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Staying Motivated in Aviation

My apologies in advance if this post ends up being hard to follow, I am mostly shooting from the hip and letting my thoughts flow where they may.

Yesterday I was feeling a little down on myself and posted a tweet/Instagram post about what was on my mind:

In a prime example of what I love about the aviation community, I got three rather prompt responses from people that were exactly what I needed to hear, including one saying I should write a blog post about it, so here we are.

My first thought is that we all need to be more willing to put how we are actually feeling out there.  It is okay if you are not 100% pumped about every aspect of aviation every day.  It’s okay to be frustrated with where you are at, or the lack of progress you are making, and to share that with others.  I think it makes us all a little more human and can help others who may also be struggling to realize that it’s okay.

As I experienced yesterday, there are a lot of people out there that want to support and encourage you, me included, but it is hard to help someone when you don’t know what they need, or that they are even having a hard time.  I find my greatest joys in helping other people, and in talking through decisions that people are making.  There is just something about the act of being involved in someone else’s life, even in some small way, that speaks to the deepest parts of who I am.  I think that is why I have always loved instructing so much.

Admittedly, a lot of my frustration comes from when I look at other people on social media and see all of the fun things that they are doing, and then I get jealous and want to go and do the same things.  I have gotten to do some pretty awesome stuff, but I am always jealous of the people doing other awesome stuff that I want to do too.

I have mentioned before how much I want to get into backcountry flying when I get back to Reno, and I am not doing a good job being patient for that to happen.  I have to remind myself that it will happen someday but that it will take time.  I am in the middle of a year of pilot training, followed by 6 months of C-130 specific training, and that was all part of the plan.  Then when I get back and get settled in then I will be able to start to pursue other avenues that this year and a half of training are opening up.

But I don’t want to wait. (insert pouting child face here)

That can be one of the greatest challenges when we pursue lofty, yet attainable, dreams.  Many of them take a lot of time and effort to actually achieve.  Some people are able to get there faster based on their circumstances, and good for them, but we can’t spend our whole lives comparing ourselves to others.  One of the amazing things about aviation is that there is no one route to get to all of the amazing places it can take you.

My wife was writing a paper for school today about how we need to cultivate our talents and try to figure out what makes us special.  She warned about the dangers of spending too much time comparing ourselves to others, and how that can suck the joy right out of life.  This was not news to me, but there was an interesting article she referenced which suggested that under the right circumstances comparing ourselves to others can actually be a good thing.

If you look at the things you are jealous of, or that you wish you had in your life, you can get a better understanding of the things that matter to you, and potentially where you should set your goals.  This is a dangerous line to walk if you are constantly jealous of “stuff”, but I think it could be a powerful tool if you look at experiences, knowledge, friendships, service, or other virtuous things that you may be jealous of.  In that case you can gain a better understanding of what you value most, and in turn how you might need to change your life to achieve those things.

There is nothing wrong with reaching out to the people you are jealous of and asking how they got there.  In fact, that is exactly what you should do.  Social media allows so much more mentorship than ever existed before, and you are wasting amazing opportunities if you don’t ask.  If you go looking for a quick fix you may find yourself disappointed, but if you are willing to put in the same effort and work that they did, there is nothing stopping you from achieving the same things, and becoming your own version of that person.

I think I will close with the comment from Instagram that inspired this post.

Sarina is an amazing writer, and a fabulous person to follow if you aren’t already, and there is a ton of value in what she said.  It can be hard to find the will to do even the things we love sometimes.  Between work, family, school, and life we don’t always have a ton of time for what we love, and sometimes we just want to rest.  That’s okay.  Just keep loving the things you love, and when you get the motivation, then do it.

I have wanted to be a pilot since I was a little kid, but it took me until I was 36 to get there.  I guess I just needed to wait long enough to have the motivation to do it.  It wasn’t easy, but it has been totally worth it, and it has opened doors that I had thought were closed.  By the time I am done with all of my training I will be 39 and just starting to learn how to do my job.  That thought is both amazing and terrifying to me.

So if you are having a hard time reaching your goals, reach out, ask for help.  Maybe someone can say just the right thing to get you going.  Or maybe you just need to vent a little to someone.  Either way I am happy to listen and to help in any way that I can.

Thanks for taking the time to read my sometimes random thoughts and let me know how I can help you!

December 2, 2019 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Becoming a Pilot: Getting Better Each Time You Fly

It is always amazing to me how much of a mental aspect there is in everything that we do in life. We spend so much time talking about skills and abilities, but in the past we pretty much ignored the mental aspects. Fortunately, we are starting to realize how important the mental side is as well.

As I went out for my second flight in the Cherokee, I was a little down on myself because I was struggling so much with landing. It is kind of an important part of flying so I think that added to my frustration.

For this flight we ran through the maneuvers and then headed over to KRNO for some visual patterns there. It was fun to be at a towered field as all of the other work we had done was at the non-towered Stead Airport. I am grateful for all of the time I have in the C-130 to help with all of the radio aspects of flying. I can see it being a ton harder if I was also having to learn that.

After a few patterns I was finally starting to get some relatively smooth landings. Both my CFI and I both realized that the sight picture I was familiar with was in a C-130 where we fly significantly faster and I am also sitting much higher. This was causing me to flare high, float it, and land too firmly.

Once we made that connection I forced myself to push through the ground rush and my landings got even better. Coming back over to Stead, my first landing was a little off adjusting back to the shorter runway, but the second landing was my best one yet.

I was on speed the whole time, I pulled power on-time, flared nicely, and smoothly touched down. We wisely stopped on a winner landing and put the old girl to bed.

We then went back and filled out my information for my student license. Along with my medical I got yesterday, I am finally seeing the reality of becoming a pilot, and I am almost shaking typing those words because I am so excited.

It was just amazing to me the difference it made in analyzing what I was doing and how quickly it could be corrected once we diagnosed it. No matter what you are doing, understanding the mental aspects will always make you better.

I also wanted to share how cool it has been flying around the Stead airport. My CFI owns his plane with his brother so they are a very small “school”, but they seem to know everyone around the airport. On the radios he is constantly talking to people he knows and talking about their planes and where they are flying. It is really one of the best parts of aviation, the community.

On our way out to the practice area, a buddy of his pulled up in his Kit Fox and we flew near each other for a few minutes chatting and just enjoying the wonder of flight. With the snow covered mountains all around us, I just couldn’t imagine how anyone could not absolutely love flying. It is the most incredible, empowering experience I have ever had.

I think the thing that is getting me the most excited about all of this experience is the community I am finally tapping into. If you haven’t been out to your local airfield recently, get out there and make some friends. As awesome as the planes are, it is the people that truly make aviation special.

March 8, 2018 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.