Focus Your Energy: Don't Chase Squirrels
We're continuing my series based on John Maxwell's "Success Is a Choice," and this week's chapter might be one of the most practically useful ones we've covered so far — at least when it comes to what actually happens inside the lab at the Academy.
We've talked about believing in yourself, firing up your passion, and initiating action.
Today we're talking about focus.
Specifically, what it means to focus your energy — and what happens when you don't.
Maxwell opens this chapter with a line that stopped me cold the first time I read it: "Having talent without focus is like an octopus on roller skates."
I had to put the book down and laugh at the mental image.
But the more I thought about it, the more it hit home — because I have seen exactly that in the lab.
Talented people, genuinely gifted people, who couldn't harness what they had because their energy was scattered in eight different directions at once.
Talent matters in this career.
I've watched talented people not make it through the Academy.
I've watched them struggle at facilities.
When I try to identify what the common thread was, it almost always comes back to the same thing: they had the ability, but they couldn't focus it. And Maxwell's follow-up to that octopus image says it perfectly — talent with focus directs you and has the potential to take you far.
That's what we're after.
Focus Doesn't Come Naturally — But It's Everything
Here's the first thing Maxwell says about focus, and it's important to hear: focus does not come naturally to most people.
It's not a trait you either have or don't have.
It's something you develop.
And you have to work at it consistently, intentionally, over time.
For controllers, this isn't optional.
The moment you plug into a position — in a tower, at a sector, in a TRACON — you have to be completely present.
Not 80 percent there while the other 20 percent is worrying about something that happened this morning or something you need to handle tonight.
Completely there.
That's one of the reasons I keep hammering on preparation before the Academy.
When your life outside the lab is a mess — finances, relationships, logistics, whatever it might be — part of your brain is always running in the background trying to solve those problems. And that background processing has a direct cost when you sit down in front of a scope or a strip board.
Something wonderful happens when you get the rest of your life as buttoned up as possible before you get to Oklahoma City, because then when you walk into that lab, you can actually be there.
Fully there.
Not managing two things at once.
Because managing two things at once, as a controller, is exactly what gets you in trouble.
Set the Target High — Then Narrow Your Focus
Maxwell makes the point that focus increases your energy, but first you have to know what your target actually is.
At the Academy, I want to be clear about this: your target is not 70.
Seventy is the minimum passing score.
If you aim for 70 and miss by five points, you've just failed.
If you aim for 90 or 95 and miss by five points, you've still passed — comfortably.
Set the target high.
Aim for 90, 95.
Aim for a hundred.
Give yourself room.
Once you have that target, focus narrows everything else.
Instead of feeling overwhelmed by the entire 10 or 12 weeks stretching out in front of you, you narrow down to what you're doing this week.
Then this day.
Then this scenario.
Then this task.
That's where your energy goes — not on day 29, not on the radar evals that are weeks away, not on everything that could go wrong between now and the end.
Just on today.
When you focus on today, something genuinely wonderful happens.
I've watched it occur in student after student.
The days start adding up, and before long you look up and realize how far you've come.
The Academy is absolutely doable if you stay current with it.
What makes it hard isn't the material itself — it's when students fall behind trying to chase things they shouldn't be worrying about yet.
Don't worry about day 58 when you're on day 7.
Stay where you are.
Five Facts About Focus
Maxwell lays out several key truths about focus, and I want to walk through them because every single one has a direct application to what you're going to face at the Academy and beyond.
Focus increases your energy.
When your attention is spread thin, you're constantly switching contexts — bouncing from one thing to the next without ever fully engaging with any of them.
That's exhausting in a way that doesn't produce results.
But when you lock in on one thing and stay there, the energy follows. You become more efficient, more sharp, more capable. As a student at the Academy, that locked-in state is exactly what you're trying to sustain.
Focus lifts you.
Here's something I observed over and over in Oklahoma City, and it still moves me when I think about it.
The students who committed fully to the process — who brought their best energy to every day, even the hard ones — grew. Not just as controllers, but as people.
I saw students who walked in not knowing what separation even meant walk out as air traffic controllers. I even watched students who didn't pass go through something incredibly difficult, give everything they had, and come out on the other side more capable and more resilient than when they arrived.
Focus — truly committing to each day and each task — will do that to you. And keep that going when you leave the Academy, because it doesn't stop working just because you're done with the program.
What you focus on expands.
Maxwell quotes Mike Kendrick here: "narrowing your view widens your perspective."
That sounds contradictory, but sit with it for a second.
As controllers, we have to keep expanding what we're capable of — working more traffic, more complex situations, higher-intensity environments. And the way you expand that capacity is not by trying to tackle everything at once.
It's by focusing deeply on the thing in front of you, doing it well, and building from there.
Narrow down to do one thing completely, and your overall capability grows.
Focus must be intentionally sustained.
You can't focus well for a day and then coast.
It takes consistent effort.
The good news is that the payoff is real and significant — focus compounds.
The more you practice it, the more natural it becomes.
But you have to keep doing it.
You can't check it off the list.
Success is not an event — it's a process.
This might be the most important thing Maxwell says in this chapter, and it applies to every level of an ATC career.
Passing the Academy is not the finish line.
Getting your CPC rating is not the finish line.
There's no single moment when you've made it.
It's a lifetime process, and the controllers who thrive are the ones who accept that and stay engaged in the process every single day.
Eight Ways to Increase Your Focus
Maxwell gives eight practical ways to sharpen your focus, and I want to run through them with you in an ATC context.
One: Be intentional — make every action count.
For controllers, this is non-negotiable.
Every transmission, every strip mark, every vector — it matters.
Even when you make a wrong move, that mistake is only useful if you're intentional about learning from it.
Part of becoming a skilled controller is learning how to get yourself out of the mess you just created.
I've created plenty of messes in my career.
The difference is that over time, I got better at recognizing them early and resolving them.
That comes from being intentional about every action.
Two: Challenge your excuses.
Here's one that should hit home for students specifically.
At the Academy, there is no room for "I know it's a rule, but I decided I didn't have to follow it." An evaluator is going to look you straight in the eye and ask who told you that was acceptable.
