Take Off
You are never ready for anything, but you can be willing to learn.
There’s no such thing as a natural-born pilot
Chuck Yeager
In an AIESECer’s life, there is always that moment when we feel like we need to be doing something more.
It can mean anything: from doing a task that is unfamiliar to you, taking the first step to becoming a team leader; from joining a new department, to meeting new people in National Conferences. However, just when we are about to dive and take the plunge, we suddenly stop and freeze when fear starts to take over our body — fear of failure, fear of not meeting expectations, fear of messing up.
Don’t worry.
This is not uncommon, it is human nature, and is a consistent part of us. Now, there are two ways to deal with this fear. It’s either you make excuses and do nothing or you face fear head-on.
Say, you’re stepping into the shoes of a pilot. It’s been 2 months of flying school, and you are tasked to fly the plane by yourself for the first time. You’re excited, you’re nervous, but that dreadful feeling makes your hands shake in fear as you think: “Oh no, what if I crash? What if I forget what I need to do? What if I never land this plane?”; and during this crucial thinking time, you shrivel up, let fear get the best of you, and you never get to take off.
And during this crucial thinking time, you shrivel up, let fear get the best of you, and you never get to take off.
What is the consequence of this action? Well, you will never be a pilot, simple as that, a pilot’s job is to fly a plane, and if you can’t fly a plane then there is no point in continuing the pursuit of being one. Just like how it is in AIESEC, if you are too afraid to do things that are uncomfortable, then you will never maximize your potential as an AIESECer. I too was afraid to take up this new role I am currently holding, but because I knew that I was meant for greater things I decided to go for it. I am in a department that I am not familiar with, with operations that I have no idea how to execute, but I remembered this quote, “You are never ready for anything, but you can be willing to learn” this was my first step, and that was the start of my take off.
Just like how it is in AIESEC, if you are too afraid to do things that are uncomfortable, then you will never maximize your potential as an AIESECer.
Taking off is looking at the horizon never knowing what challenges you will face out there but still pushing yourself to do so. It is better to be going somewhere than to go nowhere because going somewhere is a combination of failures and successes. Failure and successes are the necessities of life because this will make a person wiser and stronger.
So let me ask you this: where would you rather be?
In your comfort zone doing the same thing over and over again?
Or taking off and experiencing your journey into development?
Don’t be afraid of the challenges. Be more afraid of staying in the same place for so long and never finding out your true potential. Staying in the same place means you don’t learn anything new, but going out there with the experience of failures and successes, teaches us lessons that we can use in our everyday life, so step out of your comfort zone, push your limits.
Fire the ignition, and take off.
Special thanks to Joanna Vinola and Sean Ethan King for helping me write this piece.
