10 things I learned from my first 500 hours up in the air

In the last few years, I’ve been flying a lot.. sometimes I hate it, sometimes I love it. An app I use counts the time I’ve spent on a plane. I’ve apparently been up here for 3 weeks.

Last week, during one of my weekly flights, I started to look out of the window, in one of those moments when the sky is giving you spectacular views and you manage to disconnect from your Monday to Friday thoughts.

I started to think about how flying can give you some interesting cues for life and business. Whilst there are many more, these are my favorite 10:

1. No turbulence lasts forever. Some last a few minutes, and some last for a long time... you cannot control everything and, often all you have to do is to tighten your seatbelt and wait.

2. When you are scared (yes! It will happen!), look at who is calmer and more confident than you and be ready to pass that confidence to those who will look at you. Panic is contagious, and so is confidence.

3. If you are a window seat person, look down, and see how various and beautiful the world is. Learn how to spot different places from above. Look for signposts when you don’t know where you are.

4. Some flights are boring. Don’t try to change it. Just live with it until you are back on the ground.

5. Straight routes may be faster.. but you may have to fly through those beautiful but dangerous cumuli nimbus.. a little detour may be needed can save your life.

6. Sometimes you question aviation rules .. airplane mode may not be really needed.. but you can still use it as a good excuse to detox from your phone.

7. Sometimes the person you don’t like on the line while boarding the plane ends up sitting next to you. And you might realize he/she wasn’t that bad.. be nice to people, you never know who you are going to sit next to on your journey.

8. Above the clouds the sky is always blue. Bring with you that positive message after landing!

9. Take a chance to reflect upon how small we are in the world and refocus your priorities.

10. Be curious: observe people’s behaviors, smile if it’s funny but try not to judge them, talk to the person next to you, and make friends. Strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet.

Have a safe flight!