The rules are the rules.
Know them, apply them, every time.
CPCs take shortcuts — that's a reality of working live traffic for years.
But you're not a CPC yet.
Get through the Academy first.
Three: Don't let yesterday hijack your attention.
I can't say this enough, and I've told this story before.
I had a student who came out of her first radar eval in the 60s — not a great score, but not a fatal one either.
She was devastated. I sat down with her and told her: you didn't hurt your chances. You still have everything you need to pass. Now go learn from it and do better.
She did.
She passed.
But if she had carried that first eval into the second one, it could have gone a very different direction.
Learn from the past and then let it go. Maxwell uses the image of driving a car while looking in the rearview mirror. If you're going forward, that's a guaranteed way to crash.
The past can inform you, but it cannot drive you.
Don't let it.
Four: Focus on the present.
The only area where you have any control is today.
Not yesterday — that's done.
Not tomorrow — that's not guaranteed.
Today.
Focus your mental, physical, and emotional energy on what you can actually affect right now. If you do that consistently, you end up with a better tomorrow as a natural consequence.
Goals are useful to have, but you don't reach your five-year goals by staring at them.
You reach them by taking the steps available to you today.
Five: Stay focused on results.
Your score matters.
Your performance matters.
When you stay anchored to results, you're less likely to get knocked off balance — whether that's by an instructor who's being hard on you, or by early success that makes you think you've arrived.
Stay grounded in the numbers.
What did I score?
What do I need to improve?
Staying focused on results keeps you honest.
Six: Develop and follow your priorities.
Maxwell has a quote I love for this one: "If you chase two rabbits, both will escape."
If you've ever actually tried to chase a rabbit, you know you can barely catch one, let alone two.
You can only do one thing at a time — we've talked about this before in the picture driver series.
The best controllers aren't the ones who do multiple things simultaneously. They're the ones who identify the highest priority and execute it completely before moving to the next one.
Develop your priorities and follow them.
One thing.
Done.
Next.
Seven: Focus on your strengths.
Maxwell tells a story about a man who had both gold coins and copper coins and spent all his time trying to polish the copper ones. The problem is no matter how much you shine a copper coin, it's never going to be worth what a gold coin is worth.
Know what your strengths are and lean into them.
I'm not saying ignore your weaknesses — as a controller you absolutely need to address them.
But don't spend all your energy on your copper at the expense of your gold.
Eight: Delay the reward until the job is done.
At the Academy, the job is done when you pass.
That's the reward.
That said — celebrate the milestones.
When your entire class makes it through non-radar together, that's worth recognizing. It's a real achievement.
When you complete the radar portion and you've passed, that's worth celebrating. J
ust don't mistake a checkpoint for the finish line.
Keep the focus until the job is truly done.
Don't Chase the Squirrel
I want to close with something we used to do at the Academy.
One of the leads kept a little stuffed squirrel in the lab.
Whenever he caught a student letting their focus get pulled away — trying to do two things at once, getting distracted by something on the other side of the room, losing the thread of what they were working on — he'd toss them the squirrel. "You just went after the squirrel."
I have a dog. And I can tell you from experience: the moment he spots a squirrel, it doesn't matter what else was happening. He's gone. Everything else ceases to exist. And if I don't have a good hold on the leash, he's gone.
Don't be the dog.
Don't chase the squirrel.
In the radar lab especially, this matters enormously. You'll be mid-task — coordinating something, working a conflict, giving a clearance — and the other side will call with something new.
The temptation is to split your attention.
Don't.
Finish what you're doing.
Note what you need to come back to.
Complete the task in front of you, then address the next one.
One thing at a time, every time.
Talent plus focus equals the controller you can become.
Maxwell says that about people in general — I'm saying it specifically about you as a controller.
You have the talent.
Every one of you who's made it to this point has demonstrated that.
Now pair it with focus — real, intentional, sustained focus — and you will be amazed at what you can accomplish.
Don't settle for 70.
Don't settle for average.
Set your target high, narrow your focus to today, do each task completely, and keep going.
That's the choice in front of you.
Make it.
If you want help working through any of this, reach out at sidebysideatc.com.
Set up a free consultation call and let's talk about where you are and what needs to happen next.
You don't have to navigate this journey alone — let's do it side by side.
FOR HELP:
To set up a FREE call: sidebysideatc.com/scheduler/free-consult
Pre-Academy
If you are heading to the Academy in the next few months, I put together a structured 90-day preparation blueprint that walks you through exactly what to focus on each month before you go. It's designed to help reduce shock and build confidence before day one. You can download it at: sidebysideatc.com/page/blueprint .
I also have a video where I explain the different things that are on the enroute Non-Radar Map. You can get that video at: sidebysideatc.com/page/map-video .
Already at the Academy
If you are already in the enroute radar portion of the Academy and feeling a little behind or lost, I have a 72-Hour Radar Recovery Plan that will help you get past those feelings and start building confidence. You can download that at : sidebysideatc.com/page/72-hourplan .
If you are interested in my Coaching Programs, you can get information at :
or
sidebysideatc.com/page/radar-recovery if you are needing help with the beginning of enroute radar.
Mentorship Program
For information about my mentorship program : https://sidebysideatc.com/page/mentorship
Questions
You can email me questions, or comments, at: tomhanes@sidebysideatc.com .
Level Two: Where Preparation Meets Performance
Last week we talked about level one — the pre-Academy stage where you build the foundation for everything that's coming.
We covered why that time before Oklahoma City is so much more valuable than most people realize, and why the students who use it well show up with a genuine advantage over the ones who waited.
This week we move into level two.
And level two is the Academy.
I want to be clear about something right up front: for those of you going through CTI school, advanced ATC, or the military pathway, a lot of what I'm going to cover here still applies to you.
But this week I'm focusing specifically on the FAA Academy, because the Academy is where everything changes.
It's where preparation stops being theoretical and starts being tested in real time, under real pressure, with real consequences.
Billie Jean King said it best: "Pressure is a privilege."
It may not feel like that when you're in the middle of it — when you're exhausted and stressed and questioning everything — but going through the Academy is genuinely a privilege.
