The Side by Side ATC Podcast

In this episode, I look back at my first day at the Academy, November 8, 1988. I also look ahead to what it might be like to be an air traffic controller in your future.

I talk about some of the things you will have to endure while being an air traffic controller. Things like:

• Weird schedules and days off.
• Being a government employee during shutdowns and threats of shutdowns.
• Lack of sleep.
• etc. , etc. , etc.

Yet with all of this negative stuff, I still think that this career is amazing and SO worth trying to be a part of.

A lot will change over the next decades in ATC. I believe that the need for controllers will continue to grow and the technology should be fascinating to see.

If your dream is to be an air traffic controller, then I would wholeheartedly suggest you pursue that dream. The pursuit of it will change you in ways you can't even consider until you get there!

Thank you all for listening!

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 :

sidebysideatc.com/page/non-radar-lab-program

sidebysideatc.com/page/radar-lab-program

sidebysideatc.com/page/complete-lab-program

or

sidebysideatc.com/page/radar-recovery if you are needing help with the beginning of enroute radar.

Questions

You can email me questions, or comments, at: [email protected] .

In this episode, I talk about how you can be prepared for the evals at the Academy.

Last week, I talked about NERVES and what you can do to mitigate them as much as possible. This week, I talk about what that looks like.

It requires you to commit to becoming better every single day you are in OKC. That commitment is essential to becoming the best you can be while you are at the Academy.

If you need help making that commitment, or need help keeping that commitment, let me know. We will set up a time when we can talk and see what you may need to do to make those commitments come true.

Thank you all for listening!! Have a great week!!

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 :

sidebysideatc.com/page/non-radar-lab-program

sidebysideatc.com/page/radar-lab-program

sidebysideatc.com/page/complete-lab-program

or

sidebysideatc.com/page/radar-recovery if you are needing help with the beginning of enroute radar.

Questions

You can email me questions, or comments, at: [email protected] .

In this episode, I go back to a couple of my first episodes and talk about one of the hardest things about the Academy: NERVES.

I talk about what you can do to limit the effect of the nerves you are going to have. I also talk about the fact that being nervous before an eval is NOT necessarily a bad thing- it means you care!

Prepare as much as you can, and don't let yourself lose sight of why you are there and what you want to accomplish!

thank you all for listening! Have a great week!

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 :

sidebysideatc.com/page/non-radar-lab-program

sidebysideatc.com/page/radar-lab-program

sidebysideatc.com/page/complete-lab-program

or

sidebysideatc.com/page/radar-recovery if you are needing help with the beginning of enroute radar.

Questions

You can email me questions, or comments, at: [email protected] .

In this episode, I talk about multi-tasking as an air traffic controller.

Multi-tasking is doing more than one thing at the same time. If you use that definition, air traffic controllers DO NOT multi-task. We do ONE thing at a time. We just do them so quickly that it appears that we are multi-tasking.

The problem with multi-tasking is that when we try to do more than one thing at a time, we don't do anything as well as we could have!! Period!

Instead of trying to multi-task, get better at doing one thing at a time correctly and going to the next task quickly. Then do the next task correctly, and so on.

Speed kills! Speed is not your goal at the academy. Accuracy is your goal! As you practice and practice and practice, you will get faster naturally. But, always pursue accuracy over speed.

Thank you for listening!! Have a great week!

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 :

sidebysideatc.com/page/non-radar-lab-program

sidebysideatc.com/page/radar-lab-program

sidebysideatc.com/page/complete-lab-program

or

sidebysideatc.com/page/radar-recovery if you are needing help with the beginning of enroute radar.

Questions

You can email me questions, or comments, at: [email protected] .

In this episode, I talk about the mindset that you need to have to do well at the Academy.

The Academy is not college, and it is definitely not high school. The Academy is unlike anything you have experienced and if you don't have the right mindset going into it, you are likely to get behind and not be able to catch up.

You have to treat the Academy as your job, which is exactly what it is. If you have the mindset that you are an employee of the FAA, that your employer has certain expectations from you, and that you are going to do whatever it takes to meet those expectations, then you have a great chance of succeeding. If you don't have that mindset, your chances of succeeding go down drastically.

Treat your time at the Academy, or at CTI school, as a job, with the highest expectations on their employees, and you can succeed. Get as many people around you to help you on this journey and help those who are trying to help you. Do these things and you can be on the road to one of the greatest careers there is.

