Latest / The Shift Podcast / 115. Getting Out of Perfect Student Mindset

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115. Getting Out of Perfect Student Mindset · The Shift Podcast

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Welcome to Frontline static, we will get to hear interviews with
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some of my clients journeys of getting into flight and how they
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utilize coaching to help them create success of getting hired
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with less confusion and more ease.
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Make your dream a reality of getting into flight.
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Listen in as you hear some of the stories of the people
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getting there and come join the flight prep group.
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Hey guys, welcome to episode 115 of How to Become a Flight Nurse
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podcast. I had to even look up what
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episode number it was. I can't believe we have over 100
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episodes. So for those of you guys
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listening and following, I really appreciate you being with
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me each week and I hope that this message really hits home
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for you today. I've been thinking about this,
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about what I wanted to talk to you guys about this weekend.
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It's actually been something that I have struggled with over
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the years of just in general, over the years of being a
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student and over the years of being a nurse.
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And so today I really felt inclined to talk to you guys
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about the perfect student mindset.
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And the reason why I want to talk about this is because I
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think that this gets in my way a lot.
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And if you're anything like me, which a lot of you guys are,
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think you, you want to control things, you want things to be
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done perfectly. And this is what I call the
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perfect student mindset where you just get in your thoughts
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of, hey, I, I have to read the whole syllabus.
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I have to read all of the books, I have to take all of the notes.
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I have to know everything perfectly before I sit down for
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the test. And sometimes this is good and
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sometimes this can work against you.
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So I am really going to talk to you about this perfect student
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mindset in, in the realm of trying to get to flight.
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Because I really think this stops a lot of you guys from
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getting to this goal. And this really prevents a lot
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of you guys from being successful as a flight nurse and
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getting into flight nursing. So I'm going to put a little bit
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of a different twist on on this today and talk to you as it
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pertains to being a critical care nurse and specifically
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getting into flight. So often times when we're going
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to school, we think we need to do things perfectly.
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I don't know if any of you guys can relate to this, but I really
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truly enjoyed going to school. I have two degrees.
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I have 1° in communications with the emphasis and broadcast
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journalism. And I ended up going into that
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and banking for a little while and decided to switch careers.
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So nursing is actually my second career.
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And for a lot of you guys, that's the same.
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And so I really was excited to go back to school.
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I was excited to get a degree in nursing.
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I first got my ADN and then I went back and got my bachelor's
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after I got into flight because I felt like I had so much time
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back after working 24 hour shifts and only working 7 to 8 a
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month. So that's when I went back and
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got my BSN again. You don't need your BSN to be in
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flight. But I, I love the enjoy
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enjoyment of like learning new things and taking classes and
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getting degrees. And so I love being a student,
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but I definitely, I have gotten caught in, I have to do things
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perfectly. And sometimes I've given myself
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anxiety, overwhelm and complicated A lot of things.
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And I see a lot of you guys do this as you're trying to get to
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flight. You almost decide to not even go
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for it because you want to do it perfectly.
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And the way that I see this is that you say I have to have the
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perfect amount of time, I have to have the perfect amount of
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confidence before I get started. And my circumstances, my life
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circumstances have to align up perfectly.
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And I want to offer you guys to get to this goal, it's going to
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really require you to drop the perfection of that all because
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life isn't perfect, right? And as I've really picked up on
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the coaching tools and really implemented coaching in my life,
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I've realized actually the less that I try to control my
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situations, other people, circumstances, the more happy I
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am, the more at peace I am, and the more things will go my way.
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And my relationships have grown because of it too.
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So what I learned in critical care and flight is that you have
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to heavily go with the flow. You have to embrace the chaos,
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and you have to always rely on your gut and your feelings.
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And I'm going to talk to you a little bit about more of like
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what that looks like specifically as you're trying to
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get into flight and afterwards. And hopefully this will help you
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guys get out of the perfect student mindset as well.
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Because of this, I do see a lot of people holding back and going
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for flight because they think that things have to be aligned
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perfectly again. That their confidence has to be
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there. That they have to be 100%
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confident before even going for the goal.
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That their time, they have to have all this amount of time to
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go for it. That their circumstances have to
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align it perfectly. And it is just like having a
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baby or just like getting married.
