Setting the Standard!

[mrivc211]

I meant to write about this topic last week, but with working 90+

hours per week, I found it a little difficult. Anyways.......

Last weekend I bumped into an old high school face. I say face because I used to see her around school and exchange hello's with. Not really friends, just a face I knew.

Friday night I got to bed at about 7:30pm for my 3am wake up call

. I usually leave home by 3:45am and drive an hour and thirty minutes to work. I make a stop at the gas station across the street from my house every morning to get gas, coffee, and maybe cookies/donuts. So this particular saturday morning, I walked into the gas station at 3:47am and saw that familiar face from high school. She glanced over at me while she poured her coffee into her cup. She quickly looked back at the coffee she was pouring because she wasn't expecting anyone she knew. When it took her .5 seconds to realize it was me, she quickly turned her face back around and said hello stranger.

She quickly asked me what I was doing up at 4am? I replied, "going to work". "Work?" she replied. "Yah, long story". "How about you?" I asked. "Oh, coming back from a club". and thats pretty much all I remembered from that conversation. After talking briefly about the past 5 1/2 years of our lives in a matter of 5 to 6 minutes we parted ways again.

For the next hour and a half, I drove and drove and drove, thinking about those few words. "What are you doing up at 4am?" I began to doubt whether this was all worth it. After all, I just turned 24, I don't get these years back. Most people my age are out going to clubs and partying. Most of my old friends anyways. While I'm working my ass off, getting up at 3am and working 90 hours a week. Just when I started to go even further in thought, I stopped and said, I bet you she is thinking the opposite of what I"m am right now.

Her thoughts are maybe more in the lines of, "geez, I'm just coming back from going out, and he's getting ready to go to work". I had an interesting conversation with my girlfriend the other day. It is the people that you surround yourself with, that influence how you make your decisions. They set a false standard that is sub-par. When I saw her that night in the gas station, I was thinking about why I wasn't out enjoying my time, and the answer is because I want to enjoy my time when I'm 30 and 40 and 50. Work hard now, reap the benefits later.

I didn't let her set the standard that night. The standard wasn't going to be going out all night and wasting away my time. The standard was going to be work hard and work towards your future. Your going to be old sooner than later.

It's kind of like when you had a friend in high school that was happy with a B-, and that made you think getting a B must have been good. When in reality you should not have accepted anything less than an A. Don't let them set the standard. Let them look at you and see the standard. YOU ARE THE STANDARD.

So my fellow aviators, Heellllllll No! I ain't goin out like dat!

Just some food for thought. Fly safe everyone!

 

[vipermcg]

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was thinking about why I wasn't out enjoying my time, and the answer is because I want to enjoy my time when I'm 30 and 40 and 50. Work hard now, reap the benefits later.

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That's a good philospohy untill you are like a kid I knew that died in a car crash on the way to school. He was only 18! The point is that we have to learn to enjoy our lives more now, becuase It could be taken from us at any second. Just something to think about.

 

[Sprint100]

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That's a good philospohy untill you are like a kid I knew that died in a car crash on the way to school. He was only 18! The point is that we have to learn to enjoy our lives more now, becuase It could be taken from us at any second. Just something to think about.

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Yep. Whatever occupation you are preparing for does not guarantee anything. My philosophy is to stay focused and when you work, then work hard. But always save time to enjoy yourself. Because in reality if you die young or you don't get that life you want at 40 or 50, you'll be wishing you enjoyed yourself.

 

[flyguy]

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Because in reality if you die young or you don't get that life you want at 40 or 50, you'll be wishing you enjoyed yourself.

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Umm...I'm thinking if you die young you won't care about how you lived your life, you'd be dead. As far as not getting the life I wanted, I'd much rather look back and know that I gave it my best try than look back and wonder what my life would have been like had I tried harder. It's all how you look at it you guess.

 

[mastermags]

I think it is a combination of what everyone is saying... although you wont care how you lived when you are dead, you will care when you are alive. I think you should work hard with your eyes towards the future... so you existance isnt meaningless, and you dont look back on your life wishing you had tried harder. But you also need to enjoy yourself. You are only young once, and why would you work yourself to death if you didnt enjoy it. If you are hating your life because of a potential flying career, then maybe you shouldnt be doing flying. After all, what makes you think its going to be any less of a job when you get higher in the ranks.

