Member stories

Achieving My Dreams of Flying

flying

When I was a child, my favorite toy was a jet airplane. Since then, I developed a deep love and passion for these magnificent flying machines. I grew up in Eastern Europe in the late 80s, and trying to get into the aviation world as a pilot was not an easy task. In fact, it was almost impossible.

I grew up in an environment where to become a pilot, you had to be superman (super health, super IQ, and more clever then Einstein), which put me and the majority of aspiring pilots in an unobtainable dream. When I told my parents that I wanted to be a pilot when I grew up, they never took me seriously. Even the kids in school would laugh at me. When I was 18, I applied to the only airline pilot training school in the former Yugoslavia, where an eye medical specialist told me that I would never be able to fly jets because I needed glasses. I wish they could all see me now. Fortunately, these challenges didn’t discourage me. Instead, it inspired me even more to become a pilot. I accepted that there would be challenges along the way, but that is what’s made my life more rewarding when I reached my ultimate goal.

During my rewarding career as a flight instructor, I met so many different people and they all had dreams about becoming a pilot, but for various reasons delayed flying. I am no career expert, but these are the steps I took to accomplish my own goals. I hope that by sharing my story, it will help others achieve their dreams.

  1. Don’t stop dreaming. All major accomplishments start with a dream. Make sure you know what you really want and just go for it.
  2. Plan how you will realize your dream. I guarantee there will be obstacles along the way, but having a clear feasible plan will help you get to where you want to go.
  3. NEVER give up. Persistence is incredibly valuable, so whatever it takes, do not give up. Stick with the plan and keep pushing, keep moving forward. It may take a little extra time, but success is guaranteed

Thanks to LinkedIn, I am now able to connect with my old colleagues I flew with professionally. I’ve also managed to connect to new colleagues who fly professionally, which is an amazing asset because networking is incredibly valuable in a 21st century career. With LinkedIn Groups, we are able to exchange information about current aircraft fleets at companies and the number of pilots who fly currently. We also discuss current aircraft fleet upgrades and potential pilot hiring based on expansions and future airplane purchases to give us head on analysis about future hiring or layoffs. My next goal is to connect with Richard Branson on LinkedIn for the opportunity to be a part of Virgin Galactic, the first commercial space flight operation.

Editor’s Note: This story was originally posted on Ismar’s profile via LinkedIn’s publishing platform as part of our Picture Yourself campaign. If LinkedIn has helped you transform your career or business, please share your story with us or write a post on LinkedIn with the hashtag #MyLinkedInStory. For more inspiration, check out more success stories.