Believe in Yourself: The First Choice You Have to Make
I'm kicking off a new series today.
The series is built around a simple but powerful idea: success as an air traffic controller is a choice.
If you've been reading for a while, you know I'm a big fan of Dr. John Maxwell, the leadership author.
I've been pouring over his books trying to improve areas of my own life. This new series is built on his book "Success Is a Choice," and we're going to work through it and figure out how it applies to us as controllers — and to you as students and young people chasing this career.
You've Already Started Making Choices
Maxwell opens his book by saying you have to commit to choices that bring success.
If you're already at the Academy, you've made several of these choices already, even if you didn't think of them that way.
You chose to apply on USAJOBS when the FAA put out a bid for controllers.
You chose to pursue this dream.
Then you took the test, and apparently you did well enough to get here.
You've made choices all along the way to reach the point you're at right now — whether that's the Academy or a CTI school. You took your dream and put it into action. That's not something everyone does.
A lot of people have a dream and just leave it sitting there.
You didn't.
You chose to act on it, and that's the beginning choice, the foundational one everything else builds on.
It doesn't really matter what your motivation was — maybe you were just looking for a job, maybe you had family who'd done this work and it planted the seed.
The motivation that gets you to act isn't nearly as important as the fact that you chose to act at all.
Talent Is Never Going to Be Enough
Here's something to understand as you move forward: talent alone is never going to carry you.
This is especially true at the Academy, and just as true at CTI school.
At CTI, you're going from almost no knowledge to gaining real skills — they're teaching you, giving you tools, but it's on you to turn those skills into talent.
If you're at the Academy and came from a CTI background, you already have some skills in your pocket.
Either way, your instructors — in the classroom and in the lab — are going to keep handing you more and more skills.
But those are skills you have to choose to develop. Nobody does that part for you.
Maxwell puts it this way: "Talent is God-given. [Success is] doing a great job of playing the hand you've been dealt."
Every one of you has talents, areas where you're naturally strong.
What matters is what you choose to do with them.
Are you content sitting on what you've got, or are you determined to become as good as you possibly can?
That's the real difference-maker when it comes to success in this career.
There's even a Dr. Seuss quote in Maxwell's book that fits surprisingly well here: "You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose."
Every one of you has the brainpower and the talent.
What you choose to do with it is up to you.
Believing You Deserve to Be There
The next crucial step toward success is believing in yourself.
You have to believe you can do this genuinely difficult thing — succeeding at the FAA Academy, or succeeding at your CTI program.
Neither one is easy. They're both incredibly demanding.
When I was instructing in Oklahoma City, we used to tell students that the three months at the Academy is remarkably similar to military boot camp.
The difference is that boot camp hits you mentally and physically, in large doses of both.
The Academy is almost entirely mental.
Taking care of yourself physically will absolutely help — it does wonders for your ability to adapt and push through — but make no mistake, the Academy is boot camp from a mental standpoint.
Here's the thing about it: the Academy is designed to challenge you.
It's going to knock you down, let you get back up, and knock you down again — sometimes within the same lab scenario.
You'll have a stretch where you're buried under five things at once, then a quiet moment, then boom, five more things land on you.
It's built that way on purpose, and you need to prepare yourself for it.
Part of that preparation is believing you deserve to be there in the first place.
I've worked with students who simply didn't have confidence in themselves, and it's brutally difficult to push through everything the Academy throws at you without that belief.
Go back to where we started — you chose to apply, you chose to take the test, you chose to go through every single step the FAA required to get you into a car or onto a plane headed to Oklahoma City.
At any point along that road, you could have stopped.
You didn't.
You kept going, even without knowing exactly what was waiting for you — and I'll tell you, even if you know someone who went through it a few years ago, the program changes constantly.
Be careful where you get your information, because it might already be outdated.
Believing in yourself means believing in your potential to learn what you need to learn.
It's not only about confidence — it's about trusting that you have the capacity to actually become an air traffic controller.
And without some kind of support system, it's going to be hard to hold onto that belief for the entire program, because, again, it's designed to knock you down and make you question whether you belong there.
When that happens, you have to fall back on your belief that you have the potential to get where you're trying to go.
The Story That Sticks With Me
Maxwell tells a story in his book that I think about often.
A professor stood in front of thirty senior molecular biology students before handing out the final exam. He told them he knew how hard they'd worked all semester, that most of them were heading to medical school or grad school, and that he understood the pressure they were under to protect their GPA. Because he was confident they knew the material, he offered an automatic B to anyone who wanted to skip the final.
