Have you ever left your house in the morning and half way to work wondered if you locked the door? Do you have a difficult time being still? Have you found yourself at events wondering what you are doing there?

These are signs that you are living on cruise control.

When you are in cruise control, just like when you are driving your car on cruise, you don’t really have to think. In your car you don’t have worry about the speed for it is adjusted automatically, you just have to steer and try not to hit anything. The same thing goes for your life. When you are on auto-pilot you are cruising through life without really engaging in it and hope that it all turns out OK.

You have no interest in conscious decision making. You just expect everything to happen the way it always has.

10 ways to tell if you are on cruise:

1. You are in constant movement. You move from one activity to another with little or pause in between. In fact, if you are not doing something you feel uneasy. You have a very difficult time being still for any length of time.

2. There are times you have no recollection of doing something. You did several things in the morning, but in the afternoon you can’t recall everything you did. Many people blame this on age or other things, often it can be attributed to a lack of attention to what you are doing.

3. Your mind is constantly racing forward to the next thing. Even when you are talking to someone, part of you is listening and part of you is wondering about the meeting that is going to take place in half an hour. You are busy multi-tasking in your mind.

4. When talking with someone you rarely look at them squarely in the face, instead you look at them then look away, or look at your watch, or look at your smart phone. You are not giving people your full attention. You present an attitude of being in a hurry. Worst, people may sense that you don’t care or are bored with them.

5. You go along with people even though you don’t want to. A group of colleagues or friends are going to the horse races. You go along even though you hate horse racing. You go for various reason or maybe you have no idea why you are there. You are there because the group is there. How often do you find yourself some place you really don’t want to be? Then wonder, “What am I doing here?”

6. You resist or even reject new ideas. Someone in your office has a new idea about how to make things more productive. Even before you hear any of the details you reject it. Why change what is already working just fine?

7. You like things the way things have always been. You really do not like anything new or different. You eat in the same restaurants, you have always driven the same model of car, you always choose the same type of holiday , and you are not open to new ways of doing anything. You like things the way they are.

8. You have no idea where you are heading in life. If someone were to ask you what your goals were, your answer might be retirement or I don’t know. Are your goals only to make it to the weekend, receive your pay cheque then retire?

9. Your interests and hobbies are the same as they were when you were a child. You have not moved on from the things that interested you when growing up. You liked football as a child and as an adult this remains your sole interest.

10. Each day/week/year is the same as the last. It appears that nothing changes in your life. If you look back you can see that you have been doing the same thing over and over again with little change.

Are you ready to shift into drive?

When you have been living in cruise control for most of your life trying to change can seem like a daunting task.

It is!

The key to success would be to take small steps. Select an area of your life that would be easiest to change or that you really want to change. For example: try a different restaurant once a month. Nothing gained nothing lost and you might just find a new taste that you like. When you feel comfortable with this change select something else to change. For example: if you have driven a Ford, spend a weekend testing driving other models. Take a buddy and have fun doing it.

If you can take the seriousness out of the changes and just have fun, you could find a new way of doing things that you enjoy.

Taking little steps and rewarding yourself for each change you made will keep you moving forward.

Then you will shift from life controlling you, to you taking control of your life!

Let me know how you are taking control of your life. I would love to cheer you on or help you navigate the new road.

I am a teacher, coach and mentor with over 25 years experience helping others find solutions to problems enabling them to have a more joyful, empowering life. I am a global gypsy, who can now be found at www.livinglifeinjoy.com.

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