Get Off Autopilot

0:00From the world of personal transformation, this is a better you and a minute or two, with Dr. John McGrail, a nationally and internationally renowned hypnotherapist, self-improvement expert, and teacher of spirituality. Dr. McGrail is a leading voice and personal growth in mind-body transformation. As founder of a Better You Incorporated, he's helped clients around the globe to private sessions, seminars, keynotes, and powerful interactive workshops. He is also the author of The Syntasis Effect, your direct path to personal power and transformation, and has been featured in major media, including Time, Readers Digest, US News and World Report, Huffington Post and BBC Radio. And now, here's Dr. John. Thank you very much, hey there, everybody, welcome to today's episode. You know I was thinking just before we came on the year. How do you say hi when your show is broadcast all over the world live on in the Eastern time zone in the United States, it's 5 p.m. and then just figure out where you are in the world, then it could be morning, it could be afternoon, it could be evening, it could be tomorrow, it could not yesterday, but tomorrow.

1:16Anyway, so glad to be here with you. And today I'm just going to share a little anecdote and it reminded me of a show I did way back in the beginning of the series. When I talked about a refinery in California breaking down and the gas prices being incredibly raised, and so I got a little miffed at all that you may remember the show. And I decided to see just how far I could get on a tank of gas if I follow this speed limit wherever I went. And I did this for about a week and a half, almost two weeks. And of course the result was something that I wasn't expecting. I was just looking for increased mileage to see what I could do, it was sort of a game, it gave me something to vent my anger at. And what happened of course is that in slowing down, I had to give myself more time to get everything done. I had to leave a little early because I was driving slower. And the other part of it was my whole pace of life seemed to slow down as well. And it was much less stressful. And I had these little aha moments here and there over the two weeks. And it was just really interesting.

2:18And I suggested to all of you and I'll suggest it again if you haven't done it, give yourself that gift. Just slow down. Follow the speed limit. You'll see that you need to leave for work a little earlier. You need to leave for home a little earlier. And your whole pace of life just seems to slow down. You're going to see more, you're going to notice more. And it takes you off autopilot. Which brings me to the point of today's show. And what happened is I ran an errand for a relative the other day. And I had to go about two towns or three towns down from where we live to deliver some food to a local food hub. Which is not the point. I mean that in and of itself. Do something nice for someone and do something that's going to help other people. That just makes you feel good to begin with. No skin off your teeth. Took me an hour. Who cares? But it felt really good to do that. On the way back I decided to take another route. Instead of the normal mile and a half to the freeway and then 10 miles up the freeway and then a mile back home. I decided to go the long way. I knew this road went all the way back to where I live. And I knew if I took it I would get there.

3:20But I had never done it before. So I just decided because I had nothing to do. I happened to be off that day. I just decided to do it. But let's just see what happens. And you know what? It was amazing. And I'm going to share the amazing right after this message. So what is love? Love is being independent. Love is dancing. Is trying to hospital for children? Love is any smile. At Shriners hospitals for children. Love is caring for a child regardless of the family's ability to pay. If you know a child we can help. Visit Shriners HospitalsForChildren.org. Okay we are back. So what happened? Well very similarly to the two weeks that I slowed down and drove the speed limit. Going this other way home. Help took me through neighborhoods that I have not seen since we moved here three years ago. And so I was seeing other things in discovering this and that and saying oh isn't that interesting and isn't that interesting.

4:25Wow. And again the slower pace, the whole thing just felt really really good. But and I tried to figure out what's going on here and then I realized what's going on. We human beings and I'm sure you will all admit to this are creatures of habit. We tend to get in our patterns. We tend to live on autopilot most of the time and we just go through each and every day doing what we do. We do it the same way each and every time. And I realized that yeah I take that highway route all the time. And it took me longer. I saw things I've never seen. I saw neighborhoods that I knew were there but haven't seen. And it's just like it was just this feeling of wow. It wasn't earth shattering. It wasn't life changing by any stretch of the imagination. And of course this show a better you and a minute or two isn't necessarily life changing. Although I love it when somebody writes me and says oh my goodness what you said the other day completely opened my eyes and now I'm doing something new and I feel like I've never felt in a very long time.

5:28I love those moments of course everybody does. This wasn't earth shattering. It wasn't life changing. It was eye opening. That's what it was. It was eye opening. I realized my goodness. Even I who try so very hard to practice what I preach. Even I am a creature of habit. And this wow this was so cool just to do something different to see new things to slow down to have a little mini adventure if you will. Not huge. It wasn't climbing Mount Everest but it felt really really good. So I challenge you get off your auto pilot take another way home from work or go another way to the market or slow down and do the speed limit for we can see what happens. I think you're going to love it. I think you're going to find that it makes your life a little more fun. I rule number one and like you all you will be living life more largely. Okay that's all I've got for today. Hope you enjoyed it. See you tomorrow. Thanks for listening to a better you and a minute or two. The show that helps you live more joyfully and powerfully a few minutes at a time.

6:29To learn more about Dr. John and his work visit Dr. John McGrale.com. If you have personal questions would like to work with Dr. John or book him as a speaker call 1-800-369-1516 or email Dr. John McGrale at gmail.com. You'll receive a personal and confidential response. Until next time be well and be your best self.