This Is Your Captain Speaking
My brain runs 100 miles a minute and if it weren’t for my ability to switch to autopilot for day-to-day tasks, I would never get anything done. Like an airplane pilot trusting the computer software to keep the plane on track while he handles other matters, my feet lead the way home while I’m lost in thought. My body takes over during workouts so I can plot out blog posts while I get my cardio in. At work, I can walk from the bathroom to my desk without ever looking up from whatever article/email/social media notification I’m scanning on my phone. (Yes, I walk with my eyes glued to my cell. I’m such a millennial. I know).
But for the last two weeks, that last part hasn’t been going so well. The route from the bathroom to my desk involves a door I have to use my key card to pass through. While I was away from work this summer, they moved the key card scanner from the left side of the door to the right. No big deal. I just have to approach the opposite wall and wave my key card there instead.
But after nearly four years of absent-minded scanning on the left and waiting for the little beep of recognition before yanking the door open, my brain has been having trouble adjusting to this new development. At least three times I’ve found myself standing at the door, phone in hand, key card outstretched, but no beep. Without looking up, I wave the card a tad more aggressively. Still no dice. I eventually look up to find that I’d been trying to scan my key card at a hole in the wall.
See, that’s the thing with autopilot. It’s great until it starts getting in the way, until it starts getting you entrenched in old habits that no longer serve you. My little key card incident was a minor issue with an easy fix but I worry that I might be screwing myself where it counts by coasting through parts of my life where I really need to be on high alert and taking charge.
I’ve been building my brand as a creative wordsmith for a few years now. I churn out thousands of words worth of content for a range of clients. I’m in the trenches trying to make this brand work. But I get frustrated because I keep encountering closed doors. I wonder now how many of those doors are only locked because I was stuck in the familiar when even the slightest pivot would have turned the key. If I’m honest with myself, I’m probably missing golden opportunities because I’m too busy doing what I’ve always done to spot them. Instead of pivoting, I’m pushing harder at what doesn’t work.
As a creative, I know this kind of one-track stubbornness is dangerous. Crushing my goals depends on my ability to stay aware of my career, the industry and the world at large, keep an eye open for opportunities and angles everywhere, and adapt on a dime. Autopilot simply won’t do here. So from here on out, you can find me in the captain’s seat. Destination: success.
