with Julie Brown

The other morning I opened the refrigerator and found the TV remote.

Just sitting there next to the Greek yogurt. Which, as a woman in her 50s, I am legally required to point out is PROTEIN.

I stood there for a second staring at it, trying to reverse engineer exactly what series of events had taken place that resulted in me putting a TV remote in the refrigerator.

I got nothing.

Was I tired? Yep. Was I distracted? OBVIOUSLY. Was I probably doing four things at once? We’re the dogs jumping all over me? Almost certainly.

At some point, I had apparently walked into the kitchen holding the remote, opened the refrigerator, put it down next to 17 grams of protein, closed the door and walked away without one single neuron in my brain raising its hand and saying, Julie...I don't think that goes there.

Which got me thinking about how much of our lives we actually live on autopilot.

And THANK GOD we do, because imagine if you had to consciously think through every mundane thing you do every single day. Like, if every morning went like this. Pick up toothbrush. Unscrew toothpaste. Put toothpaste ON toothbrush. Brush teeth. Spit. Do not swallow the toothpaste. We'd be exhausted by 7:14 a.m.

Our brains are really good at creating routines. We drive the same route without thinking about every turn. We unload the dishwasher while having an entirely different conversation in our heads. We feed the dogs, get dressed, answer emails, pack bags, make lunches and move through a hundred tiny tasks every day without giving most of them much thought.

And most of the time, this works BEAUTIFULLY.

Until there's a glitch.

Until you're tired or rushing or distracted or trying to do six things at once, and suddenly you're standing in front of the refrigerator wondering why the remote is hanging out next to the cottage cheese. Which, again...PROTEIN. Apparently even my misplaced household objects are getting their macros in.

But here's where it can bite us in the bum….we don't only go on autopilot with the mundane stuff.

We do it at work too. We send the email because that's the email we've always sent. We run the meeting because that's the meeting we've always run. We go to the same events, talk to the same people, ask the same questions and follow the same routines because...well...that's what we do.

And maybe nothing is technically WRONG with any of it. The email gets sent. The meeting happens. The work gets done. The remote survives its brief refrigeration.

But every once in a while, a glitch makes you notice that you haven't actually been paying attention.

Maybe that's not such a bad thing.

Maybe we all need those little moments that snap us out of autopilot and make us look around and ask: Wait...why AM I doing it this way?

Not because every routine needs to be reinvented. I am not suggesting that tomorrow morning you brush your teeth with your opposite hand in the name of PERSONAL GROWTH.

I'm just saying it might be worth noticing where you're rushing. Where you're distracted. Where you're doing something simply because you've always done it that way. And where paying just a LITTLE more attention might actually change something.

Now, far more importantly, I need to know that I am not the only person who does this sh!t.

What is the weirdest thing you've ever put somewhere it ABSOLUTELY did not belong? Keys in the pantry? Milk in the cabinet? Phone in the freezer? Remote next to the protein-packed Greek yogurt?

Please hit reply and tell me.

Because if enough of you have put your sunglasses in the silverware drawer, I will feel significantly better about myself.

P.S. For those of you who have donated to my Race For Impact fundraiser THANK YOU! We have now raised $475 dollars, meaning together we have helped 2375 animals.

If you haven't donated and would like to we are accepting donations through 10/10, the QR code is below and every little bit helps, even $1.

This was my last simulation before my first race in Boston on 10/11!

P.P.S. If you like my work and want to support it, here are 3 ways!
👉 Pick one right now before you forget:

1) Forward this newsletter to a friend and let them know they can subscribe here.​

2) Buy my book​

3) Bring me into your company to speak. (Either in person or virtual.)