Effort will be required

I’m not much of a sports fan. When I was younger I enjoyed playing a wide variety of sports.

Playing is one thing. Being an observer is another thing entirely. The idea of watching others in pursuit of a goal doesn’t interest me much.

Still, I don’t live under a rock. I am aware the Olympics have been taking place recently in Paris. And while I cannot tick off a comprehensive list of events included in this go-around, nor can I name a single athlete involved, I can share an observation that reflects a reality all too commonly missed by those viewing the spectacle of sports.

It is this: Every single person involved has made it a life goal and a priority to get to the position they are in right now. That’s true of the athletes, of course. But it’s also true of the judges, the broadcasters, the people who manage the facilities, and those who arrange the financing. Thousands upon thousands of people who aren’t famous in any way have made it a point to become the thing they are today, so they can do the work they find fulfilling.

Nothing of worth comes easily. It comes encumbered by challenges and risks. While we get to choose what field of endeavor we’ll focus on, effort will be a requirement if we hope to achieve a significant level of success. There is no getting around that fact.

This is the great stumbling block of the human race. When effort is required, many of us attempt to sidestep that necessity in favor of a long, fruitless search for a shortcut that doesn’t exist.

I was a musician far more than I was ever a sportsman. It’s that crowd I identify with most readily.

When The Beatles played the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, they set the hearts and minds of American youth on fire. Thousands of young men instantaneously decided to emulate their new heroes and become musicians. Maybe more. Perhaps millions.

Yet only a relatively small percentage of those dreamers actually found their way to picking up a guitar or sitting down at a drum set. Of those, only a subset learned to play. A smaller number sought out others to form a band. Only a relative few of those bands ever played in public. Even fewer got good enough to charge admission. And a mere handful taught themselves to write, arrange, and record their own music.

Of the hundreds of thousands, only dozens remain by the time they reached the level where they could refer to themselves as professional musicians — which was the goal they all sought not so many years before. The goal so many dreamed would make their lives perfect. The same dream they discarded because reaching it was hard. Hard in so many ways.

Over the course of my career as a flight instructor and aviation advocate, I can’t even count the number of people who have expressed a desire to become a pilot. Flying is cool. Undeniably so. It’s a sexy job. Being a pilot carries an element of panache that many seek, but only a few attain.

The majority of those who express interest ultimately describe a barrier to success they consider impossible to overcome. Learning to fly is too expensive. The training takes too long. I might have to relocate. My parent/spouse/significant other/best friend is worried I might get hurt or fail and waste all that money on a dream that never comes true.

All those risks are real. Learning to fly can be expensive. Then again, short-circuiting your long-term dreams over the potential discomfort caused by short-term sacrifice is a hard story to sell. Unless you’re deeply in denial about what you want out of life. Then it’s a cake walk. Just lie to yourself and everything gets easier.

While at the grocery store the other day, I ran into a young man who I took flying just once. He said he wanted to be a pilot. I encouraged him. Whenever I see him, I remind him that I’m willing to help if he needs it. Occasionally he would ask about my opinion on this flight school or that one. He’d inquire about training costs and such. He never wavered in his interest, but he didn’t actually fly either.

When we spoke the other day, all that had changed. He’s well into his flight training and he’s loving it. He related with great excitement that his last three landings were done without any input from his CFI. I suspect he’ll have soloed by the time you read this.

He’s doing it and he’s ecstatic.

Later this month I’ll be taking another young man who I met under similar circumstances to visit a pilot academy he’s considering. He’s got a great job, a career in fact. But he’s ready for a change. After a few years of playing around with aviation, earning his private ticket, and even buying an airplane of his own he’s decided to get serious and prepare for a career change that will put him in the cockpit professionally.

I’ve not yet met the individual who says, “My life was going great until I learned to fly. Then it all went to crap.” Rather, the vast majority of pilots who come to aviation later in life tend to say something to the effect of “I should have done this years ago.”

There are successes. The two young men I mentioned join with dozens of others I’ve worked with over the years who took the plunge, accepted the challenge, and succeeded. But far more potential mentees give up before they even start. That saddens me.

Our futures are not pre-ordained. We can become what we want to become. We can do what we want to do. But it will take effort. There will be an element of risk.

If the goal we seek will be truly rewarding in any way, it will be challenging to attain.

However, it may well be worth the effort, the risk, the cost, and the inconvenience to achieve a dream that allows us to live the life we hoped would be ours one day. Because we can live that life if we simply accept that effort will be required.