The relief in the room was audible.
A bunch of students got up immediately and thanked him for the lifeline.
He asked if there were any other takers — last chance.
One more student decided to leave.
Then he handed the final exam to everyone who stayed.
It was two sentences long: "Congratulations. You have just received an A in this class. Keep believing in yourself."
The students who left didn't believe in themselves.
The ones who stayed did.
That's the whole point.
Believing in yourself is everything.
Maxwell closes that chapter by saying you should live the life you were meant to live — try to see yourself as you could be, and then do everything in your power to believe you can become that person.
I think that's the first and most important step toward becoming a successful air traffic controller.
What This Means for You
If you're reading this before you head to Oklahoma City, get this belief locked in now.
If you're already at the Academy, take some time — it doesn't have to be long, even just one evening — and work on building it.
Write it out, journal it, record yourself saying it on your phone so you can listen back.
However you do it, take the time to reinforce your belief in yourself and your belief in your own potential.
And it doesn't matter if it's the night before your radar evals.
You can still get to this point, and it can help — it might even be the difference between passing and not passing.
Every student I worked with in Oklahoma City had potential.
Every controller I've ever worked alongside has potential.
You have to believe that about yourself first.
Once you do, you're already on your way to making it happen.
Next time, we'll build on this with the second piece of the puzzle: firing up your passion.
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 .
The Picture Nobody Talks About the Right Way
I owe you guys an apology.
It took me 100 episodes to get to the topic I'm covering today, and that's a problem because this isn't just another driver of ATC success.
This is the essence of air traffic control.
Everything else we've talked about — purpose, plan, phraseology, practice — all of it feeds into this one. So let's fix that oversight right now.
This week's driver is Picture.
What Everyone Gets Wrong About "The Big Picture"
I want to start with a quote from Wayne Gretzky: "Good players see openings, great players anticipate them."
A lot of people — instructors, controllers, old-timers who've been doing this for decades — will tell you that being a great air traffic controller is all about holding the big picture in your head. Keeping the whole sector, the whole pattern, the whole traffic situation up there in your mind at once.
I don't think that's true.
And I don't care what option you're in — tower, TRACON, en route — I don't care if you're at the Academy, at a CTI school, or working live traffic right now.
It's not the big, overarching picture you need to worry about.
Let me give you an example from just a few days ago. I'm still actively controlling — yes, even after 37 years between controlling and instructing, including five years at the Academy, I'm back working live traffic at a tower.
I had six aircraft in my pattern. I had additional aircraft landing. I told one guy he was number six when I cleared him for a touch and go.
Do I need a big picture of how all six of those airplanes fit together?
No. I don't.
What I need is a very focused picture of how airplane one interacts with airplane two, how airplane two interacts with airplane one and airplane three, and so on down the line.
I don't need to think about how number four and number five interact with number one, because they're not interacting at all.
There's no relationship there.
So this week, I want to talk about the picture you actually need to build — not as a student, but as a controller.
And I'm going to explain it using your TV.
Pixels, Not Pictures
When I was a kid, our TV had one tube. It started out black and white — that's how old I am, and honestly, that's also how little money we had. We eventually got color, but it was still just the one picture, all at once.
Today's TVs have millions of pixels.
Each one is essentially its own tiny screen, and each one plays its own small part in the image you see.
You never look at a single pixel and think "that's the picture."
The picture is the result of every pixel doing its job correctly.
That is air traffic control.
What air traffic controllers actually do, minute to minute, is figure out the relationship between one airplane and another airplane.
Over and over.
Constantly.
I don't need to figure out the relationship between a guy 40 miles away and another guy on the opposite side of my sector — there is no relationship there. So why would I try to hold 30 or 40 airplanes in my head at once when really, all I'm doing is moving from one relationship to the next?
Picture a sequencing sector on radar.
You're looking at one airplane.
Then the one in front of him, and the one behind him.
Can I turn him? Do I need to? How's his speed compared to the guy behind him?
Now you move to the next airplane and ask the same questions.
Then the next.
And the next.
You're constantly cycling through one-on-one relationships — never trying to hold the whole chain in your head simultaneously.
Same thing in non-radar en route.
Toward the end of the labs, and definitely in your evals, you might have 10 to 15 strips on your strip board.
The single fastest way to tank a problem is to look at all those strips at once and try to figure out how you're going to separate everyone simultaneously.
