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Quick Spoon: Get off autopilot
Episode 219th May 2026 • People Soup • People Soup
00:00:00 00:01:32

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Ever noticed how pressure can shrink your options?

A difficult conversation.

An awkward email.

A deadline.

A piece of feedback you weren’t expecting.

And suddenly… you’re reacting before you’ve even realised it.

In this Quick Spoon from my conversation with Dr Eric Goodman, we explore what he describes as one of the most crucial skills in mental health:

Getting off autopilot.

Taking a pause.

Calling a timeout.

And choosing a response that’s…

Helpful, not harmful.

A short practical reflection on choice, self-awareness, and creating a little more space when life gets challenging.

Because that space, creates options.

People Soup: Real conversations about work, leadership, and being human — grounded in behavioural science, with practical ideas you can actually use.

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Transcripts

QS4 Get Off Autopilot

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[00:00:16] And so we have to take control [00:00:20] back over our own actions and reactions. And so being able to recognize when you're, [00:00:30] dealing with a really challenging moment, taking a few seconds, just call in a little timeout and you say, all right. Let me handle this in a way that's going to be helpful, [00:00:40] not

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[00:00:44] start.

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[00:01:03] Speaker 2: This one's about choice. Eric's first step in difficult moments is simple. Get [00:01:10] off autopilot. Pause. Take a breath. Create a little space. Because when we create space, [00:01:20] we create options.

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[00:01:29] Ross: That's your QUICK [00:01:30] SPOON Until next time, take care.

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