Every time I work with pilots shifting into entrepreneurship, I see the same split appear almost instantly.
Those who rise quickly understand where their strengths lie, rather than focusing on their limitations. However, the ones who stall out usually do the opposite and focus on what might go wrong, which keeps them grounded.
What makes this so interesting is that both possess the same skills and opportunities, yet one of them ends up leaving the other behind. Let’s understand how you can be in a group that believes in using its strengths.
Key Takeaways
- Awareness Creates Difference: Two aviators with the same skills can achieve completely different results. The winning edge comes from awareness, whether you focus on leverage or limitations.
- Everyone Has Limitations: No one has unlimited time, money, or experience. These limits are normal. They only become a problem when they dominate your awareness.
- Aviators Have Leverage: Your aviation background gives you built-in strengths, such as decision-making, systems thinking, risk management, communication, and discipline.
- How to Shift Your Focus: List your limitations on one side of a page and your leverage on the other. Then choose which list you’ll focus on daily, and turn 1–3 leverage points into small actions that build real momentum.
Why Two Identical Aviators End Up With Opposite Results
If you think the difference here is talent, you cannot be more wrong. The real difference here is awareness.
One becomes aware of their leverage; the other, of their limitations. And that single shift creates two completely separate paths.
Remember, your mindset works like a filter. Whatever you focus on becomes the information your brain prioritizes.
As Henry Ford famously said:
“Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re right.”
Your focus becomes your reality because you act according to the story you believe.
The Truth Most People Avoid
No one escapes limitations. Not even the people you admire online who look like they have everything figured out. Everyone faces the same set of constraints, including limited time, money, and experience.
All this is part of being human.
However, limitations feel louder than leverage because your brain is wired to notice threats more than opportunities. In fact, studies show that 75% of our thoughts are usually negative, and breaking free from them can actually be a bit challenging.
The main problem occurs when those limitations become your primary awareness. The moment you fixate on what you don’t have, such as a business degree or a selling experience, you stop moving.
Leverage Most Aviators Never Realize They Already Have
Most aviators underestimate the value they bring to entrepreneurship. They see the business world as something new and unfamiliar, so they assume they’re starting from zero. But you’re not.
Everything you’ve done in a cockpit prepares you for the exact challenges entrepreneurs struggle with. That being said, here are the leverage points you never realized you already had as an aviator:
1. High-Pressure Decision-Making
Many entrepreneurs fail not because they lack ideas, but because they freeze at the moment of choice. You, on the other hand, already know how to stay calm and commit to action under pressure.
2. Systems Thinking
Every aircraft is a living system of interdependent components. You learned to understand how one failure cascades into the next. That same skill applies to business operations, customer journeys, finances, and team management.
3. Risk Management
Pilots don’t avoid risk; they assess it. You constantly weigh probabilities, consequences, and alternatives. The entrepreneurs who lack this skill either take reckless risks or avoid action altogether, though you don’t have to worry about both.
4. Precision Communication
Briefings, checklists, ATC coordination, and emergency communication have trained you to speak clearly and confidently under stress. In business, this becomes sales, client communication, leadership, and negotiation.
5 Discipline and Execution
Discipline is one of the most important traits in entrepreneurship, and it’s already deeply rooted in your daily habits. Don’t forget, at the end of the day, it’s about consistent follow-through, structured processes, and disciplined action.
How to Shift Your Awareness?
One of the best ways to shift your awareness from limitations to leverage is to perform a shift awareness exercise. When you do this correctly, you can expose the blind spots that have been holding you back.
Step 1: Draw the Line
Grab a sheet of paper and draw a line straight down the middle. This visual split matters. It separates what you think is holding you back from what is actually available to support you. One side represents limitations, the other leverage.
Step 2: List Your Limitations and Leverage
At the top of the left column, write “My Limitations,” and at the top of the right column, write “My Leverage.”
Now let everything out.
Write the skills you think you lack, the fears you feel, the money constraints, the time constraints, the gaps in experience, and anything that feels like a wall.
Write every strength, habit, skill, resource, relationship, experience, and quality you carry with you. Here, you need to think deeper, such as:
- Challenges you survived
- Responsibilities that you have handled
- Moments in your life that required strength
- What do people come to you for advice on?
- Skills you use every day without realizing
Step 3: Choose Which Side Gets Your Daily Awareness
Awareness is a choice. For instance, if you wake up remembering your limitations, your day feels heavy. On the other hand, if you wake up remembering your leverage, your day becomes actionable.
Look at your lists and ask yourself one question:
“Which side am I more aware of on a daily basis?”
Step 4: Convert Leverage Into Action
Now pick 1–3 items from your leverage list and write a simple action you can take using each one.
Example:
1. Leverage: Strong communication
Action: Reach out to 3 people to discuss your business idea.
2. Leverage: Systems thinking
Action: Create a simple workflow for your first offer.
3. Leverage: Discipline
Action: Commit to 30 minutes of business work daily.
The Choice Nobody Can Make For You
At some point, the conversation stops being about your limitations and your leverage. It becomes about choice. It’s the choice that turns awareness into action and shifts your focus toward leveraging your strengths rather than focusing on limitations.
Still, if you feel stuck or unsure where to start, you don’t need to guess. With just three minutes and a will to move ahead, take our “Life After the Sky Checklist” to uncover the strengths you’ve been overlooking.
You’ll get a personalized 25-page report that shows exactly what leverage you have, how to use it, and the clearest path from where you are to where you want to be.
Invitation to Join Our FREE Strategy Session
Most pilots are one honest conversation away from clarity. This is that conversation.
Complete our “Life After the Sky” checklist, then join me for a FREE 15-minute “Strategy Session” via Zoom.
This session is for pilots who want to take ownership of what comes next.
Those who want action, not just to talk about it.
In just 15 minutes, we’ll:
- Review your checklist results
- Identify the one obstacle holding back your reinvention
- Translate your checklist results into a clear starting point
Start your pre-flight assessment for the next chapter of your journey by Booking your free strategy session here!
