conscious thing

It was never a conscious thing I had to think about at all.

Olsen: Was it a conscious thing for you that you knew you wanted a lead role?

"We became lovers, you know? And I mean real sober lovers — it was a conscious thing," Byrum added.

“I think for some people, and I am not even sure it’s a conscious thing … But the idea of them being the one person in charge, and the guy and or gal making the final decisions, still seems problematic,” said Schall, who worked on Warnock’s successful campaign for the 2020 special election for Senate in Georgia.

It's not necessarily a conscious thing — it's who they are, it's what they do.