#25) How to Use Our Autopilot

Hello and welcome back to "Always Be Better" with Mel Windham.

Today we're going to talk about our own personal autopilot. Before we begin, make sure that you've first watched this video where I introduced the concept. Once you learn what the autopilot is, you can return to this video to learn how to use it.

Okay -- let's jump right in.

#1) Program Our Autopilot

First, we will learn how to program our autopilot.

[Mel appears at the piano]

Okay, here we are, back at the piano again, and this time I remembered my tux!

So, let me show you. I'm currently practicing Chopin's 8th Etude, and I've broken it up into two stages. Stage 1 is Wrist Training and Memorization. So, I've taken the notes of the etude, and I've written them in blocks. Here's the first block. [Mel play first block.] My next block.

Now let me just play the blocks for you so you can hear what it sounds like. [Mel plays a few measures of blocks.]

Okay. Now, I will also play this in rhythms to help with the precision, so I can play it faster.

Here's one rhythm. [Mel plays the blocks with a swing rhythm.]

And here's the other rhythm. [Mel plays a backwards swing rhythm.]

Okay, and then next week, I start Stage 2, and that's where I unwind the blocks. So, this block -- I unwind it so I get to play the individual notes now. [Mel plays four quick individual notes.] And this block, and so on.

And since I've already done the wrist training, my wrists know where to go, so now, I can almost play the etude straight -- almost up to speed -- or kind of fast. Let's see what happens. [Mel plays and does mostly well except for some very noticeable mistakes.]

Oh well -- see, Part of Stage 2 is where I'm going to iron some of these things out, but I'm already amazed at what I can do without having started that stage yet.

Well, let me show you how this works. We'll come back over here to discuss...

[Mel returns to desk.]

I could teach an entire lesson on how this piano method works, but for now, it's all about repetition. Stage 1 is mostly a wax on/wax off approach. And Stage 2 is all about locking it all into place. In both stages, repetition is key. If we do something enough times, our autopilot is going to be programmed.

And as I mentioned last time -- it's not my fingers I'm programming, but rather my brain. 

Whether it's learning to walk, to drive, to play basketball, to throw a football, to cook, or learning a new language, the process is practically the same -- repetition, trial and error, locking things down, and then successful programming. With enough training, you can do whatever you want.

That takes up to our next tip:

#2) Trusting Our Autopilot

Remember that when our autopilot is on -- how the brain is free to attack other things? This is because we learn to trust our autopilot.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw an episode of Bob's Burgers. As Bob cooked, his friend, Teddy, was watching through the window and he said, "Bob, you're so good at flipping burgers. How do you do it?"

Bob answered, "I don't know. I just do it ... I think ..." And wouldn't you know it? Bob messed up that burger. He tried to flip another burger, and it likewise failed.

Bob said, "I don't understand it. I could flip burgers and now I can't! What the heck?"

And Teddy said, "Uh oh!!! You have the yips!" 

I'll see if I can include a clip of this episode in my transcript.

But I can tell you from experience that the yips are a real thing. It happens when we don't trust our autopilot. Have you ever thought too hard about something and all of a sudden, you can't do it anymore? When this happens, I usually stop and try again the next day when I'm not thinking about it so much.

#3) Reprogramming Our Autopilot

Finally, if you're anything like me, your autopilot can get corrupted.

For example, I used to be able to type well, but throughout the years, I've picked up some bad habits. I noticed this a few months ago when I significantly upped the amount I typed. At first, it hurt and cramped my hands, so I started reprogramming. We're supposed the put index fingers on the "dots" (the "F" and "J" keys), and then each column goes with different fingers.

And let me tell you -- it's very difficult to reprogram ... because it's -- well -- programmed in. Sometimes I have to erase a word and start over to make sure I'm typing correctly.

I'm still struggling today, but I've already gotten better, and my hands have stopped hurting so much. So, it's definitely been worth it.

Perhaps you can think of some of your own misfiring autopilots. They can come in many forms ... usually bad habits, like biting fingernails, leaving the seat up, forgetting to wash your elbow in the shower, looking at Facebook too many times, and so on.

What makes all these things so difficult to fix is because in addition to learning new things, we must undo the bad habits that are already incorporated into the autopilot. So, when the time comes where we can actually fix it, we often space out and forget to fix it. But with enough effort and patience, we can always successfully reprogram our autopilots.

The Challenge

So, over this next week, see if you can keep an eye out for opportunities to use your autopilot. Can you identify new useful routines to program? Are you effectively trusting your current autopilots? Can you find some autopilots that need reprogramming?

I hope this all helps, as we all press forward. Thanks for watching, and see you next week on "Always Be Better."