Don't do that.
Look at one strip at a time.
Take care of that one thing, then the next thing, then the next.
You're not trying to see the whole picture — you're building it, one pixel at a time.
I'm going to say that phrase a few more times in this post, because I want it to stick: take care of the pixels, and the picture takes care of itself.
Why Students Struggle
Here's the first mistake I see over and over at the Academy: students try to see the big picture instead of building it.
There's an old saying — you can't see the forest for the trees.
Flip it.
You can't see the trees for the forest.
When you sit back and try to take in everything at once — every strip, every blip on the scope, your ACL, your EDST — you miss details.
And missing details at the Academy means losing points. Fast.
Go back to the TV analogy.
Imagine watching your TV and pixels start going dark, one at a time.
Every detail you miss is a pixel going black.
Miss enough details, and whole sections of your picture disappear.
You're not going to see anything clearly anymore.
The second mistake is related but distinct: students try to do everything at once.
Your brain starts spinning at a thousand miles an hour, but your hand writing on strips or your mouth keying up on frequency can't keep pace.
Even trying to juggle two or three things simultaneously is too much.
Air traffic control, especially in the en route option, demands precision because there are so many airplanes involved.
You cannot focus on two things at once and do either one correctly.
You have to do one thing.
Do it right.
Get the readback.
Go to the next thing.
Do it right.
Get the readback.
Go to the next.
That's the rhythm — and it's the only rhythm that works.
How You Actually Build It
So how do you go from trying to hold everything in your head to building the picture the right way?
One task at a time.
Completely.
Then you move to the next.
At the start, this is going to feel painfully slow.
It is slow — at first.
But you keep building, one piece at a time.
If a higher priority interrupts you mid-task, write yourself a note about where you were.
Hold it in your hand if you have to.
Go take care of the priority.
Then come back to your note when you can.
I stole that exact technique from a student years ago, and I've told that story on my podcast before because it works.
One thing at a time — that's all any of us can do.
It's all supercomputers do, too.
They just do it incredibly fast.
As you gain experience, you'll start moving from task to task to task so quickly it looks like you're holding multiple things at once. You're not.
You're still doing one thing at a time — your brain has just trained itself to anticipate three, four, five moves ahead.
But execution still happens one task at a time.
Mess that up, and it doesn't matter what your plan was.
You're starting over.
This is exactly why, on your non-radar checklist, the last step before the clock starts is establishing your priorities.
You identify the first three, four, five moves you need to make.
Then you execute them one at a time.
Do the first priority on your list, finish it, and line through it. Done.
Now do the next item on your list. Finish it. Line through it. Done.
Keep going until your list is finished. Done.
Now the rest of the scenario can begin.
You're never thinking about all five simultaneously — you're thinking about the one in front of you.
Here's what it looks like in practice.
In the tower: you're clearing a guy to land.
You can't clear someone for takeoff yet because the landing guy hasn't cleared the runway.
The moment he does, takeoff becomes your next priority.
You keep cycling through your priorities, one at a time, constantly scanning for what's next.
In non-radar: you're working a clearance request, halfway through your steps, and two more clearance calls come in back to back.
You give expected departure clearance times, drop them into the active bay, pull your estimates, mark up what needs coordination, and set them aside — cocked off so you don't forget them.
Then you go back and finish the clearance you were originally working.
One at a time.
Always.
In radar, it's really the only way it can work.
You're constantly assessing one airplane against another — speeds, altitudes, sequence.
Who's three?
Who's four?
Back to one — cleared in.
Now two — can I clear him?
You're cycling through, one relationship at a time, just fast enough that it looks continuous.
When It Clicks
If you do one thing correctly, over and over, you get faster at recognizing the one thing that needs to happen next.
And when you reach that point, something remarkable happens — everything, including your own brain, slows down.
That's the moment everything clicks.
Your confidence goes through the roof, and you know, without a doubt, that you can handle whatever the FAA throws at you!
That moment can happen at the Academy.
It can happen at your first facility.
It can happen at any time, in any place — as long as you don't give up.
That recognition only comes from experience, and at the Academy, you have zero experience to draw on yet.
That's exactly why you have to practice the fundamentals until they become second nature.
Once you're not stopping to think about how to do something, you can spend all your mental energy recognizing what needs to be done next.
That's the entire job.
Recognize what needs to be done next, and go do it.
That's the picture, built one pixel at a time, until it's something everyone — including you — can look at and admire.