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There are no perfect circumstances, time, or levels
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of confidence. You just have to go for it.
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So being successful in this game means that you have to embrace
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the chaos. So let's talk about what that
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means. That means dealing with things
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as they come. When I first started out in
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flight, this is the biggest thing that I learned.
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I was used to an ICU environment where you had a big team, you
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had intensivists, you had your pharmacist, you had ancillary
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staff, you have lab, you had all these people.
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And because you have all these drips and all these things going
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on, I was always the person who had everything perfectly
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labeled, changed out all of my lines when they were due, just
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had everything always organized. And then I got into flight and I
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remember my very first scene call that I went on as an
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orientee and I got the the Ivy and it wasn't great.
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I mean, I wasn't used to putting in a ton of Ivs.
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We did ultrasound Ivs, but we didn't do a ton of Ivs in ICU.
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And so there was blood everywhere.
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I wasn't holding enough pressure.
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And I was trying to make this nice little covering for my Ivy.
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And I remember my person who was training me, I was like, we're
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never going to do that again. And he was like, you need to
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learn to embrace the chaos. And so that's the biggest thing
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that I learned as a flight nurse is like, you have to deal with
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things as they come and embrace the chaos, meaning you can't do
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things perfectly. And so another example that I
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want to give with you in, in embracing the chaos is knowing
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that life is going to keep on happening.
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Things are going to keep on coming.
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Circumstances, obstacles will always, always be there.
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There will never be perfect timing to go to flight.
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There will never be a perfect time in your life when bad
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things aren't happening or you're not facing obstacles.
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In fact, I really believe that when you decide that you want to
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grow and you want to level up, that's when the universe is
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going to ask if you really want it, and they're going to ask if
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you really want it by throwing things at you to see if you
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really want it. And so embracing the chaos means
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knowing that there's always going to be life circumstances,
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obstacles are going to come up, things are going to happen in
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your life, and there is not a perfect time.
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So as you learn to embrace it, that's when you can really learn
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to push through it and that you can, obstacles and everything do
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it and accomplish it. I wanted to give you an example
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of where I really learned to embrace the chaos and flight.
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And I had a patient, a really critical patient, and we had to
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move aircrafts 3 times. Actually with this patient, and
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I'm not going to give the specifics of it, but throughout
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moving that patient three different times, having to do 3
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different charts, I realized that I could have quit each of
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those moments. I could have been like, this is
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too hard, this is too much, this is too strenuous for the
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patient. This is too strenuous for my
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team. And there were times that I made
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that call, but I didn't feel like or my, and my team didn't
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feel like in this instance, we needed to.
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We kept pushing and we kept doing it.
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And it ended up being a very long call, a lot longer than we
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wanted with again, three different charged with three
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different movements of aircrafts.
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But what I learned at the end of this was that I grew the
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capacity to really do some hard things.
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I grew the capacity to not give up and to believe that I could
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keep going and that I could always figure it out.
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And that's like one of my go to thoughts.
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If you listen to my podcast and you've listened to anything that
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I've kind of put out there, like my go to thought is like my team
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and I are always going to figure it out.
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I'm always going to figure out no matter what comes my way.
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And I just want to offer you the same thought.
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Obstacles are going to come. Things are going to come in your
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way. There's never going to be
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perfect timing, but you have the capability to always figure it
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out. And when you can become that
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person who does that, it does not matter what comes your way.
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Another example of this, and I've offered this before too, is
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when I first started out in the ICU as a brand new new grad.
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I remember like walking up the stairs, it was 2 levels of
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stairs every day to my job and thinking, I hope I don't get a
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sick patient today. I hope my patient doesn't code.
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I hope they don't die on me. And then I remember after four
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years of working at ICU, walking up the that stairway confidently
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and thinking, do it code, see what happens.
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My team and I are going to bring you back.
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And that comes with embracing the chaos that comes with
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leaning into the uncomfortable moments and knowing you're not
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going to do it perfectly. Things are not going to go
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perfectly. And if anything, flight really
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prepares you that your plan A is never going to work.
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There were rare times where my plan A was the plan that worked.
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You had to plan for plan ABC and everything to Z.
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And that was an example of the multiple aircrafts call.
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I mean, there was just no planning.
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There was not a lot of planning with that.
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You had to just roll with the punches and go with the chaos.
