I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately.
It looks like this…
That subtle shift when life becomes familiar, easy and predictable enough… that we stop noticing we’re no longer fully in it.
This feeling sneaks in quietly.
The routine adapts itself so well that the days start blending.
Meetings, tasks, conversations, all perfectly normal, yet something essential slips just an inch out of view.
And before we realise it, we’ve drifted into autopilot.
Because everything is familiar.
I’ve seen it in myself at times - the unspoken assumption that tomorrow will look like today, and the next day, and the next.
And when that happens, it’s easy to stop asking the question that truly matters:
Is this next day taking me where I want to go? Or am I just defaulting?
In my work with senior leaders, especially those quietly wondering if they’ve already done their best work, this is the crossroads that changes everything.
From the outside they’re admired, respected, still performing at a high level.
But inside, they’re wondering: “Have I already peaked? Is the most exciting part of my life behind me?”
What I’ve noticed is that when life drifts, the whisper gets louder.
Because you’ve stopped choosing.
Familiarity replaces intention and consistency replaces presence.
Your aliveness fades so slowly that you almost don’t notice it happening.
Thankfully, everything shifts the moment you bring intention back into the frame.
When you ask yourself honestly, where do I want the next part of my life to take me? What impact do I want to create from here? Who do I want to become next?
…possibility opens again.
Anything is possible when we bring awareness and focus to what we want to create.
And when we don’t… nothing is possible.
It’s a simple distinction, but it’s the difference between a life well-lived and a life half-lived.
So perhaps take a quiet moment today and ask yourself, gently,
Am I still choosing… or have I slipped into default?
Photo by Amrut Roul on Unsplash