Between 10 and 20 percent of the people who apply ever end up going through it.
There are thousands of people who wanted to be exactly where you are and couldn't get there.
Try to remember that when the pressure is at its worst.
The Academy Is Not What You Think It Is
Here's the first thing you need to understand about level two: the Academy is nothing like basics, and it's nothing like anything you've been through before.
Basics, in person in Oklahoma City, is essentially a college course compressed into four weeks.
You sit in a classroom, take notes, study for tests, and pass those tests to move forward. You can treat basics like college because that's basically what it is.
But the moment you cross that threshold into the actual Academy program, everything shifts.
The pace is different.
The demands are different.
The stakes are different.
The gap between what basics feels like and what the Academy feels like is enormous, and most students don't fully appreciate that until they're already in it.
One of the biggest mistakes I see students make is treating the Academy like any other academic endeavor. They think: if I'm smart enough, if I study enough, I'll be fine.
I understand that thinking, but I have to be direct with you — it doesn't work that way.
The Academy is not primarily an intelligence test.
It's not a test of how well you can study and regurgitate information.
What it is, is a consistency test.
And a pressure management test.
Think about the difference between college and the Academy.
In college, you paid for the privilege of being there.
At the Academy, they are paying you. This is a job now. And your employer — the FAA — is watching to see how willing and how disciplined you are, each and every day, to learn this material to the point where you can actually use it.
Not memorize it.
Not answer questions about it on a test.
Use it, in real time, under pressure.
In en route, the written tests are worth 20 points total.
You could ace every single test and still not pass — because 80 percent of your score is performance-based.
That one number tells you everything you need to know about what the Academy is really measuring.
The Six Drivers at Level Two
We've spent several weeks building up the six drivers of ATC success —
Purpose
Plan
Phraseology
Practice
Picture
Picture
Performance
Those drivers don't go away at level two.
They intensify.
Let me walk you through exactly how each one plays out at the Academy.
Driver One: Purpose.
You have to know your purpose even more deeply at level two than you did in level one.
Not just in your head — in your gut, in your heart.
You need to know why you're putting yourself through this, because the Academy is going to test that reason over and over.
Your performance over those 10 to 12 weeks is going to dip at points. You're not going to be consistently good the entire time you're there — nobody is.
When that happens, your stress goes up and your confidence comes down. And that's exactly when you have to reach back and grab your purpose.
Why are you doing this?
What does this mean to you?
I told you last week to write it down before you get there, to post it where you'll see it every day.
I'm telling you now to keep doing that while you're there.
Revisit your purpose every week.
For some of you, every day.
That's how important it is.
Purpose isn't just a nice idea — it's the thing that gets you off the mat when the Academy knocks you down.
Driver Two: Plan.
You cannot wing your way through the Academy.
I've seen students try.
It does not work.
You have to have a schedule, a real one, and you have to stick to it.
The best class I was ever A-lead for got 10 out of 12 students through.
They had a spreadsheet.
A rotation schedule that cycled classmates through so they could work with everybody, not just their usual group. They built their practice schedule around their class schedule — figuring out who was on days and who was on evenings each week, and planning around that.
That's the level of intentionality that works.
And if you really want to take it further, plan your sleep schedule.
Pay attention to what you're eating and how it affects you in the lab.
I had a student once who was performing well in the morning and struggling in the afternoon, and when I asked him what he was eating for lunch, it became pretty clear pretty fast.
I knew of one student who had the same thing to eat every day of Non-Radar: a meatball sandwich.
If you know, you know.
Be intentional.
Intentional about your time management.
Intentional about your sleep.
Intentional about your practice.
Intentional about every single day.
Don't drift.
Don't wing it.
Don't assume you'll figure it out as you go.
Driver Three: Phraseology.
At the Academy level, phraseology isn't just about memorizing clearances — it's about knowing the language of ATC so fluently that it stops consuming mental energy.
You need to know the rules, the LOAs, the SOPs.
You need to know the strip marking.
You need to know it well enough that you can speak ATC as naturally as you speak English — and not the casual CPC-on-LiveATC version, either.
At the Academy, you say it correctly, every time, because you don't have a choice.
Here's why this matters beyond just getting the words right: the more fluent you are in the language of ATC, the less mental strain you're under in every lab session.
And less mental strain means you can focus on actually working traffic instead of trying to remember what to say while you're trying to remember what to do.
It means you practice better.
You sleep better.
The phraseology work you put in compounds across everything else. I've said it before in this blog — phraseology is king.
That's still true at level two.
Driver Four: Practice.
There is no substitute.
None.
You cannot become fluent in phraseology without practicing it.
You cannot do strip marking without errors without practicing it.
Confidence at the Academy comes from one thing: preparation, and preparation means doing the reps.
But here's the part that matters most about practice at the Academy: you cannot simulate pressure by yourself.
You just can't.
I'll say it plainly — if you have a way to put yourself under real pressure in isolation, text me, because I genuinely want to know.
But I don't think that way exists.
Pressure comes from other people.
From being watched.
From having to perform in front of your classmates.
That's the job, and you have to practice the job the way it actually works.
Rotate with your classmates. Work with each other.
If you're in en route, practice those non-radar scenarios out loud, not just in your head.
When you get to radar, give each other situations — traffic, emergencies, interruptions — and make each other deal with them in real time.
Simulate the lab as closely as you can.
If you're in the tower option, do the same thing.
Pressure practice is the only kind that actually prepares you for evaluation day.
Driver Five: Picture.
The picture at the Academy is exactly what I described in the driver five episode — it's not one big overarching picture you hold in your head.
It's a series of small pictures, one task at a time, that build into something complete.
That's the mental approach you need to bring into every lab session.
And I want to add something here that I've brought up with students before, and a lot of them look at me skeptically at first: use visualization.
Athletes have used it for decades, and it works.
When I was a soccer player in high school, we had three or four weeks where rain canceled everything — no practice, no games, nothing. I spent that time going into the gym and hitting a ball against the wall every day, but more than that, I was visualizing. Hitting shots. Scoring goals. And when we finally got to play again, I had four goals in the first game. I wasn't supposed to be the goal scorer on that team — and then I was, for the rest of the season.