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 .
Driver #4: Practice —Practice Until You Can't Get It Wrong
Let's talk about practice.
Driver #4 in our Six Drivers of ATC Success series is where I want to dig all the way in, because practice is — without question — the single biggest factor in whether you pass or fail at the FAA Academy.
I want to start with a quote from Michael Jordan. He said, "I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. And that is why I succeed."
Think about that for a second.
One of the greatest athletes who ever lived built his success on failure.
On doing the work even when it didn't go right.
On missing shots — thousands of them — and coming back every single time.
At the Academy, you are going to miss shots too.
You're going to have bad runs.
You're going to mess things up.
That is not a warning — that is a guarantee.
Here's the thing: that's exactly what the Academy is designed for. That's why they give you the time they give you. But the students who make it, who pass, aren't the ones who avoid mistakes.
They're the ones who use those mistakes to get better.
It's Not Like Anything You've Done Before
One of the most important things I can tell you about the Academy is this: it is not college.
Basics is actually what sets a lot of students up for a rude awakening, because Basics is kind of like college. You're memorizing. You're taking tests. You're getting information down in your head. And you can do really well in Basics by studying hard the way you studied in school.
Then you get to the Academy itself — and the game changes completely.
The tests at the Academy are worth 20 points out of 100. You need 70 to pass. You can get a perfect score on every single test and still fail. Why? Because you can't put it into practice.
The Academy isn't about head knowledge. It's about taking that knowledge and being able to use it — in real time, under pressure, with someone watching you and a clock ticking.
That's why practice is a driver.
Not just a driver — for en route students especially, it might be the driver.
What Practice Actually Means
Here's where a lot of students get it wrong. They think practice means putting in hours. And yes — the time you put in absolutely has a direct correlation to your final score.
But practice is not just about quantity. It's about quality.
Specifically, it's about repetition with a purpose.
What does that mean?
It means you're not just running through things to run through them.
You're getting the phraseology to the point where you cannot do it wrong.
You're building the steps into your muscle memory — the thinking process, the clearance delivery, the strip marking — until doing it correctly is automatic.
And I need you to hear me on this:
If you're practicing and it's not perfect, all you're doing is setting in your mind a way of doing things that is incorrect.
You're wiring in the wrong answer.
That's worse than not practicing at all.
Your practice has to aim at perfection. Every rep.
You Cannot Do This Alone
One of the most common mistakes I see — and I mean consistently, class after class — is students trying to practice by themselves.
Here's the problem with that.
When you say the phraseology out loud by yourself, it sounds right to you. Of course it does. You're the one saying it, and you're the one judging it. You need someone outside yourself to hold you to the standard.
Your classmates are that someone. And you have to commit to each other.
You have to be willing to be brutally honest — with kindness, but with honesty. Hey, that clearance wasn't right. Run it again. Here's what was off.
That's not criticism. That's how you help each other pass.
I've seen it happen. I've seen a class go 13 for 13 — every single person passed. That doesn't happen by accident.
It happens because that class committed to each other and held each other to an incredibly high standard.
I also saw something in my own class that I've shared before, but it bears repeating.
Two guys. Pilot backgrounds. On the first graded scenario, both scored in the 90s. They were well on their way to passing. All they had to do was keep doing what they were doing.
But they stopped practicing with the class.
They thought they didn't need to.
And they didn't pass.
They didn't even hit 60.
Don't make that mistake.
Background doesn't protect you.
CTI experience doesn't protect you.
Military experience doesn't protect you.
I've seen all of those students struggle, and I've seen all of them excel.
What makes the difference isn't what you came in with. It's what you choose to do with the time you have.
Three Types of Practice You Need
Let me break it down into three specific types, because not all practice is created equal.
The first is repetition practice.
This is the foundation. You're drilling phraseology, clearances, procedures — over and over and over again.
The goal isn't to get it right eventually.
The goal is to get it right automatically.
The thinking process, the steps, the script marking — all of it needs to become second nature.
This is true for tower, TRACON, and en route.
The method is the same: do it until doing it wrong feels impossible.
The second is weak point practice.
And this is the one most students avoid, because it's uncomfortable.
We all naturally gravitate toward practicing what we're already good at. I do it with golf. I'd rather hit shots I know I can make than practice the ones that give me trouble. But the only shots that can hurt you in a round are the ones you can't make.
Same thing at the Academy.
The things that are giving you trouble — those are the ones you need to work hardest.