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And so when you can become the person who grows the capacity to
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embrace the chaos and know that no matter what comes your way
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that you are going to figure it out, then there will be nothing
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that will stop you. And I do want to offer you to
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get out of this mentality of this perfect student mindset.
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You got to learn to embrace the chaos.
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And that's what getting to flight is about.
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Knowing it's not going to be a straight line.
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This is not about everybody wants the end result.
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This is not about just getting the flight.
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This is about who you become in the process and that person who
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learns to feel overwhelmed and yet still continues on.
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So that was the first one is just embracing the chaos.
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The second one is kind of what I talked about in the first one,
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but growing your belief and capability in yourself.
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Now it does not matter how many steps you take, how much you
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build your resume, how much time and experience that you have, if
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you lack the belief and capability of yourself, flight
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will not happen for you. And it also can also, on the
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other, be as simple, on the other end, be as simple as if
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you grow your belief in yourself, your mindset that you
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can do it and your capability that it's possible for you.
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That alone without the time and experience can be the thing that
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gets you there. That's the thing inside the
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flight prep Academy that we start to grow as soon as nursing
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school or prior nursing school when people join.
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Because if you have the belief, if you grow the capability to be
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able to do hard things, that's the thing that's going to keep
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you in forward momentum. That's the thing that no matter
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what happens is going to get you all the way to that flight goal
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and beyond for however long you want to fly.
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When you feel capable to be able to withstand and handle anything
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and have this strong belief in yourself and your team.
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It doesn't matter what is thrown to you, you, you will get
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through it. And I'm not saying you're not
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going to feel embarrassed. You're not going to feel
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disappointed. You're not going to have doubt.
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No, you're going to have all of those things, but you're going
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to be able to be the person who can navigate themselves through
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it. So belief is everything.
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Yes, you do need the three years, ERICU, but there is a
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reason why I'm helping people get hired before the three years
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right now. Because when you grow that
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belief and you have that so solid in yourself, it doesn't
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matter what actions you take. It doesn't matter what your
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resume looks like. It doesn't matter what you have
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stacked up. Because if you believe it, then
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companies will as well because they'll see it and they'll feel
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it from you too. Part of growing your belief in
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your capability in yourself is being very future focused.
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Now. I see a lot of people think
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about what happened to them in the past and then that limits
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what they think that they can create.
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So a lot of people, for example, look at evidence of what they've
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created or what they've not created, and then they limit
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themselves and say, well, because I haven't done it
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before, because because I haven't gone for flight before,
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I, I, I don't think that I can do it.
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I can't believe therefore, that it's possible for me or that I
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can create it. And that's what really being
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past focus looks like. Another, another example of
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being past focus is when you live in regret.
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Oh, I wish I would have done this or I wish I would have done
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this when I was younger, or I wish I would have done this
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sooner, or I wish I would have taken this route instead of this
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route that's very past focused future focus.
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And what I coach and what I really, really teach on inside
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my program and with all my clients is we're always thinking
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of where we're going and what are the subset of actions we
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need to be taking now that will get us to that future person.
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So if flight is your goal, what do you look like as a flight
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nurse? What do you look like as a
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flight medic? What beliefs do you have about
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yourself when you go into shift every day?
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What do you think is possible for you?
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What's your confidence level? What, how do you, how do you
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think about yourself? How do you, how do you talk
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about yourself? How do you show up in rooms?
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How do you command the room in critical situations?
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That's the person we need to be thinking about.
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And then we make every decision in the present from that future
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you. And we try to get to her or him
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as soon as possible. When we're future focused, we
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are not limited by our past and what we can create.
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We're always thinking about what is it that we need to be working
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on now that's going to get us closer to our future self.
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And so I'm always going to push you to be thinking about what,
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how are you in two years? How are you in five years?
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How are you in 10? Something I've been like really
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thinking about too, is what am I gonna be like in 20 years?
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So right now I'm 41. What am I gonna be like at 61?
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What, how am I going to feel about myself?
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What is that 61 year old gonna come back?
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And what's the wisdom that I could tell myself right now?
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And one thing that I've been thinking about with this
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question is that she would definitely be saying, quit
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worrying so much. It's going to happen.
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So you can spend the whole time worrying or you can spend the
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whole time like enjoying it and going for it.
