2  Habit frees your mental resources for higher goals. My husband has chosen the same toothpaste and shampoo since 1964. He eats virtually the same breakfast and lunch every day, and wears the same (clean) clothes. He spends no effort analyzing alternatives. He is a rocket scientist, literally. Do I think he'd be happier if he opened up his mind to alternative toothpastes? Yes, but that's just my autopilot speaking. I love discovering new things. His autopilot works for him so I keep my mouth shut.  

#3  Your autopilot is unique. No two people have the same early experience, so each autopilot is different. Other people don't know how your autopilot works. They just presume it works like theirs. If you let others define your autopilot for you, they will get it wrong, so you are better off getting to know it yourself.

 

#4  Your brain tells your eyes what to look for. You have ten times more neurons going from your visual cortex to your eyes than you have going from your eyes to your cortex. That means you make sense of the world by scanning for the information you need, not by taking in everything and trying to sort it out. Don't bother being "against" this strategy because your brain is built this way. Your visual cortex sends templates to your eyes to help them zoom in on what's important, because your brain could not possibly process the chaos of raw detail. This seemingly reverse flow of information is profound evidence that past experience automatically shapes our understanding of the present. 

#5  Gut feelings are often right. New research shows how conscious analysis falls short of automatic responses. A well-researched book, Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious, shows why intuitive responses have an underlying rationale. A PT Blog post that summarizes the research nicely is Gut Almighty. 

#6  Rejecting your own autopilot wears you out. Like driving with your foot on the brake, rejecting your own impulses stresses your engine. Some of life's stressors can't be controlled, but you can control the stress you cause by disdaining your automatic inclinations. Of course it's not easy if your inclinations include self-rejection, or other harmful habits. But instead of insisting that you shouldn't have the proclivities you have, start by accepting that you do have them.

#7  Noticing your autopilot helps you manage it. If you deny the existence of your autopilot, you're less able to manage it. Many people insist they are running on conscious choice all the time, and refuse to accept the reality of their own autopilot. This reduces their ability to make good choices, because they presume their automatic choices are based on logic. The better you know your autopilot, the more power you have over it.

If you are automatically behaving in ways that harm yourself or others, you must certainly manage your autopilot. But do not believe every advice mongerer who tells you "we all think badly." A lot of them are on autopilot when saying that because it is a trendy theory that gets them grant money. Maybe you do have bad thought habits. Maybe you don't. You decide, and you live with the consequences of your choices.

Like everyone, I get frustrated with my autopilot. I think I shouldn't be the way I am. Then I ask myself, what if I honor my autopilot instead? I relax and realize that I can over-ride my autopilot when it matters. The rest of the time, why wear myself out with self-rejection?

My chapter on AutoPilot from my book I, Mammal is available here

Above image credit