Avoiding the Autopilot Trap
Refocusing on first principles to become a bit better each day.
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Don’t mistake activity with achievement.
John Wooden
When we’re pursuing something worthwhile the work required to make progress is complex and challenging. If it were easy, everyone would do it.
To continue improving we need two things: consistency and quality.
A one-off stellar performance or consistent but lackluster results are equally counterproductive.
It’s easy to do something great once or be consistently mediocre, but consistent excellence is rare and valuable.
If we can’t do both we get stuck in a rut, but if we find a way to produce quality work repeatedly, we unlock massive opportunities.
Going through the motions
Complex and worthwhile pursuits like a challenging career, improving our health, or maintaining relationships require tremendous effort over a long period of time.
Unfortunately, our brains try to simplify complexity and break things down into repeatable patterns to conserve time and energy.
The first time we drive somewhere we need to pay careful attention to every turn. Once we’ve made the same drive enough times we can get there without any conscious thought.
When we do something repeatedly we create our own version of autopilot.
This is great for inconsequential things like driving to work and cooking dinner, but damaging for worthwhile pursuits like our careers and relationships.
We can easily slip into a state of going through the motions instead of thinking critically about the best path forward for each complex challenge these pursuits throw at us.
Although we may be consistently showing up and doing the work for something important, falling into the trap of autopilot lulls us into a false sense of confidence.
If we do the same workout every day and never change the intensity or difficulty, we’ll be praised for our consistency and dedication, but we’ll never improve.
Consistency is better than nothing, but for the pursuits that matter most, we need to avoid autopilot.
Starting from first principles
To avoid the trap of going through the motions we need to return to first principles.
Why are we doing this in the first place? What are we hoping to get out of it? How do we need to execute to get the results we want?
As difficult as it is, we need to approach each repetitive and monotonous task for every worthwhile pursuit with the same curiosity and attention we had when we first started.
When we start with first principles in mind we force ourselves to stay present. Maintaining this level of presence and care is what separates good from great.
If we can remember why we’re doing something and what we’re trying to accomplish while doing it, we can avoid going through the motions, create meaningful outcomes, and become a bit better every day while doing it.
Prompts
Are you better at consistency or starting from first principles every time?
In what areas of life are you showing up consistently but not getting results?
What does starting from first principles look like in your most important worthwhile pursuit?
Deep Dive
The Practice: Shipping Creative Work by Seth Godin
Learning the art of showing up and thwarting the trap of repetition.
Thanks for reading! I’ll see you next Sunday.
Kevin