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And one thing that I always want to offer people that I wish I
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would have told my earlier self prior to getting into flight.
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And one thing that I always tried to tell my clients is
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enjoy this process because you will never be the person who's
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going for it again. And after you get the job, it
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feels great. It does, but you realize how
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much you've grown. And you can spend the time
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worrying about getting there, or you can also spend the time
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enjoying it. Enjoying what your first flight
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interview is going to be like, enjoying what it's like to get
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your first offer, enjoying your first flight, enjoying your
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first sink call, enjoying your first transfer, enjoying the
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first life that you got to save and you were directly a part of.
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And so that that is one thing that I, I want to offer you guys
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is grow the belief and capability in yourself from the
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future you. So the future you.
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One exercise that I talk about a lot is think of you as that
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flight nurse already or think of you as that flight medic right
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now. What would that flight nurse or
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flight medic come back and tell you?
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What's the wisdom that they would give you?
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And if you need to take a second to pause this episode, that's
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fine. But what is that future flight
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nurse of you? What would that person come back
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and tell you right now? What's the wisdom they would
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impart with you? And I want you to really think
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about that question. What would they tell you to do
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more of right now? What would they tell you to stop
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doing? What would you spend more time
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doing? How would you get supported?
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What are some decisions that you would be making?
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This is really important in growing your belief and
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capability in yourself and getting out of the perfect
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student mindset. The third thing that I want to
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impart on you is get support. One thing that I can see that
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stops a lot of people from getting to flight is that they
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think they're very alone in their thoughts and their
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feelings. They think no one else is
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thinking, am I good enough? Do I have enough time and
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experience? Do I have what it takes?
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Sometimes having shame or disappointment about not getting
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an interview or failing at a test.
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And that's what stops them from getting there.
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And so I really created the Flight Prep Academy because I
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want people to be in a community with other people who are going
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towards the same goal, to realize you're not alone in your
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thoughts and feelings and you're not I'll alone and you're
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thinking and be able to have a safe place where they can get
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the support to express those emotions.
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And then also to not give up. So whether it's in my group,
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another coach or another support system, get the support that you
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need as you're going through this goal so that you can
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release the shame of what you're thinking of, what you're
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feeling, and allow those feelings to come up, allow a
18:35
safe place to vent. And sometimes you guys, I have
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to be honest with you. It can't be the people closest
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to you. It can't be your best friend.
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It can't be your spouse, it can't be your kids.
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Because they just don't get it. They want to give you
18:48
platitudes. They want to tell you, oh, but
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it's OK. Like, you're strong, you can do
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it. And while that's great, you also
18:55
need people who understand exactly what you're going
18:59
through, who have been there and who can help you get out of this
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spiral of judgement on yourself and to be able to evaluate why
19:09
you're getting stuck and help you move forward.
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That's really what we do inside the Flight Prep Academy is I'm
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going to help you continue to evaluate why are you stuck?
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Why are you spinning? Why are you overwhelmed and
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confused? And what can we be doing to get
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you out of it? What are the next steps?
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What are your best theories of what are the next steps that we
19:28
need to be taking? So get the support that you need
19:30
and get, and I want to really offer you get a mentor, a coat,
19:34
someone who is going or been where you want to go.
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Because that's makes a huge difference is like you need to
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have someone in your corner who knows what you've been through
19:45
and also has done it because they're going to prevent you
19:48
from making the same common mistakes.
19:50
And they're also going to understand without a shadow of a
19:54
doubt exactly what you're going through.
19:56
So get the support that you need so that you can let go of some
19:59
of that shame, regret, and feeling stuck.
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OK, the last thing that I want to impart on you guys and
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getting out of this perfect student mindset is take care of
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yourself. Gosh, we've been all through a
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lot in the last even five years as healthcare workers, as
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critical care nurses, as first responders.
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The world stopped and we were the ones still working.
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And I think sometimes, I mean I definitely have gone through
20:33
this where I just give of myself so much and the jobs I forget to
20:38
take care of myself. It's been so weird.
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But about 3 years ago I started to get these weird hives like
20:46
all over my body. It's so bad that I would have to
20:48
call in to shift sometimes because my face would start to
20:52
swell and my eyes would start to swell, and I would have to take
20:54
Benadryl like around the clock. And I remember going to my
20:57
doctor, and my doctor was like, do you have high levels of
21:00
stress? And I'm like, no, I mean, you
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know, I work a stressful job, but I feel like I
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compartmentalize. I handle it really well.
