Procrastination
Both civilian and military aircraft mechanics know that it’s better to fix problems when they are small. That little crack is much easier to fix when it first starts and that corrosion is easy to treat in the early stages. But if you put things off they can put an aircraft down for months and cost millions to repair. It’s just not a good idea to put maintenance issues off until later.
Think of a time in your life where you just put something off. Maybe it was something you really didn’t want to do and you were just dreading it. You spent weeks or months thinking about it and it just nagged at you and weighed on your shoulders. Finally, the day came and you just did it and afterward, it turned out not to be as bad as you thought. In fact, the months dreading it was worse than the event itself.
Or perhaps this thing you procrastinated about was something you really wanted to do, but you just never got around to it. You thought that next week might be okay but something came up. Then you figured next month might work but then some life event raised its ugly head. Then suddenly, overnight, twenty years had passed and you never did the thing that you had wanted.
In either case, did you end up kicking yourself? Annoyed that you took so long or completely missed out? There’s guilt and self-loathing all in a nice little package of lost opportunity.
Nobody likes that feeling, well most people anyway. But the good news is that you don’t have to feel that way. All you have to do is stop procrastinating. Decide right now that you aren’t going to put it off any longer. Pick up the phone, get online, or break out the tools. Take that first step!
Are you a current or former military aircraft mechanic? Have you been procrastinating about getting your FAA A&P license? We meet people all the time who put it off for 20-30 years and they always talk about regretting waiting for so long.
Don’t let tomorrow go by without starting the process. Get online and make a call. Otherwise, the day after tomorrow will be twenty years from now.
https://www.boeing.com/commercial/market/pilot-technician-outlook/
https://www.faa.gov/mechanics/become/