Dead Pilots Didn't Ask for Help

While working towards my private pilot’s license, my flight instructor talked about the kind of pilot you don’t want to become. 

A dead one.

Most folks who want to fly are high performing, successful people. 

And, they have egos.

Egos that may not want to admit they need help.

Even if they know they need it, they may not ASK for help.

Ugh, I thought.  That’s not me!

(Slightly cringing here.)

I’m thinking – I’m not going to be the pilot who dies because they are so proud, they can’t ask for help.

For some context, I learned to fly a Cessna 172. It has 4 seats and feels like driving a ’67 Volkswagen bug in the sky.

 After months of flight training with my instructor,  a major step towards getting my license is my first solo flight.  The pilot in training must fly by themselves to a destination at least 50 nautical miles from where they take off, land the plane, turn around and come back home.

Up to that...

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5 steps to do Your Impossible

How I beat my inner doubter to become a firefighter weeks from my 39th birthday and how to overcome yours.

Part 1 of several.

This is it.  Test day.  I have worked hard to prepare for this day, and I am both terrified and excited.   

I am standing in the gym at station 14 where the first elements of the Firefighter entry physical test are in progress.

The room is small.  It’s a gym where the station 14 firefighters work out while on shift.

Although it is a gym, this is not LA fitness. 

There is No treadmill.

No Stairmaster.

No Elliptical.

Just bars, weights and racks.

The benches scattered about the room show their age with white stuffing visible in the cuts and holes of the thin black vinyl padding.

 There is no bench for this test element, though.

For this test there is a bar with weights totaling 85 lbs and a line drawn on the floor, 4 inches from the wall.

 

It’s quiet.

You can hear the gentle squeak of gym shoes on wood as our...

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naked

fear vulnerability Jul 20, 2017
 

Get Naked! 

We all fear to some extent being vulnerable.  It feels uncomfortable.  We fear looking bad or not knowing the answers.  We see it in ourselves as being weak and think others will think we are weak if we show up being vulnerable.   The funny thing is that when others are vulnerable, we see it as strength!  When someone shares something personal that is painful, we feel honored.  We feel trusted. (Assuming the share is appropriate).

Brene Brown - one of my favorite people, talks about a moment where she headed to the mall with her daughter and she was only going for a quick errand so she ran out of the house in sweats without makeup or a shower.  :)  Of course, She ran into two other moms in the store.  Brene describes them as skinny, beautiful and totally put together.  Brene was feeling not her best when she notices the moms (and their daughters) staring.  She realizes that her own daughter is dancing to the...

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