The Shift Show
We’re on a mission to make the world of psychology approachable, easy to understand, and (*gasp*) enjoyable. Join us every month as we use psychological insight to unravel the craziness of life, from porn addiction to toxic parenting, and everything in between. And don’t worry, we’ll leave out the psychobabble.
The Shift Show
041: Living on Autopilot and Calling It Functioning
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You're functioning. You're getting it all done.
But somewhere along the way, life started to feel like a five out of ten.
In this episode of The Shift Show, ShiftGrit founder and registered psychologist Andrea McTague is joined by Kai Ongaro, a psychology student and member of the ShiftGrit client experience team, to unpack living on autopilot, the "life meh's," and why high-functioning numbness is so common.
Autopilot rarely means you are lazy or you do not care. It is usually chronic stress, layered across work, parenting, relationships, and social life, that keeps the threat brain switched on and quietly empties your cup until there is no room left for joy.
Underneath it sit a few familiar limiting beliefs: "I'm worthless," so I need to provide value. "I'm not good enough," so I need to keep striving. "I'm not in control," so I need to grip everything tightly. Each one loads up the plate and turns life into a list of chores.
In this episode:
- How to tell living on autopilot apart from simply running your routine
- Why "functioning" can hide emotional flatness and a thinning social life
- The limiting beliefs that turn everything into a chore
- Why apathy is a lack of capacity to care, not a lack of caring
- The golfer's lesson: you will never make the putt holding on too tight
- Why removing the belief beats adding more to your plate
Identity-Level Therapy for Living on Autopilot
At ShiftGrit, we do not treat "low motivation."
We work with the identity-level patterns that keep you stuck on the hamster wheel.
When the threat system settles and limiting beliefs are addressed, people often find their passion, presence, and capacity for joy come back online.
Identity-Level Therapy helps with living on autopilot by:
• regulating the nervous system
• lowering the chronic-stress load
• reconditioning beliefs like "I'm worthless" and "I'm not good enough"
• making room for rest, connection, and play
• restoring the capacity to feel and choose
It is not about pushing harder.
It is about removing what is quietly draining you.
Go deeper:
- Watch, listen, and read the full breakdown on the episode page
- Living on Autopilot and Calling It Functioning: the clinical breakdown
- How limiting beliefs drive patterns like this one
- Stress at ShiftGrit: clinical overview
- Referenced in the episode: Mark Manson, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
The Shift Show is produced by ShiftGrit Psychology & Counselling.
