AVIATOR LEARNING LAB “If we worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true really is true, then there would be little hope for advance.” (Orville Wright)
AVIATOR RULE 1: Anyone can be great. The Wright Brothers were bicycle mechanics who wanted to understand the way things worked. They dreamed of creating planes and spent years making diagrams and building experimental gliders. In 1903, they successfully flew the world's first successful powered, sustained, and controlled heavier-than-air airplane.
Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Teshuvah 5:2 ּ ּכָל אָ ָדם ָראו ּי ל ֹו לִ ְהיוֹת צַ ִּדיק ְּכמ ׁ ֶֹשה ַר ֵּבנו Every person is capable of becoming righteous like Moshe Rabbeinu.
What are your biggest dreams? Do you really believe you can accomplish them?
AVIATOR RULE 2: You’re gonna have to fail. The Wright Brothers failed — a lot. The first glider (1900) they built couldn’t lift as much weight as they thought it could. Their second glider (1901) was bigger but also didn’t lift enough weight and was hard to control; the Wrights were so discouraged they almost didn’t continue. But they didn’t give up — they built a wind tunnel in their bicycle shop and tested 200 different wing shapes. Their next glider (1902) had better lift, but made the plane spin dangerously. The one after that (1903) crashed in the sand and damaged the glider. When they tried again, three days after the crash, their repaired glider lasted 12 seconds and traveled 120 feet. They kept going, and the final flight that day lasted 59 seconds and traveled 852 feet.
Mishlei 24:16 ָש ֥לו ּ בְ ָרעָ ֽה׃ ְ ׁ שעִ ֗ים י ִּכ ָ ׁ ש ֨בַ ע ׀ י ִּפ֣וֹל צַ ִּד ֣יק ו ָָק ֑ם ו ּ ְ֝ר ֶ ׁ ִּכ ֤י Seven times a righteous person falls and gets up, while the wicked are tripped by one misfortune.
1
“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.“ (Michael Jordan) Most of us don’t have the “stomach” for failing over again and again. You might be thinking: why would anyone choose something that’s harder over something that’s easier? And that’s a good question — but we know from the experts that failure leads to greatness.
How can you practice failing and trying again? Mishlei calls a person who fails and rises “righteous.” In what ways might failing make you a better person?
AVIATOR RULE 3: Enjoy it! This stuff is awesome. “We could hardly wait to get up in the morning." (Wilbur Wright)
Kohelet 5:17 ש ֗מֶ ׁש ֶ ּ ׁ ַעמ ֹ ֣ל ּ ַת ַֽחת־ה ֲ ּ ַ שי ֶ ׁ שר־יָפֶ ֣ה ֽ ֶלאֱ כוֹל־ ְו֠לִ ׁ ְש ּ ֠תוֹת וְלִ ְרא֨וֹת טוֹבָ ֜ה ְ ּבכׇ ל־עֲמָ ֣ל ֹו ׀ ֶ ׁ ֲ֣יתי אָ ֗נִ י ט֣וֹב א ִ ר־ר ִא ָ ש ֶ ׁ ֲִה ֵּנ֞ה א ל ִֹק ֖ים ִּכי־ה֥ו ּא חֶ לְ קֽוֹ׃- ֱשר־ ָנ ַֽתן־ ֥ל ֹו הָ א ֶ ׁ ֲִמ ְס ּ ַפ ֧ר יְמֵ י־חַ יָ ּ֛ו א Behold that which I have seen: it is good, even commendable for one to eat and drink and to enjoy the good of all his labor that he labors under the sun, during the counted days of his life that God has given him for that is his portion. Tehillim 118:24 ש ְמ ָח ֣ה בֽוֹ׃ ׂ ְ הוָ ֑ה ָנ ִג ֖ילָ ה ְו ִנ ֹ -ְש ֣ה י ָׂ ָזֶה־הַ ֭יּוֹם ע This is the day that GOD has made— let us exult and rejoice on it!
What things do you enjoy doing? Do you ever just do them for fun? Maybe the most important lesson from the Aviator Learning Lab is this: the people who discover amazing things and change the world are the people who love what they do — the people who wake up excited to try again and who view failure as a learning opportunity. You can be one of those people.
2