By the time your evals come around, whether it's your non-radar evals, your radar evals, or your final tower evals, you have already done everything they're going to ask you to do.
You've done it in practice.
You've done it correctly at least once — I will guarantee you that.
All you have to do on eval day is put those pieces together.
Visualize doing them correctly.
Visualize having a clean run.
Visualize walking out of there with a hundred.
Seriously — if you're going to visualize it, you might as well go all the way.
See yourself succeeding, over and over, before you ever sit down in that seat.
Driver Six: Performance.
The Academy ultimately measures performance.
Everything — the preparation you did in level one, the planning and practice you've done at the Academy — it all comes together on evaluation days.
You are going to be nervous.
If this matters to you, you're going to be nervous.
Professional athletes at the top of their game get nervous before competition.
You're not at the top yet.
Being nervous is completely normal.
What separates students who perform on eval day from students who don't isn't how smart they are.
It's not their college GPA.
It's how much they've prepared and how well they've built their process.
If you have prepared — really prepared, every day, with intensity and intention — then your job on eval day is simple: trust it.
Trust your preparation.
Trust the work your instructors have put in.
Trust the work you've put in.
You have done this before.
You know how to do this.
But if you've waited, if you've winged it, if you haven't been consistent — then you're going to feel it when the pressure is highest, because there won't be anything solid to fall back on.
What Separates the Students Who Make It
I've watched this play out hundreds of times, and I can tell you with confidence that the students who succeed at the Academy are almost never the smartest ones in the class.
They're the most consistent ones.
The most coachable.
The most disciplined.
The ones who don't rest on prior knowledge or experience they brought in from a CTI program or wherever else, but who understand that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and treat it accordingly.
If you walk into Oklahoma City with the mindset that you are going to do whatever it takes — put in the hours, bring the intensity to every practice session, be intentional about everything you do — then your chances of success are genuinely high.
Not guaranteed, because nothing is.
But high.
Because that's what it takes.
And one more thing I want to say directly: a lot of students think passing the Academy is the pinnacle. That once they do it, the hardest part is behind them. I told students this when I was in Oklahoma City and I'll tell you now — that's not accurate.
The Academy is intense, but that job-or-no-job pressure doesn't disappear when you leave.
It doesn't end until you're a certified professional controller.
After the Academy, you're training on live traffic.
The stakes get higher, not lower.
That's why the process — these six drivers, these levels — needs to keep going.
You don't finish building the foundation when the Academy ends.
You just move on to the next level.
And that's exactly where we're headed next time: level three, your first facility.
Bobby Unser said it well: "Success is where preparation and opportunity meet."
The Academy is your opportunity.
If you've prepared, success can be what's waiting at the end of it.
Don't navigate this alone.
If you need help — whether you're pre-Academy, in the middle of it, or already past it — set up a free consultation call at sidebysideatc.com. We'll talk about where you are, what's coming, and how to get where you want to go. Because you don't have to do this side by side.
FOR HELP:
To set up a FREE call: sidebysideatc.com/scheduler/free-consult
Pre-Academy
If you are heading to the Academy in the next few months, I put together a structured 90-day preparation blueprint that walks you through exactly what to focus on each month before you go. It's designed to help reduce shock and build confidence before day one. You can download it at: sidebysideatc.com/page/blueprint .
I also have a video where I explain the different things that are on the enroute Non-Radar Map. You can get that video at: sidebysideatc.com/page/map-video .
Already at the Academy
If you are already in the enroute radar portion of the Academy and feeling a little behind or lost, I have a 72-Hour Radar Recovery Plan that will help you get past those feelings and start building confidence. You can download that at : sidebysideatc.com/page/72-hourplan .
If you are interested in my Coaching Programs, you can get information at :
or
sidebysideatc.com/page/radar-recovery if you are needing help with the beginning of enroute radar.
Mentorship Program
For information about my mentorship program : https://sidebysideatc.com/page/mentorship
Questions
You can email me questions, or comments, at: tomhanes@sidebysideatc.com .
Initiate Action: You're a Controller, Not a Monitor
We're continuing my series based on John Maxwell's book "Success Is a Choice," and today we're diving into what might be the most important chapter in the entire book — at least as it relates to air traffic control.
Last time we covered believing in yourself and firing up your passion.
Today we're talking about initiating action.
And I'll tell you right up front: this one hits close to home.
Not just as an instructor, but as a controller.
Maxwell's point in this chapter is straightforward —
Successful people don't wait for everything to be perfect before they move.
They don't wait for their fear to subside.
They take initiative.
They act.
The more I thought about that in the context of what we do as controllers, the more I realized this isn't just good leadership advice.
This is the core of the job itself.
You're a Controller, Not a Monitor
Let me make this as direct as I can: the title of the job you're pursuing is air traffic controller.
Not air traffic monitor.
Not air traffic observer.
Controller.
That one word tells you everything you need to know about what's expected of you every single time you sit down at a position.
A few weeks ago, I was talking with my manager and another controller at the tower where I work — between the three of us, we've got over 90 years of experience working airplanes — and we were discussing what happened at DCA a few months ago.
Every single one of us kept coming back to the same observation: it didn't sound like the controller was controlling the situation.
It sounded like the situation was controlling him.
You cannot let that happen.
Whether you're at the Academy, at a CTI school, at your first facility, or 30 years into your career — the moment you stop controlling the situation and start letting it control you, you're in trouble.
The way you prevent that is by taking initiative.
Constantly.
Relentlessly.
When you get to the Academy, whether it's non-radar, radar, tower, or TRACON, you have to grab each scenario by the horns and control it.
Be on constant lookout for something you can do.
What can I solve right now?
Is there something I'm missing?
What needs to happen next?
Don't wait for the scenario to tell you what to do — you tell it.
You dictate what happens and when.
That is the difference between a student who's working the problem and a student the problem is working.
I used to tell students: that scenario came in, hit you upside the head, tripped you up, knocked you down, and then sat on top of you for 40 minutes.
You have to flip that.
You smack it upside the head, trip it up, and then you sit on it for 40 minutes.
