The pilot has turned on the fasten seat belt light!

Time to hang on! I'm writing this blog as I am experiencing the bumpiest ride ever in my life.. I’ve never seen flight attendants serve us food and drinks so fast before. They were determined to provide us good service even if it meant breaking from their normal routine. They did it just as we thought the turbulence had calmed down. Then, we hit a pocket of bumpiness again. It got so turbulent that the pilot discontinued in-flight service. I guess no more white wine for me. I realize that this entire experience right now is a metaphor for life. I’ll bullet point my thoughts to explain. 1) The journey from where you are in life right now to the destination of your dreams will always be bumpy, guaranteed. So you might as well hang on for the ride and enjoy it. Whether it’s starting your own business, pursuing your career of choice, getting in shape, improving your relationships, whatever…expect that you will hit some tough times along the way. 2) When the journey does get rough a bit, do what the flight attendants did. Get to work, unless you have to stop for safety reasons. Otherwise, take action even if you don’t know what lies ahead. Even if your work may not be pretty. Even if you have to make changes later. Just get going. You can get more done in a shorter period of time when you’re motivated…then you can in months if you keep procrastinating and making excuses. 3) Expect that you’ll have to postpone some of your usual joy and fun to get things done. This means going out with friends, taking a vacation, buying a certain something. In my case, I had to forego a glass of wine in order to get through the bumpy times first. Put in the long hours and work. But reward yourself for every accomplishment along the way. 4) The flight attendants couldn’t have accomplished serving us had they not worked together as a team. The attendant behind the cart of food and drinks would go down the aisle serving passengers right next to them. The attendant in front jumped ahead asking as many people if they preferred the chicken or beef. Then he’d go back to the cart and grab the trays and serve that many more passengers quicker. He stayed two steps ahead anticipating it was going to get bumpy again. Same with life. When you can, get as much work done so that you can coast later. Be productive now so you can play later. 5) The pilots, as skilled as they are, still have to seek guidance and support from various sources. From weather computer models, to air traffic controllers, to the flight attendants. To start, they set their flight plan. Then, they take off and follow every step methodically. Sure, they will deviate from time to time to avoid problems in the air, but for the most part, they stick to their plan...until they reach their destination. The same steps apply in our lives when we're headed down the road to success. I’m sure I can find more lessons in this one scenario. But you get the picture.

Bumps on the road to success are guaranteed. But why make the same mistakes. Seek out and follow the advice of others who’ve traveled the same path and are already successful.

You'll save yourself some time and fast track your progress.