Ditching the average life: Six ways to say yes to Adventure

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“First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end.” Aristotle

Tomorrow morning I am about to climb in an airplane and complete my goal: a transcontinental flight across the US in a single engine aircraft, following Amelia’s 1937 route. Two months ago, this goal seemed impossible, more of a dream than a plan. Much has been realized about goal setting and accomplishment in this time, and while I by no means have things figured out, I certainly feel like I have discovered some universal tools to success.

1) Do not be afraid to ask for help. If you are anything like me, asking for help seems a sign of weakness. That is not the case. Differing perspectives, new ideas, experience, advice, and a fresh look can make all the difference in the world. Also, when someone wants to help you for the right reasons, let them. It feels good to give gifts. Sometimes you will be the giver, but other times you will be the recipient.

2) Say your goals out loud. When you take the bold step to tell others what you are planning to do, your goals immediately come alive. From that point, details get filled in, dots get connected and accountability comes into play. In my case, I used this blog to put some real gumption behind my goals. Whether it is family, friends, social media, or a blog, just start saying it! For me, it felt great to catch people off guard. When someone says, “how are you” or “what’s new?”, REALLY tell them! I started saying, things like, “I am training for a cross-country flight” and guess what the response was… “Oh really? I know someone who you should talk to” or “how can I help”. You will be quite surprised to find how much people want to cheer you on and hope for the best. For those who don’t cheer you on, decide that you don’t have room for them in your life. As I have said before, there is room for everyone to be great.

3) Don’t set aside certain times to be the kind of person you strive to be. Be it ALL the time. While we all have roles we play in life, there is no excuse for only allowing yourself to be great when it fits into your schedule or when it convenient to how you feel. Feeling like your own role model is a full time job, but trust me, it pays very well. Off days are for lazy people. Take time to relax, of course… but relax in the mindset of someone who is living a rockin’ life, not like someone who is taking the easy road because it feels good to check out.

4) Cheer others on and make friends with your role models. When you see someone making a difference or excelling at something unique, tell them what you think. Tell them you are proud of what they have pulled off and that you look up to their qualities. In terms of role models, it feels great to be able to shoot an email off to someone who you look up to and actually get a response. Maybe it is a friend who is a smart entrepreneur or a successful athlete. Our role models don’t have to be world-famous or historic figures. Those kinds are excellent but we are all surrounded by a community of people who are one degree of separation away from us. When you meet someone who you look up to, don’t go home and sulk about how you have nothing going on in your own life, call them up, email, or inquire as to how they got where they are! Chances are, they will be willing to tell you a lot about how they got to their position. You are completely in control of who you bring into your circle of friends so you might as well choose some amazing people who inspire you to be great.

5) Stop multi-tasking. This one is simple. Stop trying to be 2 (or 346) places at one time. When you commit to getting something done, put your heart into it, be it dishes, flying, data entry, a conversation, or sleeping. Whatever it is, do it whole heartedly and with enthusiasm. Nothing is worse than talking to someone when they are texting or have their mind on the next thing they must do. Let’s start being genuinely interested in our lives and the people and things we choose to invite into them. It feels great to care.

6) Look each day in the eye. Just as you look your loved ones in the eye and listen to what they have to say, acknowledging them as unique and important, you should do the same thing to each day you are given. When you wake up in the morning, you MUST realize that you have just as many minutes and hours in the day as someone like Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhart or anyone you hold in high regard. Not having enough time to reach your goals is a choice, a decision that you make in terms of which items you deem important. What I like to do is get all the tough stuff out of the way early in the day. Work out, pay the bills, make the tough phone calls, get them done so that the rest of the day can be spent in goal oriented focus!

Maybe I am right, maybe I am wrong. These things have worked for me and I have a huge smile on my face a majority of the time.

What works for you?

A difficult promise and a lot of hard work… are you game?

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“You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however” Richard Bach

Never before, in my nearly twenty-nine years have I experienced such a straight line of learning in direct coordination with practical application of a skill. Just three months ago I was sitting in my downtown apartment, feeling like my aviation goals were out of reach. I knew I wanted to do something big but I didn’t know what it would be. The flight around the world will come in time, but there had to be ways that I could become a smarter, more flexible pilot in the meantime. When the decision was made to commit to completing my instrument training a huge internal sigh of relief was taken. It felt good to simply make a decision, rather than sit on the fence and wonder which way I would fall. It was a confusing time for me, knowing that I wanted to fly, get more involved in general aviation and be in the sky as much as possible. It seems that sometimes choosing the goal and making a concrete decision is more difficult than the execution of the goal. Once I was finally getting myself back at to the airport, I started to feel that energetic charge that comes with being around the plane, the people, the community that exists at small airports. From the hangar flying that goes on before and after actual airtime, to the studying for my check ride, to getting to know the aircraft inside and out, it started to eventually feel right. It started to feel like home.
 Committing to a month solid of instrument training was intense. Each day I arrived at 9News for the 4:30am show, reported for four and a half hours, changed into jeans and my pink Puma’s and bolted to Centennial Airport. Rather than think of flight training of something that I HAD to do in order to the fly the plane, I decided to shift my perspective. I decided that flight training was as important as the outcome and it was something that I GOT to do, and began to thoroughly enjoy. About half way through my instrument instruction, I began to get an itch for a really long flight. I had already began blogging about my experience, but there was something bigger going on.
Truthfully, there was no big event, no spark of inspiration that led to wanting to retrace Amelia’s flight. It is almost like I knew I would do it all along, which made it easy to accept the idea when it came to mind. I made a video blog the day I decided to do it, put the idea out there and the rest has flowed very easily. Weather has cooperated, we have received a lot of help along the way, and overall the timing has been great. However, there was nothing easy about this trip. The planning, the coordination, the connections in each city, the media side of it, it has consumed my life. Here is the kicker- I absolutely love it. When a goal that is so close to your heart is acknowledged in your mind, you will find the energy to accomplish your ideas. The work will be tough, the hours will be late, but the feeling will be all the payment you need in return for your exhaustion. Each night over the last several months I have fallen asleep with a huge smile on my face, knowing that I looked each day in the eye and got everything accomplished that I possibly could have.
 When we departed Burbank this morning at 6am, winds were calm and Los Angeles was just waking up. For once, that town felt calm. The calm within me came from the fact that I was literally holding the tools in my hand to rise above the city and head East. We had filed the night before, did a dark and cold pre flight on the plane, and jumped into the cold seats of the Cirrus. Two doors closed and all I had to do was fly the plane. We got our clearance, departed on runway 5, and flew over the San Fernando Valley.
 As we continued to fly towards the high desert of Southern California, the sun rose over the mountains. From that first sliver of bright orange light came full sunlight, spreading over the silver wings, fuselage and tail. We were bathed in the pink, blue and golden colors of the sunrise and everything was calm, clean and fresh.
Right now, the autopilot is in command, John is to my right and we are cruising at 174 kts at 11,000 feet. I would say I feel lucky, but that would be a lie. I feel in control, smart and focused on completing this goal, enjoying each and every take-off, landing, heading change, and altimeter setting. The end of this trip will mean a new goal and all the difficulties that come along with the planning and the preparations. I feel like I have all the tools and the power to make any dream come true and I know that you do too.
It is going to take time and be hard as hell, but the satisfaction that comes from whatever your version of flying is, will be worth all the hard work in the world. I promise.