 

[mrivc211]

The odds that you will die young are pretty slim. So you could say that I'm gonna put my money on working hard now rather than later.

Telling people that they could die tommorrow is OK, but is it realistic. Not in my eyes. Thats like looking at the glass and saying its half empty.

 

[MQAAord]

September 11th taught me anything can happen, at any time.

Never take anything for granted, work hard & live large everyday.

 

[IrishSheepdog]

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September 11th taught me anything can happen, at any time.

Never take anything for granted, work hard & live large everyday.

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Absolutely.

 

[mtsu_av8er]

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September 11th taught me anything can happen, at any time.

Never take anything for granted, work hard & live large everyday.

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Next round is on me!!!

 

[Sprint100]

LOL Wassup everybody is on a dying young trip. The point is that, you could spend every waking moment busting your butt for something that is uncertain. Don't forget about some playtime.
That stuff about looking back and being happy that you tried(paraphrased) is a loser's cop-out if you ask me(emphasis on that it's just my opinion). I would be one angry s.o.b. if I busted my butt for something and didn't get it. Shoot, when I played college football and ran track I trained to win, period. There was no, "at least I tryed" or "at least I worked hard". One thought that always stayed with me is that you could not train/try at all to lose, etc. So I can't stand hearing that at least I tried stuff.
All in all have fun along the way, because you never know if it'll all pay off.

I didn't aim to offend anyone, just wanted to share my p.o.v. Once again, emphasis on it being just my opinion.

 

[Sprint100]

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September 11th taught me anything can happen, at any time.
Never take anything for granted, work hard & live large everyday.

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That's one I have to remember!!!!!!!

 

[EatSleepFly]

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The odds that you will die young are pretty slim. So you could say that I'm gonna put my money on working hard now rather than later.

Telling people that they could die tommorrow is OK, but is it realistic. Not in my eyes. Thats like looking at the glass and saying its half empty.

[/ QUOTE ]

They are? Natural causes aside, I would say they are higher. Then again, I jump out of airplanes for fun...

I'm a glass half empty kinda guy. I've tried not to be, but thats who I am. You know what though? It works out, because I figure that I might very well die tomorrow, so I make the best of today. Who ever said "glass-half-empty" was so bad?

In any case, I prefer to live for the minute. I work hard, and play harder. And if I don't wake up tomorrow morning, thats that with that- I'm happy with what I've done with my life.

 

[ready2fly]

Okay... I'm going to back Mrivc up on this one because I was one of those folks who wasted - yes WASTED - by 20's and early 30's going to clubs and "livin' it up" and not giving two squats about my career, my future, etc. I was "Living for the day."

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It is the people that you surround yourself with, that influence how you make your decisions.

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Well said! Back then, I surrounded myself with folks who were like minded - live for now - party it up - not a ONE of them had any real plans for the future.

I said - like they did - "I'm only 20-something....I have plenty of time.." and that turned into "I'm only in my early 30's... I have plenty of time....".....

Flash forward to now - I'm 38 (39 in April), will be STARTING instructing later this year (God willing) and by the time I reach the majors or a good coporate gig - I'll be 45. That will give me 15 years to enjoy what I do (maybe 20 if I get on with a good corporate job), then I'll be out most likely.

If September 11, 2001 taught ME anything it was to grow the • up and start living for TOMORROW because living for today sure as hell wasn't getting me anywhere.

The thing that Mrivc is saying is that you can be like me, or the girl he ran into that morning and party balls - live for today and let those around you set the standard, or you can be your own man/woman and sail your own course.

If I had been focussed on my career - any career, be it in the legal profession as I am now, or in aviation.... it boggles my mind to think of where I could be now.

Now, don't misread this as me thinking I'm a failure - I don't and I'm not. I make decent money, I have a beautiful, loving wife, a great home, two cars that are paid for and in great condition and I'm pursuing and succeeding in the pursuit of my childhood dream of flying for a living. That's now, but, I had that "live for today" mindset and it got me exactly NOWHERE.