You dictate what's going to happen and when.
That's when the instructors, the evaluators, and your classmates are going to notice something genuinely different about you.
That's when you become an air traffic controller — not when you pass the Academy, but when you decide you're going to control the situation every time you walk through those lab doors.
Initiative Closes the Door on Fear
Here's something Maxwell includes in this chapter that I think is worth sitting with.
He quotes Norman Vincent Peale: "Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause of fear."
Read that again.
Inaction is not only the result of fear — it's the cause of it.
You are going to be afraid at the Academy.
I don't care who you are or where you came from.
There are going to be moments when you're scared — in the lab, heading into an eval, in the middle of a scenario that's gotten away from you. And if you're an experienced controller listening to this and you're thinking that doesn't apply to you, I'd encourage you to be honest with yourself.
If you've never scared yourself working traffic, you're not working traffic hard enough.
Fear is part of this job.
The question is what you do with it.
The answer, every single time, is the same: do something.
Act.
Take the initiative.
Because sitting still, waiting, freezing up — that's what lets the fear back in.
Action closes the door on it.
This is why initiative matters so much at the Academy specifically.
When you feel a scenario starting to slip away from you — and it will happen — the worst thing you can do is hesitate and hope things settle down on their own.
They won't.
You have to find something you can do and go do it.
Even if it's not the perfect move, doing something keeps you in the driver's seat.
Doing nothing hands the wheel to the scenario.
And remember what Maxwell also says: "Any action is better than no action at all."
When you're at the Academy, that's not permission to be reckless — it's permission to stop waiting for the perfect moment and start moving.
The Boomerang Rule
Here's something I used to tell students in the lab that I want to pass along to you, because it stuck with a lot of people.
When you start a task and don't finish it, you've just turned that task into a boomerang.
You threw it out there and walked away, but it didn't disappear — it's spinning around and it's headed right back at you.
It's going to hit you when you're in the middle of something else and least expecting it.
The way you eliminate a task is simple: you finish it.
Completely.
And then you move to the next one.
Maxwell puts it this way: "The only way to get rid of a difficult task is to do it."
There's a finite number of tasks in every scenario at the Academy.
Every single time you do one correctly and completely, it's gone.
It will never come back.
That's the mental model you need — not "how do I manage all of this?" but "how do I finish this one thing right now and put it behind me forever?"
In non-radar, for example, let's say you're working on a clearance and then an airborne aircraft calls requesting an altitude change. Now your priority has shifted — the airborne aircraft comes first, because the guy on the ground isn't going anywhere.
But here's the key: before you switch your attention, write down where you were on that clearance.
Put it on paper.
Because now you can go take care of the airborne guy, finish that task completely, and come back to exactly where you left off — without trying to hold it all in your head.
Your instructors are going to use two words with you over and over in non-radar: follow through.
Every time you hear it, this is what they mean:
End the task before you begin the next one.
That's how you stop the boomerangs.
What Stops People from Taking Initiative
Maxwell identifies a few patterns in people who struggle with initiative, and I want to run through them quickly because I've seen all of these show up at the Academy.
First, they fail to see the consequences of inaction.
At the Academy, you won't have that problem — the consequences show up immediately, right after the scenario ends.
The score sheet makes it pretty clear.
But the deeper lesson is that doing nothing always has a cost, even when it's not immediately obvious.
Second, they wait for someone else to motivate them.
I'm going to be straightforward about this: at the Academy, you need to light your own fire.
Your instructors are there to teach you, guide you, and push you — but they cannot want it for you.
That has to come from inside.
You're the one that has to walk into that lab ready to take control, every single time.
Third, they wait for the perfect moment to act.
There is no perfect moment.
There's now.
Whether that's in a scenario that's starting to get away from you, or in your preparation before you ever get to Oklahoma City — the time to act is right now.
Not tomorrow.
Not once you feel more ready.
Now.
Seven Steps to Taking More Initiative
Maxwell gives seven practical steps to developing initiative, and I want to put them into an ATC context for you.
One: Accept responsibility.
Acknowledge that you're not taking as much control of the situation as you could be. Responsibility and initiative are inseparable — you can't truly take control without owning the fact that it's yours to take.
Two: Examine why you're not taking control.
This one's worth some honest reflection. Are you afraid of being wrong? Are you waiting to be sure before you act? Understanding the reason helps you address it.
Three: Focus on the benefits of completing a task.
Here's the beautiful thing about the Academy — once you do a task correctly and completely, you never have to do that exact task again. It's behind you. Every completed task is one less thing in front of you.
Four: Share your goal with someone who will help you.
Maxwell has a quote that I love: "One is too small a number to achieve greatness."
I couldn't agree more.
You cannot get through the Academy alone, and you shouldn't try. Whether it's your classmates, a family member, a coach, or a mentor — find your people and let them help you.
One is too small a number.
Five: Break large tasks into smaller ones.
Your instructors at the Academy are actually pretty good at this — they'll walk you through each task step by step. Your job is to listen, follow the process, and practice it until those steps become automatic.
Don't try to swallow the whole thing at once.
Six: Allocate specific times to tasks you might procrastinate on.
At the Academy, this goes beyond just studying — it's about being intentional with everything.
Know when you're going to practice. Know when you're doing laundry. Know when you're sleeping. Have a schedule and stick to it, so that nothing sneaks up on you because you weren't planning.
Seven: Preparation includes doing.
Maxwell says "you must take action in order to become who you desire to be."
I'd restate that for our world: you must take control in order to become the controller you desire to be.
Desire alone won't get you there.
Wanting it isn't enough.
You have to do it — over and over, in practice, in labs, in evals, every time.
Talent Without Initiative Never Reaches Its Potential
One of the most important things Maxwell says in this entire chapter is that talent without initiative never reaches its potential.
I have watched that play out more times than I can count.
There are students who show up to Oklahoma City genuinely talented — quick minds, good instincts, sharp people. And some of them struggle not because they lack ability, but because they don't flip the switch.
They don't make the decision to grab hold of the scenario and control it.
They let the problem set the agenda instead of setting it themselves.