Find the scenario that crushed you and run it again. Find a classmate who's doing well at something you're struggling with and ask for help.
Fix those gaps early, because weak spots have a way of showing up exactly when you can't afford them.
The third is pressure practice.
This one is the most powerful and the hardest to replicate. You have to try to simulate eval conditions during your study sessions.
That means time pressure.
That means someone watching.
That means raising the stakes as high as you can get them in a practice environment.
In Non-radar, if you have 10 minutes to complete a clearance, cut your practice time to seven. Or six. Or five.
Make your classmate feel what it's going to feel like in that room with an evaluator. Let them do the same for you.
Here's why this matters: if you don't practice under pressure, the eval will be the first time you ever feel it.
And that is not the moment you want to discover how you perform under stress.
The Mindset You Need
There's a principle I come back to constantly, and it applies here: consistency beats intensity every time.
You don't need to have one massive practice session.
You need daily repetitions.
A plan.
A structure outside of the classroom that your whole class commits to and sticks with.
Not occasional cramming — consistent, focused, daily work.
And this is something I can tell you from experience sitting on the other side of the glass: instructors can tell.
We can tell who's putting in the work.
We can tell who's practicing the right way.
It shows up in how you move, how you talk, how you handle something unexpected. You can't fake it.
Here's the other thing I want you to sit with.
When you're in that eval, you're not going to rise to the occasion.
I want to be really clear about that.
You're going to fall back on the level of your practice.
That's not a bad thing — if your practice has been at a high level, that's exactly what you want.
The students who pass don't dig down deep and find something extra in the moment. They coast on the foundation they built before they walked into that room.
Build that foundation now.
Start before you get to Oklahoma City.
Memorize the maps.
Get in the habit of daily repetition.
Get into the mindset of taking what you know in your head and putting it into action.
Most students don't know what really effective practice looks like until it's almost too late.
You don't have to be one of them.
Don't Practice Until You Get It Right
I'll close with something from Derek Jeter, and it's one of the best pieces of advice I've ever heard for Academy students.
Don't practice until you get it right. Practice until you can't get it wrong.
That's the standard.
At the Academy, you're not going to be perfect.
The goal is to be perfect — but what you actually need is to have practiced so thoroughly, so consistently, and so well that when it counts, it is genuinely difficult for you to make a mistake.
That's what the best students do.
That's what the 13-for-13 classes do.
That's what this driver is all about.
You've got this.
But you've got to put in the work.
Ready to build a practice plan that actually prepares you for the Academy? Set up a free call at sidebysideatc.com and let's talk about where you are and how to get where you want to be.
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 .
The Hardest Thing About the FAA Academy, Part Two:
The Power of Five
When I wrapped up the blog last Monday on the hardest thing about the FAA Academy, I thought I was done.
I really did. I figured I'd said what I needed to say and we'd move on. But then something happened.
I was driving to work at the tower, listening to a podcast on the way in — a John Maxwell podcast.
Some of you know the name. He does leadership content, and it's excellent.
The episode I was listening to was called The Power of Five.
And by the time I pulled into the parking lot, I knew I had to do a part two.
So here's the story. And then here's why it matters so much to you.
The Guy With the Axe
John Maxwell tells a story about going out into his backyard and deciding he wants to cut down a tree. So he picks up an axe, takes five swings at the tree, puts the axe down, and goes back inside.
The next day, same thing. Five swings. Back inside.
He does this every single day, and eventually — you already know where this is going — the tree falls down.
Simple story.
But what he pulls out of it is anything but simple, and when I heard it on the way to work that day, I thought: this is exactly what it takes to get through the FAA Academy. Every piece of it.
So let's go through the five.
One: Have a Clear Goal
In the story, Maxwell knows which tree he wants to cut down. He's not wandering around the backyard wondering what to do. He has a target.
When you get to the academy, your goal is not complicated: pass.
That's it. Pass the academy.
It's tangible, it's specific, it's achievable. Write it down if you have to. Say it out loud. Know exactly what you're working toward, because everything else on this list depends on it.
Two: Use the Right Tool
Maxwell makes a point that really stuck with me. What if instead of an axe, he'd grabbed a baseball bat? Sure, maybe eventually you'd wear the tree down. But it would take forever, and the whole time you'd be fighting against the wrong instrument.
At the academy, the FAA gives you a lot of tools.
Instructors, leads, A leads, curriculum — there's a whole structure built around helping you succeed. Your job is to recognize those tools for what they are and actually use them.