The key - as I've found - is moderation.

I applaud Mrivc for taking the bull by the horns and busting his ass to get where he wants to go. Keep it up, bro!

IF he were to die today or tomorrow - NOBODY could say "what a loser". However - if he were like that young lady and got killed coming home from a club at 4:30 a.m., ... well.. you see where I'm going with this.

It's all about priorities.

Best of lukc Mrivc!!! Chances are some of us on this board might be applying for a position one day and HE'LL be doing our interview!

Just my $0.02.

R2F

 

[PaulRix]

The odds of dying young may be slim (and we are all invincible right ?), however I think a balance of work and play needs to be struck,. We are not invincible. I found that out last summer when I lost my younger brother to a flying accident at a UK airshow (Duxford Flying Legends). I did a lot of hard thinking about what matters in life after the accident.

 

[shooter13]

I say set your own priorities and live life according to them. If you want to be rich in your 40's then live life working your butt off and make it happen. If you want to not remember your 20's then do so. Just be ready for the consequences of your own actions.

 

[ready2fly]

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If you want to be rich in your 40's then live life working your butt off and make it happen. If you want to not remember your 20's then do so. Just be ready for the consequences of your own actions.

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Well said.

 

[tonyw]

I think the thing to do is to have a good time no matter what you're doing but to realize that there are consequences to all of your actions.

If you want to party it up, fine, have a great time with that. But realize that will affect your career path, and not in a positive way. Want to spend all of your time working? Okay, that's fine, too, but realize that it will kill your social life.

To me, life is all about balance. Make sure you work hard, but that you play hard as well. And try to have fun with the working hard part.

The best way to do that is to make sure you're working hard to accomplish something that you enjoy.

 

[EatSleepFly]

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Okay... I'm going to back Mrivc up on this one because I was one of those folks who wasted - yes WASTED - by 20's and early 30's going to clubs and "livin' it up" and not giving two squats about my career, my future, etc. I was "Living for the day."


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Don't get me wrong, my career comes first and I take my job very seriously. I just make time for fun too, and be responsible about it, of course. I just don't buy into the work hard now, then (maybe) play later mindset. The only thing thats gauranteed in life is that you'll die. I'd be one disappointed dude if I busted my behind 90 hrs. a week at a job that I didn't want for ten years and then croaked.

But, to each his own. I've been pretty successful at balancing work and play so far and I'm pretty sure I can continue to keep it that way.

 

[derg]

Believe me, been there, done that!

When I was in college, a lot of my friends were partying down after high school. Working during the day and partying up all night.

After college, the pals I knew in high school were now married, 25 lbs overweight and working at Wal Mart and I adopted a different set of peers while I was a CFI.

Requisite with living in the bay area, a lot of my friends were the (circa 95) 'dot com paper millionaires'. Buying houses, airplanes, starting businesses, spending more on a single round of top-shelf martinis than I made in an entire week. One pal gave me a ride in his brand new M5 to Radio Shack so I can go use a credit card to purchase replacement speakers and a soldering gun to fix my broken Softcomm headsets. These were guys that I envied because they grew their hair long, didn't shave every day, got to build and create, and made an obscene amount of money and didn't have to put up with the ever dreaded First Class physical.

But once I finally got to a regional, I started to actually 'feel' some momentum in my career. The flying became more regular, I was surrounded by other young, like-minded people.

I think until you find that niche of other people that are young, motivated and have coupled the 'lofty dreams' with a strong work ethic, you're going to feel like a weirdo. Believe me, I did!

 

[Sprint100]

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I think until you find that niche of other people that are young, motivated and have coupled the 'lofty dreams' with a strong work ethic, you're going to feel like a weirdo. Believe me, I did!

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Another good point. While I ran track, I would go to alot of parties with girlfriends, etc. and they all couldn't understand why I didn't drink and smoke at the party. Better yet, why I didn't do certain activities that would mess up my "image" and the "image" of my sponsor. But once I got around other athletes, it was like home sweet home. I went thorugh that wierdo syndrome too