Thank you all for listening!! Have a great week!!

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 :

sidebysideatc.com/page/non-radar-lab-program

sidebysideatc.com/page/radar-lab-program

sidebysideatc.com/page/complete-lab-program

or

sidebysideatc.com/page/radar-recovery if you are needing help with the beginning of enroute radar.

Questions

You can email me questions, or comments, at: [email protected] .

In this episode, I talk about government shutdowns that I have been through and talk about how the shutdowns can affect you as an air traffic controller at the Academy and at your facility.

The shutdowns are going to happen. The best thing you can do is be prepared for them so that your family is not impacted.

If you have any questions about this episode or have an idea for an episode, just send me an email or text.

My email is : [email protected] .

You can text me at : 817-233-8199 .

The website is : sidebysideatc.com .

I hope you have a great week! Thank you all for listening!!!

In this episode, I talk about how an activity tracker can impact your life and your life as a student at the Academy.

I talk about that trackers themselves, as well as why you need one and how it can help.

Some things to remember about the trackers themselves:

• This is for you to use to track YOUR practice.
• This is not a competition with other students.
• The only competition is with yourself.

I am offering my Pre-OKC, Non-Radar, and Radar trackers to each of you for FREE!

Yes, that is FREE with no strings now or ever!

All you have to do is either email me at : [email protected] or

text me at : 817-233-8199 .

Make sure to let me know what stage you are at : POKC, NR, or Radar or something to that effect.

There will NOT be a link for this on my website! Text or email only!

These will not be available for a limited time only, They will be available whenever you need them!

No Strings Attached!! Ever!!

Thank you all for listening! I hope you have a great week!!

In this episode, I talk about being intentional while you are at the Academy. I talk about what this is, what it looks like, why you need this and more.

Most students are not intentional about their time while at the Academy. I have never known a student who could coast through and pass. I have know some who have tried. I was actually one of them; until I figured out that coasting was not going to work. I changed in time to pass. I had a couple of classmates who didn't change... and didn't pass.

This is not the first time I have talked about this subject, but I can not stress how important it is to be intentional with your time while at the Academy.

Thank you all for listening!

If you have questions or just need to talk, you can email me at [email protected] .

Or you can visit the website at sidebysideatc.com .

Have a great week!

In this episode, I try to build on what I've been talking about for the last couple of weeks. This week, I talk about another John Maxwell podcast that talks about finding your purpose and reaching your dreams.

We each need a dream to shoot for, or you may want to call it a purpose for our life. We have to have something that we are reaching, or striving, for. Whether that is to be an air traffic controller or to be something else, we need to have something that we have to work toward, or strive after.

Once we have found this, we need to ask ourselves 4 questions:

• What price are you willing to pay to reach your goal?
• How long are you willing to stay to reach your goal?
• What things are you willing to delay to reach your goal?
• Who are you willing to slay to reach your goal? Or who are you willing to let into your inner circle to help you reach your goal?

When it comes to passing the Academy, these are questions that need to be answered BEFORE you get to OKC. Then you need to ask yourself these questions often as you go through the Academy.

All goals that are worth attaining are going to be "Uphill Goals." They are going to require effort on your part to get there, They are going to require that effort "All the way." You are not going to be able to coast and reach your goals.

I offered a challenge to each of you as I, too, begin a journey to try to reach some goals that I have, Let me know what your dreams and goals are, what you are going to do daily to reach them, and maybe we can help each other. Maybe we can walk Side by Side along this journey instead of feeling like we have to do it on our own.

I'm here.

You can email me at: [email protected] .

The website is at: sidebysideatc.com .

Thank you all for listening!! Have a great week!!

In this episode, I let you know that you ARE going to have tough times while you are at the Academy. It is a given. It happens to 100% of the students!

Some things that will help when this happens are:

• Make the decision to not give up BEFORE you get to OKC.
• Make sure you do everything you can do TODAY.
• Don't worry about tomorrow or the next day.
• Be intentional about every day at the Academy; even when you are taking time away from ATC.

You have to make each day count while in OKC. Make each day count BEFORE you get to OKC.

Remember: Today Matters !!

Thank you all for listening!

I can't believe it has been 1 YEAR of podcasts!!

If you have a question, email me at: [email protected] .

The website is at: sidebysideatc.com .

If you like the music, you can find more at gregorianrock.com . ( A friend of mine's band)