As surprised as I was the first time someone asked me this as a flight instructor, the more frequently the question was repeated, the more intrigued I became to actually understand its depths.

As someone who always knew she wanted to become a pilot, initially these questions never crossed my mind. However, it would be a lie to say that during my journey I haven’t asked myself the same question at least a dozen times.

It goes something like this; you start something completely new to you, you proceed with the learning process, you learn and learn and learn and then as you come to apply what you have learned, you freeze.

All kinds of thoughts start to flow through your mind unapologetically.

“Do I even remember how to do this ?” “What if what I know is not enough?”

With time, I came to realize that these are the thoughts of someone who wasn’t very aware of what a learning process looks like.

Learning something new is difficult, and sometimes even scary. At first, you’re unlikely to understand what’s going on, somewhat likely to start figuring it out within a few months, but you’ll definitely be ready to tackle it if you possess two key qualities: a growth mindset and passion.

One will expand your horizon, and the latter will propel you forward. One will broaden your knowledge and the other will keep you eager for more information. One will help you find solutions to your difficulties and the other will give you the confidence to go through them.

Whether you want to learn to fly a plane or climb a mountain, when it comes to experiencing something new for the first time, it’s okay to have doubts, it’s okay to have a certain level of fear even, but what’s not okay is to let this be the obstacle between where you are now, and where you see yourself in 10 years.