Not all tools are created equal, and not everything someone outside the academy hands you is going to serve you the way the right tools will.
Be smart about what you're picking up and swinging.
Three: Take Action
This one sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised how many students don't really grasp it until it's too late.
You can have the clearest goal in the world. You can have the best tools sitting right in front of you. But if you're not swinging the axe — if you're just sharpening it, thinking about it, reading about it, talking about it — the tree doesn't move. Not even a little.
At the academy, taking action means practicing.
It means running the non-radar problems out loud.
It means drilling the phraseology until it's automatic.
It means opening the book and actually studying for the tests instead of telling yourself you'll get to it later.
Without action, passing the academy stays a dream.
With it, it becomes a goal. And goals are things you can actually reach.
Four: Stay Focused
This is the one that I've watched derail more students than almost anything else. And I want to tell you a story that illustrates exactly what I mean.
I had two students in the same class — this was right around COVID. One had come from a CTI school, one had come out of the military. Both of them walked in confident, ready to go.
Then COVID hit, they sent everybody home, we shifted to Zoom for a month or so, and then eventually brought everyone back to Oklahoma City.
During that time away from the building, one student stayed locked in. He kept studying, kept working, kept his eye on the target.
The other student took his eyes off of his goal. He DID have a lot of distraction going on and it was somewhat understandable that he was not focusing on the Academy.
But the difference in outcomes between those two students was stark.
One passed. One didn't. And it wasn't about ability. It was about focus.
The academy is not something most people can get through on autopilot.
It takes everything you've got for those three months.
Your family will understand. Your friends will still be there when you're done.
But right now, for this window of time, passing the academy has to be your main thing.
Not one of your main things.
The main thing.
And this applies inside the scenarios too. When you're running a non-radar problem or working a radar eval, or working in the tower sim, or TRACON sim, the principle is the same: find the thing that needs doing, focus on it completely, finish it, and then move to the next one.
Don't let your eyes drift to the other tree.
Five: Be Consistent
Every day. Five swings. Same tree.
Maxwell doesn't take fifty swings on Monday and then skip Tuesday through Friday.
He doesn't go out on Saturday and stare at the tree and call that progress.
He shows up every single day and does the work.
That's what makes the tree fall.
Not intensity on one day — consistency across all of them.
At the academy, that means starting a study group with your classmates from day one. From day one.
Actually, if you can, start before day one.
A lot of you are going through basics together — take advantage of that. Get a group going online before you even land in Oklahoma City. Then when you get there, keep it going.
Here's something I've seen over and over that I want you to really understand: the best way to cement what you're learning is to help someone else learn it.
If you want to truly lock in a concept, teach it to a classmate. Explain the rule. Walk them through the phraseology. Quiz them.
The act of teaching forces your own understanding to get sharper. It works every time.
I've watched classes finish their non-radar evals and then just... stop studying together. The group dissolves. Everybody goes back to their room and figures they'll grind solo through the radar phase.
And some of them make it, but a lot of them don't. And then I've watched other classes do the exact opposite — they finish non-radar and find new things to study together. They drill point-out phraseology. They challenge each other on keyboard entries. They push each other all the way to the last eval day.
Those classes help each other succeed. And the ones who give the most tend to gain the most.
Consistency all the way through.
Not just when it's easy.
Not just when you feel like it.
Every day.
Don't Give Away Points You'll Need Later
I want to shift gears here and talk about something very practical, because I've seen it cost students the academy.
There's a map test that comes in about two and a half weeks into your time there. It's worth two points. And every single class, someone says: it's only two points. I've heard it a hundred times. And I've also watched students miss passing the entire academy by less than a point.
I had a student — this was near the end of my time at the academy — who came into the breakout room after his last eval. He was so excited. Walked through the door, huge smile. And he looked across the room at one of his classmates who was sitting there crying.
This guy had missed passing by one single point on his last eval. One point. The FAA kept him waiting for over an hour while they went back through everything — every eval, every score — trying to find a way to give him that point. And in the end, they couldn't. The deductions were legitimate. There was nothing to be done.
So when they tell you the map test is only worth two points — it's worth two points.
Treat every point like it might be the one that saves you.
The breakdown, for those of you doing en route, looks like this: the tests add up to 20 points, the non-radar evals are worth 14, and that leaves 66 points sitting on those final two radar eval days. You need 70 to pass. Could you go into your radar evals with four points on the board and still technically pass? Mathematically, yes.
