How to Disrupt Yourself

THE CAPTAIN AND HIS COCKPIT OF LIFE

An American friend of mine is a war veteran and a retired air force captain.

He goes on to excitedly tell me that the first rule to flying is: knowing your flight controls and instrument panels. All these are in front of the cockpit.

Life is pretty much like that. I tend to believe that if we know all our gifts and can control ourselves to lead good lives; we would pretty much attain any height we push ourselves to.

So let us look at the various components on the cockpit and juxtapose them with life.

The Control Wheel or Yoke is used to steer the airplane in different directions.

In life, we need to have written down vision and goals for the next 20 to 50 years of our life; else we will be moving in different directions without control.

The Rudder Pedals on the floor helps the aircraft to turn left or right. The brakes are also located at the top of the rudder pedal.

In life, we must be flexible enough to turn left or right, when hit by the vicissitudes of life. We must also ensure we are not moving at extreme speeds, so that we don’t miss the runway of life’s success.

The Airspeed Indicator shows speed through the air. It achieves these through the Pitot tube which catches on-rushing air and compares it with air from the static port.

In life, the speed at which you achieve your goals is determined by the environment around you. If your environment faces a lot of constraints, you would have to soar a lot higher to overcome your adversity in life.

SO stop comparing yourself with others, rather fix your environment or variables around it, so you can soar high.

The Attitude Indicator provides an artificial horizon to show the pilot the airplane’s position in relation to the ground. This indicator is what makes the pilot to tell you that we are cruising at an altitude of 10,000 meters above sea level.

In life, you must know how high you are willing to fly; else your dreams, goals or career will never take flight. You might even end up living someone’s dream.

The Altimeter measures air pressure outside the aircraft and compares its air pressure at sea level to determine altitude.

In life, pressure brings out the best in you or the worst out of you.

So the question is how do you manage pressure or challenges? If you positively dig in and manage the pressure, then you are on your way to the top, else you are heading for a crash when you manage pressure wrongly.

The Heading Indicator displays the direction of flight.

In life, you must know where you are headed and that is why you must have a written vision or action plan.

George Barna in his book: “Turning Vision into Action” said that a man without a vision or direction is like a car (capable of travelling many miles) but lacking the fuel to take it there.

So you need to develop a vision so that you can navigate through life with your personal compass.

Finally, pilots use radios to communicate with air traffic controllers and other pilots.

Remember, pilots cannot land the airplane alone, they need to communicate with the control tower, the air traffic controller and the cabin crew to enable them land at their destination.

In life, even after you have written your goals and plans, you need mentors, advisers and an A-team to help you accomplish your goal or get to your destination.