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Rebel Talk: Back in the Saddle
As many of you know, one of the mottos I live by is:
Someday Never Comes.
A couple of years ago, I finally took my own advice.
For years, getting my pilot's license was one of those things I wanted to do. Something I talked about. Something I thought would be incredible.
But eventually, you either keep talking about someday—or you do something about it.
So I did.
I got my pilot's license.
That first year, I flew over 100 hours. I was constantly learning, constantly flying and constantly getting more comfortable in the airplane.
Then life happened.
This past winter, I started making excuses.
The hangar is cold.
The airplane is cold.
It's freezing outside.
I'll fly next week.
I'll go when it warms up.
You know how it goes.
One excuse doesn't seem like much. Neither does the next one.
But enough of them stacked together can slowly take something that was once a priority and push it further and further down the list.
I've only flown around 25 hours so far this year.
And flying is one of those things where repetition matters.
When you're doing it all the time, things start becoming natural. You stop thinking about every little movement. You trust yourself. You trust the airplane.
When you stop doing it consistently, something interesting happens.
Your confidence can disappear a hell of a lot faster than your ability does.
For me, I started questioning my landings.
I'd landed that airplane hundreds of times. I knew how to do it.
But without the repetition, that little voice starts creeping back in.
Was that approach right?
Am I coming in too fast?
Why doesn't this feel as natural as it used to?
And that's when I realized something.
This wasn't going to fix itself.
I could keep waiting until I magically felt confident again.
Or I could do something about it.
So I started flying with an instructor again.
Not because I had to.
Because I wanted to get better.
I wanted someone sitting next to me who could point out the little things, challenge me and help me rebuild the repetition that creates confidence.
And you know what?
It's working.
I'm flying more.
My landings are getting better.
I'm getting more comfortable with my airplane.
I'm spending more time at the airport.
I bought my own hangar, and I'm turning it into a place where I actually want to spend time. This winter it'll be heated, so instead of using the cold as an excuse, I can be out there working on the airplane, cleaning it, learning it and staying connected to flying.
I'm also working toward securing a hangar near my cabin.
Because there's a bigger picture here.
My goal was never just to be able to say:
I'm a pilot.
My goal is to be a pilot.
There's a difference.
I want to fly to my cabin.
I want to explore different parts of the Midwest.
I want to keep learning.
I want to keep becoming more proficient.
I want flying an airplane to eventually feel as natural as getting into my truck and driving somewhere.
And I'm not just thinking about today.
I'm thinking years down the road.
Right now, life is busy.
Really busy.
I'm raising my boys. I'm running businesses. There are projects, responsibilities, practices, commitments and a thousand things competing for the same 24 hours every one of us gets.
But someday, my boys are going to grow up.
There won't be another basketball practice to get to.
There won't be another school event on the calendar.
There won't be kids running in and out of the house needing Dad.
That's life.
And when that chapter comes, I want to be ready for the next one.
I don't want to be standing there looking at an airplane thinking:
Man, I wish I would've kept flying.
I want to climb in, fire it up and go.
Which means the pilot I want to be five or ten years from now has to be built today.
And that's when I realized this really isn't a story about flying.
It's about all of us.
Because I guarantee there's something in your life you've let slide.
Maybe you stopped working out.
Maybe you were going to start a business.
Maybe you haven't picked up the guitar in a year.
Maybe you stopped writing.
Maybe you stopped chasing a goal you once couldn't stop thinking about.
Maybe life just got busy.
It happens.
There are going to be seasons where you're crushing it.
And there are going to be seasons where you're simply trying to keep everything together.
Slowing down doesn't mean you failed.
But there's a danger in slowing down.
Because eventually you can start convincing yourself that you've been away too long.
That you're too far behind.
That you've lost it.
That maybe that chapter of your life is over.
Bullshit.
You're not starting from zero.
You're starting with experience.
You're starting with lessons.
You're starting with scars.
You're starting with knowledge you didn't have the first time.
And most importantly, you're starting with proof that you've done it before.
So go back.
Ask for help.
Knock the rust off.
Do the ugly first workout.
Make the phone call.
Walk back through the door.
Take the first flight.
Whatever it is you've allowed to slip, stop beating yourself up over how long it's been.
Get back in the saddle.
Because progress isn't always about finding the next mountain to climb.
Sometimes it's about remembering why you started climbing the one you're already on.
You don't have to be where you were yesterday.
You don't have to be where you want to be tomorrow.
You just have to decide that you're not done.
I'm not the pilot I want to be yet.
I've got a lot to learn.
A lot of hours to fly.
A lot of landings to make.
But I'm back.
And I'm moving forward again.
Whatever you've let slide, maybe today is the day you stop telling yourself you'll get back to it someday.
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