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I don't feel stressed. And now having some space from
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it, three years later, I realized I was super anxious.
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I wasn't handling it well. I wasn't taking care of myself.
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And I think that was my body's way of internalizing, like you
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do have high stress levels and you aren't taking care of
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yourself 1st. And I think like for a year, I
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dealt with this hives on a daily basis and having to like, take
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antihistamines and like be drowsy all the time and all of
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that stuff. And I realized like, I just
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didn't take care of myself. So I've been in that spin cycle
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before too. And I do think it comes
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especially with the jobs that we do where we are constantly
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taking care of other people. Like we thrive on that.
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We love that. But it does come down to putting
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your oxygen mask on 1st when the plane is going down.
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We can't be the first people to pass out.
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People need us and they need us in a big way.
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How we show up in a big way daily in our jobs and what we
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do, it's so important. And yeah, it's the hardest thing
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I think sometimes for us to take care of ourselves.
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So put your oxygen mask on 1st so that we can take care of
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other people and our families and in the jobs that we do.
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And that looks like simple for me.
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What I've realized is going for what I want always.
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I think that's what's created a lot of success for myself.
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And what I really want to empower and help a lot of people
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do is going for what you want. Going for flight does not mean
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you're selfish. It actually means you will be
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able to be an example to your children.
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You will be able to be an example to other people of what
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is possible. And you can have both.
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You can be a mother and a very successful flight clinician.
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You can have all of those things.
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I'm not saying it's going to be easy.
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It's not going to be easy, but you are capable of being the
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person who has both. And taking care of yourself is
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not selfish. Getting what you want, going for
23:15
your goals, that's the most compassionate gift that you can
23:20
give yourself. Because when you are full, when
23:23
your cup is full, you actually will be able to give so much
23:27
more and to have so much meaning behind clocking in every day
23:32
into a job that is so meaningful for you because you did it for
23:36
you. Not for other people, not for
23:38
your kids, not for your family, but for you.
23:41
That makes a world of difference.
23:42
And I can tell you that by example that that there's
23:47
nothing that can replace that. And so I want to offer you to
23:51
get to this goal, take care of yourself, fill your cup 1st.
23:55
And I promise you if you fill your cup, you will be able to
23:58
give tenfold more than you are currently getting.
24:02
So I want to leave you guys with that.
24:05
Let's get out of the perfect student mindset.
24:08
There is not a perfect way to get to flight.
24:10
It actually require you to embrace the chaos, get out of
24:14
the thoughts of it. You have to be confident because
24:17
you don't. You actually have to have doubt
24:18
to go for this goal. Your circumstances will not
24:21
perfectly align. You will always be the person
24:23
who has obstacles coming up. That is just life.
24:26
So I am really going to teach you to become the person to grow
24:29
the belief, to grow the capacity to be the person who is always
24:33
going to figure it out. Embrace the chaos, always go
24:37
with your gut, put yourself first.
24:39
That's what we're doing inside the Flight Prep Academy.
24:41
I am helping every single person who joins get an offer and and
24:46
really support you and hold your hand every step of the way.
24:49
People ask me how many people you join get hired.
24:52
I say 100% you come and join the Flight Prep Academy.
24:55
I will support you all the way to a flight offer no matter how
24:59
long it takes. Join us inside.
25:01
If flight is your goal, let's get there, be supported all the
25:05
way. And that's it for this week.
25:07
You guys can join in a link in the bio.
25:10
I'd love to have you guys inside and let's start working on this
25:13
goal. Grow the capacity, embrace the
25:15
chaos, and become the person who always figures it out.
25:20
I will see you guys next week. Bye.
25:22
Anything in this episode sparked your interest into getting into
25:24
flight? Come join my flight pet group.
25:26
We are an entire community that meets together on a weekly basis
25:30
with an ongoing group chat. And if you are already flying
25:32
and you are currently a flight nurse or flight medic, you can
25:35
join my all flight clinician group as well.
25:37
You can click on the link to join in the show notes or you
25:39
can DM me on Instagram. I hope to see all of you guys
25:41
inside.