We used to joke about that. But don't try it.
I've watched students who were in the top five of their class absolutely blow a radar eval and end up at a facility that wasn't their first choice.
Don't let that be you.
When You Don't Score What You're Used To
Here's the other piece of this I want to leave you with, because it connects to everything we've talked about.
I had a student in one of my classes who came out of her first radar eval looking devastated. I happened to be in the hallway — I wasn't supposed to have contact with students on eval days, but I could see her face. I asked how it went and she gave me two thumbs down. Then she came over and I asked what her score was.
Sixty.
She was in tears. And I looked at her and I said: 60 is not bad. Not for your first radar eval. The first time in that lab, doing that problem, with all that pressure — it is the hardest one. Not because the problem itself is the most complex, but because it's the first time.
The others get easier, even when they're technically harder, because you've been in there before.
I tried to reassure her that she still had evals left, that this wasn't the end, that she had what it took.
One of the FAA supervisors came out of the lab just as we were talking, and I explained we hadn't discussed the problem itself. He just nodded and said: "Well, apparently that's what she needed to hear."
The next day, after all the radar evals were done, she passed. And I'll tell you — the hug I got from that young lady was the biggest one I ever got as an instructor.
Here's the point. You're not used to scoring 60.
Maybe you're not even used to scoring 70.
The academy operates on a different scale than anything you've done before.
A 70 is passing. A 60 on your first radar eval is not a disaster.
Don't let a number on one day make you forget the goal, set down the tool, stop swinging, or lose your consistency.
The power of five works.
I've watched it work.
Keep swinging.
As always, if you've got questions, reach out at tomhaynes@sidebysideatc.com. Leave a comment, share this with someone who needs it, and remember — 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 .
Driver #3 - Phraseology
And Here's Why It'll Make or Break You in Your ATC Career
Welcome back to another look at the six drivers of ATC success.
If you've been following along, you know we've been building toward this one. Driver number three is phraseology — and I don't just mean the words.
I mean the whole picture: communicating what you actually intend to say, and listening — really listening — to what a pilot is actually saying back to you.
Not what you think they said. What they said.
That distinction right there? That's the whole ball game.
It's Not About Memorizing Words
Here's something I've watched play out over and over again at the academy.
A student comes in, and they've done the work. They've studied the 7110.65. They can recite phraseology. They've got the words. And then they sit down in the lab, the scenario starts running, and it all falls apart.
Why?
Because there's a massive difference between memorizing phraseology and understanding phraseology.
Memorization gets you the words.
Understanding gets you the right words, in the right situation, delivered the right way, at the right time.
And that second part — that's what the academy is actually testing.
The 7110.65 dedicates a huge section to how we communicate as controllers, and that's not an accident.
It's that important. Clear communication isn't a soft skill in this job. It is the job. When your phraseology is solid, you're telling that pilot exactly what you need them to do, in a way that leaves absolutely no room for doubt. When it breaks down, everything else breaks down with it.
What Happens When It Falls Apart
Picture this. You're running a scenario, and in the back of your mind there's a quiet alarm going off. How do I say this? Is this right? What's the phraseology for this situation? That little voice is eating up brain real estate — and it's going to cost you.
When part of your brain is busy figuring out how to say something, the other part doesn't have the bandwidth to understand what's happening in the scenario. You hesitate. You start overthinking. You know you're falling behind, and so you just start saying stuff to fill the silence. And that — just saying stuff — is one of the fastest roads to a bad score at the academy.
The spiral is real. You mess up a clearance, you have to say that wonderful word correction, go back and restart, and the whole time your brain is screaming tick, tick, tick. The clock is moving. You're losing ground. And now it's even harder to get the phraseology right because you're already rattled.
I've seen it happen. I've watched students unravel in real time, and it almost always traces back to phraseology that wasn't locked in before the pressure started.
And in the radar lab, the stakes get higher fast.
In non-radar, a phraseology error might cost you a fraction of a point. Walk that same bad habit into the radar lab and it's two points per error. Ten of those and the best score you can pull is an 80. Another ten and you're looking at a 60.
That's how fast it adds up.
That's how important phraseology is.
What Happens When You've Got It
Now flip that around. Your phraseology is locked in. It's clean, it's clear, it's textbook. You give a clearance, the pilot reads it back, you catch any errors, you move on. Clean. Quick. Confident.
Something interesting happens when you reach that point.