And then there are students who maybe aren't the most naturally gifted in the class, but they make the decision early that they are going to be a controller — not a monitor.
And you can see it.
As an instructor, when a student walks into the lab and takes ownership of that scenario from the first minute to the last, it is genuinely fun to watch. It's exactly what you want to see.
On the other hand, when a student lets the scenario dictate everything, you can see the struggle — and you want to help, but you have to wait for the debrief because that's where the real learning happens.
The decision to control — to take the initiative, to act — that's what flips the switch.
That might happen in your first week of non-radar.
It might happen deep in the radar portion.
But when it happens, everyone around you is going to notice.
Your instructors will notice.
Your evaluators will notice.
Your classmates will notice.
And you might just be able to look back later and say: "That was the moment I became an air traffic controller."
I genuinely believe that.
Not the day you pass the Academy.
Not the day you get your certification.
The day you decided, once and for all, that you were going to control the situation — every situation — and not the other way around.
Make that decision today.
If you need help figuring out how to get there, that's exactly what I'm here for.
Set up a free consultation call at sidebysideatc.com and let's talk through where you are and what needs to happen next.
Because you don't have to navigate this journey alone. Let's do it side by side.
FOR HELP:
To set up a FREE call: sidebysideatc.com/scheduler/free-consult
Pre-Academy
If you are heading to the Academy in the next few months, I put together a structured 90-day preparation blueprint that walks you through exactly what to focus on each month before you go. It's designed to help reduce shock and build confidence before day one. You can download it at: sidebysideatc.com/page/blueprint .
I also have a video where I explain the different things that are on the enroute Non-Radar Map. You can get that video at: sidebysideatc.com/page/map-video .
Already at the Academy
If you are already in the enroute radar portion of the Academy and feeling a little behind or lost, I have a 72-Hour Radar Recovery Plan that will help you get past those feelings and start building confidence. You can download that at : sidebysideatc.com/page/72-hourplan .
If you are interested in my Coaching Programs, you can get information at :
or
sidebysideatc.com/page/radar-recovery if you are needing help with the beginning of enroute radar.
Mentorship Program
For information about my mentorship program : https://sidebysideatc.com/page/mentorship
Questions
You can email me questions, or comments, at: tomhanes@sidebysideatc.com .
Level One: The Foundation You Build Before You Ever Get There
I want to start a new series with you today.
We've spent the last several weeks talking about the six drivers of ATC success —
Purpose
Plan
Phraseology
Practice
Picture
Performance
Those drivers are going to come back into play constantly as we move through this series, because they apply at every level of your development.
What I want to do now is show you exactly how.
And we're starting at the very beginning.
Level One: Pre-Academy
Level one is what I call pre-Academy.
That means before CTI school, before military advanced ATC, before basics, before Oklahoma City.
This is the stage where you get that first glimmer in your eye — that thought that maybe, just maybe, you want to be an air traffic controller.
I want to open with a quote from John Wooden, the legendary college basketball coach. You've probably seen me reference him before, and I'm going to keep referencing him because the man understood something deep about preparation:
"Failing to prepare is preparing to fail."
Wooden won championship after championship and consistently attracted some of the best high school players in the country to his program. And yet, when those all-star recruits showed up, one of the very first things he did was sit them down and teach them how to put on their socks. How to lace up their shoes.
Simple, fundamental things — done a specific way, every time.
That's where we're starting today. Learning how to put your socks on.
Most People Wait — And Most People Regret It
Here's the reality I've watched play out hundreds of times — and I mean hundreds, across five years of instructing in Oklahoma City. When most students find out they've been selected for the Academy, they get excited, they might jump on Discord or ATC Facebook groups, they consume a lot of information, and then they mostly wait.
They assume preparation really starts when they arrive in Oklahoma City for basics.
It doesn't work that way.
Basics is, honestly, a lot like college. You're sitting in a classroom, taking notes, listening to instructors, preparing for tests to advance out of basics and into the Academy itself. It's manageable.
But the second you cross that threshold from basics into the actual Academy program, everything changes.
The pace accelerates.
The complexity multiplies.
The pressure becomes real.
And if you've been waiting until basics to start building the habits and skills you need, you're already behind — and you're trying to build those habits while simultaneously being under the kind of pressure that makes clear thinking very difficult.
There is a massive difference between what basics looks like and what the Academy itself looks like. I can't stress that enough.
I've known students who waited, and some of them scraped through.
But I've also known students who waited and didn't make it — not because they lacked the ability, but because they ran out of time to develop the habits and systems they needed before the pressure got to them.
The preparation that most students try to do at the Academy level, you can be doing right now — before you ever set foot in Oklahoma City.
And if you do, you're going to arrive with something most of your classmates don't have: confidence.
The Six Drivers at Level One
Let me walk you through how each of the six drivers applies specifically to this pre-Academy stage, because this is where the foundation gets poured.
Driver One: Purpose.
Ask yourself — and I mean actually sit down and ask yourself seriously — why do you want this career?
Write it down.
Your answer needs to go deeper than the paycheck or the prestige, if you even think there's prestige involved. You're about to subject yourself to what amounts to three months of mental boot camp. What's your reason for doing that?
Every person is different, and there's no wrong answer.
But you need to know your answer, because the Academy is going to put you through failure. Not the fail-out kind necessarily, but the everyday kind — making mistakes, having bad sessions, getting knocked down and wondering if you should get back up.
What's going to get you off the mat?
Your purpose.
The reason you came to Oklahoma City in the first place.
Write it down.
Post it in your car.
Put it on your bathroom mirror so you see it every morning.
Stick it in your lunch bag.
Whatever it takes to keep that purpose front and center in your mind — do that.
Don't leave it in your head where it can fade.
Driver Two: Plan.
Even at this level, before you're anywhere near the Academy, you need to start building structure into your life.
Begin developing a study routine now.
Work on your sleep habits now.
Time management becomes critical at the Academy because you're trying to absorb and perform an enormous amount of material under pressure — but you can start practicing time management before that pressure ever arrives.
If you can build a structured daily schedule before you get to Oklahoma City, you are going to be ahead of the program.
