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4 Things Being A “Pilotina” Has Taught Me About Life

The sky seems limitless while you’re standing with both feet on solid ground, but the minute you start venturing into that uncharted space it becomes a space that needs strategizing to conquer. It has been 2 years since I did my first solo flight, and during that time the sky has both become more magical and less of a mystery. I’ve learned just how much prep goes into a successful journey and how being able to enjoy the process comes down to having all the right tools for the voyage.

Flight prep is based on lists. Each list is geared towards ensuring that everything from your safety to your level of enjoyment are not tarnished. The venn diagram where the controlled factors and the uncontrolled factors meet is where some of my most relevant lessons have been learned. Once back on the ground after a successful flight, I’ve still made it a point to walk with those lessons on my heart and on my mind as I interact with my employees, clients, or even my family.

These are four key lessons that being a pilot has taught me and how I apply them to my life and career.

Prioritize Planning

Planning can seem tedious, especially when you’ve flown many times. The same can be said about the notion of having to prep for a job that you have done repeatedly. The process can seem insulting, that is until you realize how chaotic the process becomes without the lists. As a pilot, I’m required to check my way through lists pre-flight. I have to ensure that everything from the wind speeds to the fuel tank meet the needed requirements before I ever sit in the cockpit.

The motions of going through my pre-flight checklist have helped me land on two important questions that I’ve now weaved into my day to day life:

  • Where are the winds coming from?
  • How far do I need to go?

Being aware of what you’re up against, whether at work or in your family life, helps ensure that your reaction is inline with the push of factors. Ultimately, knowing where the winds are coming from means that you can act accordingly and push through for a successful outcome.

There’s nothing worse than running out of gas, or momentum, halfway through your journey. Running out of fuel half way through a flight is not an acceptable scenario — it risks life all because stubbornness led to resistance when it came to prepping accordingly. The same lesson can be applied to your own work-life balance — are you fueling your work with a half empty tank because somewhere along the way you’ve forgotten to pour into yourself?  

Be Patient

After your very first flight you learn that no matter how well you plan you are still at the mercy of the weather. By the same hand, you also learn that tapping into patience so that you can listen to your inner voice is the key to maneuvering out of the most unpredictable of situations. While I learned this in a structured environment when taking pilot lessons, it’s also a lesson that I have had to learn and use while on my feet as I built JJR Marketing with my husband.

The only constant in entrepreneurship is that it ebbs and flows with regularity. Your ability to sit in the quiet and be patient as you think through multiple viable best case scenarios is ultimately what will you close the best deals of your career.

Be Objective

Regardless of your career path the ability to have perspective and a grounded level of awareness is key if your goal is longevity. Any time that I need some time to breathe, I choose to take a flying break. During these breaks I’m able to tap back into my own inner voice as I see the world grow smaller and smaller from the air. Suddenly the big work problem I had been stressing about or the family hiccup that I couldn’t move past, became both clear and manageable to me.

Taking a step back from our own environments can help add perspective to the way we’re seeing our problems and allow us to come back with game-winning solutions. 

Trust Your Gut

Whether it’s the noise of the wind or the noise of the voices in your boardroom, flying has taught me that the most important anchor is your own inner voice. You want to be able to trust your gut during turbulent times because sometimes it’s the only compass at hand. I’ve had moments where landing wasn’t a possibility and having to navigate around winds and turbulence was my only option. Learning how to pilot myself through those moments has made all of the difference when I’m asked to make quick, on-my-feet decisions at work.

My advice to you is that regardless of your area of expertise or passion, that you take time to invest in skill sets that will be transferable across all of your life’s pursuits. The short term investment may seem labor, or time, intensive, but in the long run it may be the factor you refer back to as the reason you succeed. Lists can get you far, actually embracing the process behind them will get you where you want to go.

 

Jacqueline Camacho-Ruiz is the CEO of JJR Marketing (www.jjrmarketing.com) and Fig Factor Media LLC (www.todayslatina.com), founder of The Fig Factor Foundation (www.thefigfactor.org), author of eight books (www.jackiecamacho.com), international speaker, and pilot. Jacqueline speaks to hundreds of audiences about marketing, servant leadership, finding your passion, and achieving success in business. She has addressed the United States Army, BP International, Edward Jones, United Airlines, Allstate, and Farmers Insurance among other corporations to share her inspiration.
If you or an organization you know needs as speaker, please get in touch with us at http://www.jackiecamacho.com/contact.