GNT #143: Autopilot Override

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Back in 2015, my husband Ed and I completed the build of our Vans RV-10 airplane. It took years of weekends, late nights, and a lot of learning.

The plane is equipped with a Garmin G3X touchscreen for avionics and an autopilot system that, once you’re at cruising altitude, holds course beautifully.

You can set your heading, level off, and let it fly itself for hours.

It’s smooth. It’s reliable. And honestly, it’s easy. Sometimes, a little too easy.

Because even with that system humming along, we still have to stay alert. We’re watching the skies and rerouting around weather, listening to the radio, and staying aware of fuel and altitude.

Autopilot keeps the wings level, but it doesn’t think ahead. That part still requires us, the humans, to stay fully engaged.

And it’s not all that different from how we live our lives.

We find our routines. We lock in a course. And before we know it, we’re months or years down the line, moving fast but not really checking if we’re still headed somewhere that matters to us.

I saw it again recently in a session with a client who runs a successful consulting firm. On paper, everything looked great. Revenue was coming in, a small team, loyal clients.

But halfway through our call, she stopped and said,

“I’m so busy keeping everything running that I can’t remember the last time I felt excited about any of it.”

She wasn’t burned out. She was disconnected. Her days had become a checklist of things that once mattered, but no longer felt alive.

That’s what autopilot looks like in real life. You keep moving, but you stop steering.

So today, we’re talking about how to take back the controls. You’ll learn 5 practical ways to step out of autopilot, reconnect with what drives you, and start shaping your life and work with intention again.

Let’s dig in.
 

1. Notice when you're on autopilot

Autopilot isn’t bad. It keeps you moving forward. The problem is when you forget to take the controls back.

Most of us don’t even notice it happening. We fall into predictable loops with work, emails, logistics, repeat. Our days stay full, but our hearts quietly check out.

You can’t change what you don’t notice.

So this week, pay attention.

At the end of each day, ask:

• What gave me energy today?
• What drained me?
• Did I make one intentional choice about how I spent my time?

Awareness is the first act of self-leadership. Create a calendar invite now for your daily shutdown meeting and paste these prompts in.
 

2. Ask the Genie Question

Graham Weaver teaches something called the Genie Method. It’s simple, but it cuts through years of overthinking.

Imagine a genie appears and says:

“Whatever you throw yourself into completely will succeed. You can’t fail.”

What would you do?

That answer reveals what’s true for you before fear and logic get involved. You don’t have to blow up your life to chase it. But you can start aligning your choices toward it.

That might mean spending one hour a week exploring it. Talking to someone already doing it. Or finally admitting what you really want, even if it feels unrealistic.

I've realized this in my own life. Clarity doesn’t come from waiting. 

3. Embrace "worse first"

Everything worthwhile starts harder than expected. The first workout, the first week of a new role, the first time you start setting boundaries.

That’s what Weaver calls worse first. It’s the uncomfortable stretch before the reward.

This newsletter used to take me 10 hours to write. Now it takes me 2.

When things get messy or uncertain, it doesn’t mean you’re off track, it means you’re growing.

Ask yourself:

“What would my five-years-from-now self thank me for doing right now?”

Growth rarely feels good in real time. But future you will be grateful you made a choice and kept going.

4. Name your limiting beliefs

The most dangerous beliefs are the ones we don’t realize we have. They hide under phrases like:

“I’m not ready.”
“I’m not qualified.”
“It’s not the right time.”

My dear friend Laura Krafka helped me realize, even just last month, that I was holding limiting beliefs through my language. In how I talked about myself. 

"I'm clumsy."
"I think slowly."
"I'm bad at math."

I was fortunate to have her help me see my hidden limiting beliefs.

How can you get them out into the open? Ask a friend, write them out on paper?

Once you see them, you can work with them. Because fear on paper becomes a to-do list.

• "I don't have the money" becomes "What resources do I actually need?"
• “I don’t know where to start” becomes “Who’s already done this that I could learn from?”

 Every time you bring a belief into the light, you shrink its power.

5. Explore your other lives

You don’t have to find one perfect path. There are many versions of a life that could feel deeply fulfilling.

Try this:

• Write out (or talk out with your favorite dictation tool) your current life as it is.
• Then imagine two or three other versions you’d be genuinely excited to live  

A teacher, founder, writer, or traveler... whatever sparks energy or curiosity.

What's really cool here is when you look across them, you'll start to notice themes: values, rhythms, and ways of working that matter most to you.

You can bring more of those into the life you already have. Today.

That’s how reinvention began for me and the many other leaders I talk to. Through awareness and small, intentional shifts.
 

Takeaway

Autopilot is a gift when it’s a tool. But it’s a trap when it becomes a habit.

Your systems can keep you steady, but only you can choose the direction.

Whether you’re in the air or in your business, the best flight paths are the ones you course-correct along the way.

So this week, take a look at your own controls. 

Where are you coasting?

And what’s one small adjustment that could put you back on a path that feels alive again?

You built this life.
Now fly it where you actually want to go.

I'm always rooting for you. See you next week.

-Colleen

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If you liked this article, you might also like:

GNT #029: Change your life rhythm, design your best week ever
GNT #121: How to figure out what you really want
GNT #076: My System for Changing Deep Beliefs

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