Not just slightly ahead — meaningfully ahead.
Because your classmates who didn't do this are going to be trying to build that structure under pressure, which is one of the hardest things to do.
Driver Three: Phraseology.
In the context of level one, phraseology means the details.
Learn the phonetic alphabet, and learn it cold — not just mostly, not just when you think about it. Know it by heart before you get to Oklahoma City.
Learn the maps.
Whether you're heading into en route, tower, or TRACON, get as familiar with your map as you can before you arrive. You can find the en route non-radar map on Discord before you ever get there.
I've made a video that breaks down what everything on that map actually is, because it's one thing to look at a map and another thing entirely to understand what you're looking at.
If you're in the tower option, learn the airport diagram. Get into the details as early as you can, because every piece of map knowledge or alphabet knowledge you walk in with is one less thing you have to learn under pressure.
Driver Four: Practice.
Take those details you're learning — the alphabet, the map geography, whatever you can get your hands on — and practice them deliberately.
Build flashcards for the map and the alphabet. It's one of the simplest and most effective ways to drill those kinds of details into memory.
But here's the key thing about practice at this level: consistency beats intensity.
It's not about binging study sessions on the weekends.
It's about small daily reps, built up over time.
You cannot learn this material overnight, and you're not going to.
What you can do is build a consistent practice habit now so that when you get to level two and you're at the Academy, practice is already wired into who you are. You're not trying to establish that habit under fire — it's already there.
Driver Five: Picture.
At this level, picture looks a little different than it does when you're working a live scenario at the Academy.
Right now, your picture is about context.
Start getting a sense of the map — these are the sectors, these are the approach controls, these are the facilities you're going to be calling. What is an approach control? What's the difference between an ARTCC and a TRACON?
Look it up.
Ask someone.
Use whatever resources you have access to.
The picture at level one is fundamentally about the alphabet, the map, and the basic structure of what air traffic control actually looks like.
Get a firm grasp on those things before you get to Oklahoma City, and you'll arrive at level two with a picture already forming — instead of trying to build it from scratch while everything else is happening around you.
Driver Six: Performance.
At this level, what you're really working on is building the foundation for the confident performance you're going to need later.
The more prepared you are walking into the Academy, the more confident you're going to be. And confidence matters — not as a feeling, but as a functional tool.
The Academy is specifically designed to knock you down and see how you react. It tests your ability to perform under pressure.
If you arrive with genuine preparation already in place, you're not starting from zero when that pressure hits.
What Separates the Prepared from the Overwhelmed
If I had to put a number on it, I'd say about 30% of students feel genuinely prepared when they arrive in Oklahoma City.
The other 70% — once basics ends and the real Academy begins — are overwhelmed.
Not because they're not capable, but because they underestimated the pace at which information would come at them, and they underestimated the speed at which they'd need to take that information and actually use it.
The students who struggle most are the ones trying to build their habits while they're already under pressure.
They're trying to come up with a plan while they already feel behind.
They're trying to establish a study routine when there's no longer time to ease into one.
It doesn't work well.
There's also a specific trap I've seen highly motivated students fall into — and I want to warn you about it directly.
Some students, often those who came through CTI programs or military ATC, show up to the Academy with some experience already in their pocket. That experience is genuinely valuable. But sometimes, that experience makes them feel prepared enough.
When you feel prepared enough, you stop growing.
You stop pushing.
I've seen students start believing the good things their instructors were telling them early in the program, and then they stopped progressing. The press clippings got to them.
If there's a point in your preparation where you catch yourself thinking "I'm doing okay, I've got this covered" — treat that as a warning sign.
Warning bells should be going off.
Because the students I've seen who hit that wall and stopped pushing have sometimes been the ones who didn't make it, even though their early trajectory said otherwise.
Don't settle.
Keep your mind learning.
Keep growing.
Understand that the habits and mindset you build at level one don't get left behind when you move into level two.
They're supposed to come with you — and keep building — through the Academy, through your first facility, through certification, through your entire career.
Start Becoming the Controller You Want to Be — Today
Joe Paterno, the college football coach, said it well: "The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital."
That preparation starts today.
Not when you get your report date.
Not when you check into your hotel in Oklahoma City.
Today.
If you're reading this before you've even applied, you have an enormous head start.
If you're reading this with a report date already on your calendar, you still have time — use every day of it.
Even if you're already in Oklahoma City for basics, start today to become the controller you want to be.
One last thing, and it's probably the most important thing I'll say in this post: don't try to do this alone.
I've said it before and I'll keep saying it.
Any of these levels — pre-Academy, the Academy itself, training at your first facility — they're all genuinely difficult to navigate on your own.
Get help.
It doesn't have to be from me, though I'm always here for a free consultation call where we can talk through where you are and what's coming next.
It can be a mentor, a family member, a study partner, anyone.
Just don't go it alone.
Because you don't have to navigate your ATC journey alone.
Let's do it side by side.
Head over to sidebysideatc.com to find the resources mentioned in this post, including my free non-radar map video and the link to set up your consultation call.
FOR HELP:
To set up a FREE call: sidebysideatc.com/scheduler/free-consult
Pre-Academy
If you are heading to the Academy in the next few months, I put together a structured 90-day preparation blueprint that walks you through exactly what to focus on each month before you go. It's designed to help reduce shock and build confidence before day one. You can download it at: sidebysideatc.com/page/blueprint .
I also have a video where I explain the different things that are on the enroute Non-Radar Map. You can get that video at: sidebysideatc.com/page/map-video .
Already at the Academy
If you are already in the enroute radar portion of the Academy and feeling a little behind or lost, I have a 72-Hour Radar Recovery Plan that will help you get past those feelings and start building confidence. You can download that at : sidebysideatc.com/page/72-hourplan .
If you are interested in my Coaching Programs, you can get information at :
or
sidebysideatc.com/page/radar-recovery if you are needing help with the beginning of enroute radar.
Mentorship Program
For information about my mentorship program : https://sidebysideatc.com/page/mentorship
Questions
You can email me questions, or comments, at: tomhanes@sidebysideatc.com .
Fire Up Your Passion
Last time, I talked about the first step toward success as an air traffic controller — believing in yourself.
