Part I: Don't Chase the Needles!

    Most single engine, two or four seat aircraft have a number of gauges that need to be monitored on a regular basis while in flight. There’s the altimeter, airspeed, compass, oil temperature, cylinder head temperature, Vertical Speed Indicator (rate of climb/descent), attitude indicator, RPM, Manifold Pressure, and, oh yes, fuel.
    Most seasoned pilots have a routine they follow for scanning the instruments on a regular basis. Not paying attention to fuel, temperature, oil pressure, DIRECTION, could be disastrous! Unfortunately too many news stories point this out.
    However, new pilots – especially student pilots – tend to “Chase the Needles.” This is a practice in which the pilot is focused on each gauge attempting to change the attitude, speed, and direction of the airplane to make each needle stay exactly where it should be. Unfortunately, it becomes a frantic endeavor and, worse yet, VERY distracting while flying.
    With infinite patience, a good flight instructor will teach the student to pick a point on the horizon and line that point up with a reference point on the airplane – a rivet on the cowl, a scratch on the windscreen, etc. Then the trick is to keep that relationship of horizon and reference point the same. If the horizon starts going up, you’re going down and vice versa. If that point on the horizon is drifting left or right, you make the necessary corrections.
Once that important relationship with horizon is established, the pilot can now scan the other important instruments on a regular basis. The pilot also recognizes that in keeping that relationship with the horizon, many of the instruments take care of themselves so to speak.
    There’s an important life lesson to be learned here. Most of us have a lot of “needles” to watch in our daily lives - bills, job performance, relationships, health, kids, our spiritual life - and the list goes on and on. Too frequently, the tendency is to “Chase the Needles” or frantically focus attention on one, then another, and then another. Balance one and the other goes out of balance. Work harder to pay the bills and your relationships or health may suffer. Spend time with the kids, the boss asks where you were. And through it all, that sense of purpose or meaning or “course direction” in life is often lost. Chasing the needles in flight and in life doesn’t work!
    Instead, it is better to focus on the farther horizon – the bigger picture or purpose we have for ourselves. It is much better to monitor how, day to day, we are lining up with our principles, values, and the qualities of character that are important to us. If we’re focused on the overall direction of our lives and have a “reference point” – a mission or purpose or big picture – as a way of letting us know whether we’re “on course,” we are more likely to find that the separate “needles” in our lives are taking care of themselves rather well overall.
    But imagine if I don’t have a “direction of flight.” It becomes very difficult to pick a point on the horizon. Which point? Why that point? Where am I going? What’s my course? There has to be a reference point on which to focus. Otherwise, life becomes just needle chasing and that gets real old, real quick. It’s also very energy consuming and ineffective overall.
    Chasing the needles in flight or in life gets even more tricky and ineffective during turbulence. In fact, it’s a losing battle. The horizon reference is the safest approach. During turbulence, the needles are all over the place. However, “small corrections quickly applied” (the subject of another chapter), patience, and some minor adjustments see you through. Think of all the times in life that you experience turbulence. Your relationship is strained, a loved one becomes ill, a job is lost or becomes unbearable, and on and on. These are the times when our “needles” are jumping all over the place. It is easy in these times to become overwhelmed, feel out of control, and get completely off course. Again, however, similar principles apply. Staying focused on the distant point - the goals, values, and principles that are important - is essential.
    While turbulence in flight or in life can have us struggling to stay on course, if the course is clear and the reference point remains in sight, we don’t ultimately lose our way and wander around aimlessly looking for some familiar landmark. In order to stay on course, however, there are several of life’s “instruments” or “needles” that need to be scanned or monitored just as in an airplane. The first seemingly obvious, but often difficult, step is to know where we are going. A compass is useless unless we know the direction of our ultimate destination.
    Steven Covey, in his famous best seller “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” speaks of the importance of having a personal mission statement – what we might call a “Flight Plan.” He calls it “beginning with the end in mind.” Having that core vision or focus keeps our eyes on “the big picture” or “horizon point” making it much easier to handle the turbulence of life. Having that focus, that direction, makes the “day to day” more manageable. How? When “turbulence” occurs, when the challenges of life bounce us around, we take the long view. We keep our eyes focused on the horizon and don’t get caught up chasing the needles. Instead, we ask ourselves “How can I, in this particular situation, apply and live my mission statement.” This question refocuses us. It anchors us. And it makes decision making clearer – not easier necessarily, but clearer. A pilot makes adjustments (inputs to the controls) to trim, power, altitude, direction of flight etc., in order to stay on course. Life is no different. We need to act in each situation in a way that will keep us on course. What do I need to do in this particular situation to stay on course?
    Now let’s increase the level of difficulty a bit. Imagine constantly changing the reference point on the horizon. Every few minutes, the pilot decides “this direction is where I want to go, no this, no this, no this. He/she then must constantly retrim and reset the airplane’s instruments and controls. It’s a constant flurry of activity with no clear result for all that effort other than fatigue and confusion.
     We humans often tend to do the same thing with our lives. This is most important to me, no this, no this. I changed my mind, I want to be like this, no this. This constant changing of criteria makes it very difficult to make decisions and it is just plain exhausting. But once we decide what is most important to us – the values, principles, qualities of character that speak to our sense of self or purpose – we can then use our energies far more efficiently and effectively toward the ultimate purpose of our lives. Should I buy this house, take this job, commit to this person? Which is the best decision? Well, the critical second question is: Will it move me toward or away from my final destination – my mission? Will this decision keep me on course or make it more difficult to reach my ultimate goals.”
    Don’t chase the needles! Decide what your destination, the purpose of your life, will be. Then, adjust your life’s activities and energies in reaching that destination, waypoint by waypoint, or goal by goal. If you are engaged in activities or exerting energy in ways that are keeping you from living out your mission, make the necessary adjustments. If you decide that there are investments in time and energy that are more appropriate to achieving your mission, make the proper changes to your life. See if you don’t find that your life is lived more by determination and choice and less by default. If you are not sure where you want to be, don’t despair. You’re in good company. It is not unusual that the demands of daily life have people living day-to-day regarding their focus. What do I have to get done today? What’s important to me today? What fires need to be put out? What do I have to “get through” now?
    If we live day to day like that, life often becomes a case of biting the bullet, enduring, waiting it out. Or, worse yet, we spend out lives on the defensive, just waiting for the next thing to happen.
    The good news? It doesn’t have to be that way! Certainly there are events in life that are beyond our control. Certainly not every plan, hope, and dream is realized. But, while it is true that there are many things in life beyond our control, it is also true that we do have ultimate control of how we choose to respond to these situations and the resulting quality with which we live our lives.
    Don’t chase the needles! Find that reference point on the horizon and keep your focus there. When there are variations and adjustments needed to stay on course, the next principle is “small corrections quickly applied.” That’s the next topic…….