Imagine having this experience: you go to a program or a seminar and you learn something, and you think to yourself, "That is awesome.  I am going to practice that in my life."  You go home and use it for about a week or two, or maybe three, and then you go back to your old patterns and habits.  Has this ever happened to you on some level?  Why does this occur even when we acknowledge that what we have learned will lead us to success?  Your mind learned the information and incorporated it into your behavior intellectually but the behavior was not seamlessly aligned with a deeper part of your being: your subconscious mind.

A study performed by George Miller in 1956 revealed that we can only do about seven things at a time, plus or minus two, based on our capabilities. So consciously, you can only do somewhere between five and nine things at any given time.  Therefore, on a daily basis, you operate on automatic pilot at some point during the day.  When you meet people, you operate on automatic pilot.  When challenges arise, you operate on automatic pilot. When someone responds to you, your response may be in automatic pilot.  The key to incorporating new behaviors and practices to the subconscious mind is living fully aware of how you are responding to the world you live in and where that response is coming from.  When something external occurs and you become upset, that response is coming from within you and is not necessarily a part of the world outside of you. 

A great Zen proverb relates that when you squeeze an orange, you get orange juice. You do not get apple juice. You get what is inside.  Similarly, when you are squeezed by life's pressures, what comes out of you?  Is it a sweet nectar or is it some kind of funky concoction?  When facing challenges in life, it is tempting to blame these challenges on our circumstances.  It is possible to blame the challenges that we face on what occurs outside of us, not realizing that everything in the external realm is the natural manifestation of what occurs within the internal realm. 

When you find yourself operating on automatic pilot, focus on being aware of what you are doing.  Remind yourself that you can choose to focus on a few things and do each of them with full consciousness and love.  One example of operating at a subconscious level occurs when you leave your office at the end of work and you are on your way to meet someone for dinner, but since you are accustomed to driving home, you take the wrong exit as if you are driving home.  So who is driving your car?  It is your subconscious mind. 

Our subconscious mind is available to help get us where we need to go and to watch out for us.  It is your job to make sure that your conscious mind is guiding your actions, especially when undivided focus is mandatory for your success.  Practice being aware of where you place your conscious focus and how often you allow your subconscious mind to operate as pilot.  This can mean the difference between doing something at a mediocre level and doing something at the level of mastery.