities on the calendar for the week, just stick to your calendar.  My business partner and good friend said to me, “Once it is on my calendar, I just go on autopilot.  If it’s on the calendar for that time, I just do it.”  I realized that I do the exact same thing.  Once it is scheduled and on your list, be like Nike and Just Do It.  It’s that simple.  It’s just common sense.  Though it is common sense, it is not common practice.  By practicing this approach each day and each week, you will be more successful and make bigger strides in life.

When To Question Your Calendar

When it comes time to complete the scheduled event on your calendar, you may not feel like it or just don’t want to do it.  DO IT ANYWAY.  The time to question your calendar is not when it is time to do the activity.  Think about it.  You made the choice to do that activity when you were thinking positive and knew how to help yourself grow.  So when it comes up, don’t let your current mood or possible laziness convince you to not follow through.  That is when it is most important to follow through.  Every time you follow through on something even when you don’t feel like it, you become that much stronger.

Let’s look at an example.  You may plan to start going to the gym every Monday/Wednesday/Friday at 7am.  But when 7am comes on Monday, you don’t feel like it.  This is when you provide all the reasons why you can’t go.  And you end up not going.  But what if, instead, you said to yourself, “It is on my calendar.  I am in autopilot mode.  I am going to the gym.”  Guess what…you would go.

The point is that the time to question what you planned is not when you actually have to do the activity.  When it is time to do the activity, DO THE ACTIVITY.  When completed, you can schedule some time to question whether the activity is important.  You can decide if it is important when you are thinking more about your success rather than how you are feeling at that time.

Conclusion

If you want to be successful, all you have to do is make a plan and go on autopilot.  Identify the things that will make you successful, make a plan by putting them on your calendar, and complete the activity when it’s time.  Simple, but challenging.  You may be tempted to not do what you thought would be best for you, but do it anyway.  Never question an activity when it pops up on your calendar.  Just do it.  You will feel better once you have.  Then, if you are still questioning that activity afterwards, schedule some time to think about it and make a better decision.

Don’t let your current mood or way you feel change your success plan.  Once you have your schedule done, stay on autopilot and just knock it out.  Before you know it, everything will be done and your week would have been productive in moving you closer to success.  Good luck!!!

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