Today I want to build on that with the next piece: firing up your passion for this quest you're on.
Here's why this matters so much.
As a student, you're going to have moments — and I mean this literally — where you feel like you've hit rock bottom.
Where you feel like there's no possible way you could be doing worse.
I've been there myself. I've told this story before, but it's worth repeating:
When I was at the Academy, my A-lead had confidence in me and told me so, and it completely changed the direction I was headed. Later, when I was an instructor myself, I tried to give that same kind of encouragement to students when I could tell they were hitting that rock-bottom moment.
For a lot of you, that moment is going to come during your first non-radar eval.
It might be the first time in your entire life you've gotten a score below 90.
Below 80.
Below 70.
Maybe even worse.
And if you're passionate about your quest to become an air traffic controller, you can get past that.
If you believe in that quest, you can get past it.
But I won't pretend it's going to be easy.
A Story About Getting Through It
I've told this story on my podcast a lot of times, and I'll tell it again because it matters.
I had a student going through non-radar — scenarios that are intentionally tough — who had a genuinely rough night.
He and I sat together between runs, while everyone else was on break, and we just talked.
Apparently it made a difference.
He went from being deeply discouraged, wondering if this job was even for him, to performing well in non-radar.
He wasn't number one in the class heading into radar evals, but he came out of radar evals as the top student in the class.
He went on to a Center, took about two years to certify, and he's now a fully certified CPC enjoying life as a controller.
That's exactly why I keep harping on preparation before you ever get to the Academy.
You have to be ready, because once you're there, there isn't a lot of help available to you.
I'd like to change that someday, but right now, the support is limited.
Every once in a while you'll get a moment with an instructor who can talk you through it, but that's not always going to happen.
So you want to walk in with this belief in yourself and this passion for your quest already built — in place before you ever set foot in Oklahoma City.
That way, when you get punched in the gut and feel like you can't breathe, like there's no way forward, that belief and that passion are what carry you through.
Why Passion, Specifically
I know it sounds strange to talk about passion in the same breath as air traffic control.
But I believe passion is the first step to real achievement, and it's nearly impossible to achieve something you don't actually desire.
Passion is what keeps the fire burning inside you.
It keeps you moving forward even when everything around you — even temporarily — is telling you to stop, that you might as well give up.
That inner fire is what keeps you going, and that's exactly why it matters so much in this conversation about making the right choices for success.
Passion does a couple of specific things for you.
First, it produces energy.
You're going to have stretches where you have nothing left in the tank — I've seen it plenty of times.
You're going to get tired.
You're going to be running on something close to no sleep some nights.
But when eval time comes, I always told every class I worked with as an A-lead or lead that the single most important thing they could do in the final couple of nights beforehand was sleep.
I had a student once tell me he hadn't slept in a week. I told him honestly, there wasn't much I could do about that at that point.
But if you're in that spot, running on fumes with evals bearing down on you, genuine passion for making it through the Academy and doing well will give you energy when you don't think you have any left.
Second, passion is the foundation for excellence.
Look through history at anyone — in any field — who's excellent, who's at the top of their particular area.
Without exception, they're passionate about what they do and passionate about reaching the top.
That's not a coincidence.
My Goal for You Isn't Just Passing
I want to be clear about something.
Passing is the minimum goal.
My actual goal for you is that you excel — not just at the Academy, but far beyond it.
I want you to become the kind of controller who can sit down at the busiest sector in the country — which, by definition, means the busiest in the world — working the heaviest, most complex traffic, with weather making it even worse, and have everyone in that building know without question that you're the best person they have for that situation.
That's what I want for you at the Academy too.
I want your evaluators watching you and wondering, almost in awe, how you got that good.
That's the bar I want every one of you reaching for.
And if you go back to believing in yourself, believing in your potential, believing in your quest, and then add real passion for that quest on top of it, you can become that person.
Not just an air traffic controller — one of the best.
Putting This Into Practice
If you're reading this before heading to Oklahoma City, get your belief in yourself and your passion for this quest locked in before you go.
If you're already at the Academy, carve out some time — even just one evening — and work on it.
Write it down, journal it, record yourself talking it through on your phone so you can listen back to it later.
However you do it, spend the time building up your belief in yourself, your belief in your potential, and your reasons for being passionate about this quest.
Be honest with yourself about why you're doing this and why it's worth the fight.
It doesn't matter if it's the night before your radar evals — you can still do this work, and it can genuinely help.
It might be the difference between passing and not passing.
Again, I want more than just passing for you.
I want you to excel like nobody's excelled before, and then carry that into your first facility — tower, Center, TRACON, wherever you land — and keep excelling every single day in training.
That doesn't mean you'll be perfect.
You won't be.
You think the Academy is hard?
Wait until training starts.
But I believe you can excel anyway, and if you believe it too, you're already well on your way to making it happen.
Keep working on this.
Keep building it.
We'll continue building on these ideas as we move further into this series, because believing in yourself and firing up your passion aren't one-time decisions — they're choices you keep making, over and over, all the way through this career.
FOR HELP:
To set up a FREE call: sidebysideatc.com/scheduler/free-consult
Pre-Academy
If you are heading to the Academy in the next few months, I put together a structured 90-day preparation blueprint that walks you through exactly what to focus on each month before you go. It's designed to help reduce shock and build confidence before day one. You can download it at: sidebysideatc.com/page/blueprint .
I also have a video where I explain the different things that are on the enroute Non-Radar Map. You can get that video at: sidebysideatc.com/page/map-video .
Already at the Academy
If you are already in the enroute radar portion of the Academy and feeling a little behind or lost, I have a 72-Hour Radar Recovery Plan that will help you get past those feelings and start building confidence. You can download that at : sidebysideatc.com/page/72-hourplan .
If you are interested in my Coaching Programs, you can get information at :
or
sidebysideatc.com/page/radar-recovery if you are needing help with the beginning of enroute radar.
Mentorship Program
For information about my mentorship program : https://sidebysideatc.com/page/mentorship
Questions
You can email me questions, or comments, at: tomhanes@sidebysideatc.com .