Picture this:A 25 year old guy is high above the English countryside,flying an ancient type of airplane that has an open cockpit.
His goggles keep blurring as the freezing wind mixes with a mist from the exhaust smoke.His nostrils are filled with a terrible odour of engine fumes.He is shivering, possibly from the cold but more likely from the thought of what he is about to do.He plans to intentionally enter a manoeuvre that will most likely kill him.This brave guy is going to deliberately enter a spin and try to recover from the spin.He spins the aircraft and fails to recover, crashing in the forest but he does not die.He is bruised and cut and his aircraft is damaged but otherwise serviceable.
But while he is being patched up in the hospital he is determined to try another spin.The following day he is back in the sky again and tries again.
He spins all the way to the ground again but with each failure he is more determined for success.Eventually after more than 13 failed attempts he masters the spin and recovery and suddenly the whole world wants to know how he did it.Aviation professionals worldwide are so impressed by this guy that they name the spin “Hawker spin” after him.The name of this daring guy is Harry Hawker.He becomes so famous that doors begin to open up for him and he forms a company which later builds the Hurricane,The Hunter and The Hart- the most beautiful historical aircraft of all time (true story).
If Harry Hawker was alive today and we would ask him about his journey to success, we will see that the path was never a straight line.With many failed attempts and several crashed airplanes of course, still Harry would not quit.Each time he would get back up again to the skies with a new determination.One rule that has been time tested in life is, “sometimes you win and sometimes you lose”. However smart you are there are times when you will fail. But I want you to notice that failure is not the problem in most cases. What you do about the failure is.It’s not the falling down but getting up quickly every time you fall down that’s important.How quickly do you recover from a failure and start ‘flying’ again? In other words, If you want to distinguish yourself like Harry Hawker, learn to get back on your feet fast every time you fall down.I have tried that and it still works for me.Just thought I could share with you.Until next time, remember that
