Today, flying from New York to Paris isn't a big deal, but Charles Lindbergh did it in 1927 without a telegraph, radio, or GPS. The flight was 3,600 miles and took 33 1/2 hours (GPS). Lindbergh put a few sandwiches, a couple of water canteens, 451 gallons of gas, and a few maps in his plane, The Spirit of St. Louis. Several people tried to fly the same distance as Lindbergh but failed just weeks before he set the record. Lindbergh made a trip that seemed impossible come true.
Lindbergh packed as little as possible so that he could get the most out of his gas. He wore a light jacket instead of the usual leather pilot's jacket, which left him more open to the weather. He had to sit on a thinner seat to fly the plane, which made him less comfortable. Since he chose to go by himself, he had The Spirit of St. Louis built with only one seat. He could crash into the ocean if he fell asleep. Lindbergh also didn't bring equipment for flying at night or a parachute, which put his safety at risk. Some people might say that Lindbergh risked his life by flying from New York to Paris.
Charles Lindbergh showed the world that you don't need to use luxuries to do well. In 1927, Lindbergh didn't use any extras or electronics to help him navigate.
How often have we complained that our computer or laptop is slow? How many of us have complained that our office tools aren't the best? After what Lindbergh went through on his flight to break the record, how big do your problems seem?
Here are some of the great lessons we learned from Lindbergh:
- It took 60 days to design and build the Spirit of St. Louis.
Many of us say we don't have enough time to do the things we want to. It took two months to build a single-engine plane that was going to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, which had never been done before. The plane was made by Lindbergh, Donald Hall, and 35 other men. Hall worked about 90 hours a week on average. Hall worked on the plane for 36 and 20 hours straight at one point. Many of us think that life used to be so much easier. History shows that this is not true.
Lindbergh knew he didn't have much time left. The first person to fly across the Atlantic Ocean would win $25,000. Many people had died trying to beat Lindbergh's record. A couple of Frenchmen had died a few weeks before Lindbergh took off from New York on his flight. They were trying to fly from Paris to New York. Charles Lindbergh was so determined that he had an aeroplane built in two months and flew it over the Atlantic Ocean. How determined are we when we don't have much time? Even though we might not be under as much pressure as Lindbergh was when he tried to set a flying record, there are still times when we need more time.
Are we asking for help like Lindbergh did? Without Donald Hall and the other 35 men who helped build the Spirit of St. Louis, Lindbergh's dream might not have been possible. It's not a bad thing to ask for help. If Lindbergh could be successful by asking for help, we can be successful by doing the same.
- "Why shouldn't I take a plane from New York to Paris?"
Lindbergh was said to have said, "What's wrong with flying from New York to Paris? I've been flying for more than four years and have spent close to 2,000 hours in the air. I've been barnstorming in more than half of the 48 states. Why can't I take a flight like this?" Lindbergh gave himself the chance to do something and did it!!
Why can't we both think the same way? We have no reason not to go on a trip by ourselves.
- Lindbergh never gave up on his goals.
At first, a company offered Lindbergh a plane for $15,000. However, the company's president wanted to choose the pilot, and Lindbergh was not his choice. Another company told Lindbergh that they could build him an aeroplane for $6,000. In the end, Lindbergh agreed to the deal, and the plane was finished in 60 days.
How many times have we given up on our goals? A lot of us have always wanted to write a book, an article, a poem, prose, fiction, or nonfiction. Many of us have settled for what we do instead of making our dreams of what we could be doing come true. Why aren't we making that dream come true? We come up with all sorts of reasons why we can't spend a few minutes a day working toward our goals. Goals don't have to happen right away, which is a good thing. Only 3% of the people in the world write down their career goals, dreams, and hopes. How many of us put our dreams on paper?
"Start what you can do or think you can do." - G.W.F.
What are your goals, and how much do you want to reach them? What goals have you reached that seemed impossible at first? Even if your goals don't seem as big or impossible as Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic, they are still your goals. How many of your goals did you give up on? How many did you reach? Lindbergh wouldn't give up on his goal of flying across the Atlantic Ocean. Even if some of your goals seem impossible at first, you shouldn't settle for anything less than what's important to you.