The scenario slows down. I know that sounds backwards, but it's true.
When you're not burning brainpower on how to say something, you suddenly have capacity to actually see what's happening. Aircraft that felt like they were moving fast start to feel manageable. Problems that seemed like they came out of nowhere start to show up early enough to solve.
Your confidence goes up. And confidence in ATC isn't just a feeling — it has practical effects.
The other pilots on frequency can hear it. When they hear you give a clear, confident clearance and catch a bad readback, they know someone competent is running that sector. It calms them. It builds trust. And that trust makes everything run smoother.
On the other hand, when phraseology is sloppy, when transmissions ramble, when pilots hear things that don't sound quite right — everybody on frequency tenses up. That tension compounds.
The last thing you need when you're busy is a frequency full of confused, anxious pilots calling back to verify something you should have said correctly the first time.
So How Do You Get There?
Number one: make it your top priority.
Not one of your priorities. The top one. Whether you're in tower, TRACON, non-radar, radar — the phraseology for your option has to come first. Before you worry about traffic management, before you worry about strip marking, before anything else. Get the phraseology right.
Practice it out loud.
This is non-negotiable. You cannot develop phraseology by reading it silently or thinking through it in your head.
You have to say it.
Your mouth has to form the words.
Your ears have to hear it.
Get a classmate, take turns being the pilot and the controller, and hold each other accountable.
If the phraseology isn't textbook, stop. Do it again. Don't let bad habits cement themselves because you let something slide in practice.
There's a reason the instructors in the non-radar lab will stop the clock when you miss a clearance phraseology-wise, especially in those first few days.
They're not punishing you.
They're protecting you from locking in the wrong version of something.
Take advantage of that.
Don't chase speed.
I know the temptation. You hear controllers on LiveATC moving fast and it sounds impressive, and when you're running a scenario you feel like speed equals competence. It doesn't.
There used to be a saying on the walls of every classroom at the academy: fast is slow, slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
Focus on getting it right every single time, and speed will come on its own.
I've watched it happen over and over again.
But when controllers chase speed before accuracy, they end up going backwards — fast mistakes are still mistakes, and they're harder to catch.
Use every resource you've got.
Send your spouse or partner flashcard content so they can drill you over FaceTime.
Point to your strips as you work through clearances.
Talk ATC until it becomes uncomfortable not to.
The goal is to get to a place where the phraseology isn't something you're doing — it's just how you communicate.
The Real-World Stakes
I'll tell you something from my own time working live traffic.
I had a pilot on final who was about to touch down with his gear up. And what I needed to say to him had to be immediate, clear, and unmistakable — because if it wasn't, he was going to crash.
The phraseology that came out was textbook, straight out of the 7110.65. He went around. He got back on downwind and said, thank you, I was going to land.
I almost told him: no, you were going to crash. That wasn't going to be a landing.
The phraseology worked because it was second nature. There was no hesitation. No fumbling for words. The situation was serious and the communication matched that seriousness. That's the goal.
Now, when you're at the academy, nobody's going to crash if you flub a clearance. I know that.
But bad phraseology at the academy becomes bad phraseology at your facility. And at your facility, it's not about losing points — it's about whether a pilot stops at the altitude you actually told him, or a different one, and conflicts with somebody else.
I've seen that happen too.
The Foundation You're Building
Here's the other piece of this that I want to leave you with.
Every facility does phraseology just a little bit different. Every trainer has their preferences. When you get to your first facility, you'll have to adapt. But if you built a solid foundation at the academy — if the fundamentals are locked in, if textbook phraseology is your baseline — that adaptation is easy. You're adjusting an already-strong foundation, not building one from scratch under live-traffic pressure.
George Bernard Shaw once said that "the single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has actually taken place."
That hits hard in this job.
As controllers, we fall into that trap constantly.
We think we said something clearly.
The pilot heard something different.
Both sides walk away thinking they're on the same page — until they're not.
Don't be that controller.
Clear communication in air traffic control isn't just helpful. It is essential. Learn the phraseology early. Practice it relentlessly. Make it your first language. And when it clicks — and it will click if you put in the work — you'll feel the difference immediately. The scenario slows down. Your confidence goes up. Things you used to miss, you start to catch.
That's the payoff. That's why phraseology is Driver #3.
Next time, we're digging into driver number four: practice. And not just the idea of practice — what it actually looks like, and how to do it in a way that builds real competency instead of just logging hours. Stay tuned.
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 .