Lorenzo Caum

Think, for a moment, about the last time you told yourself you were going to get serious about making changes in your life. Perhaps it was something you’ve been meaning to do, a new skill you dreamed of learning for a long time, or a pesky problem that you had to solve. How did you feel at the time? Now, did you follow through with the changes that you wanted?

If you struggled with following through, then you are not alone.

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small, manageable tasks and then starting on the first one,” wrote Mark Twain.

Our desire to make changes in our lives can be a good thing. However, we sometimes miss a few important pieces of the puzzle. And these missing parts can cause us frustration when we fall off track.

Here are three ways to use your calendar as a tool to get started with studying for your PPL written test.

Be specific

One of the challenges with goals is that we are sometimes vague. For example, at the beginning of the year, millions of people across the world create New Year’s resolutions like “I want to exercise more!” You can see proof of this if you have ever set foot in a gym in January. [Read more…] about Your #1 Tool for Getting Started: Schedule Time on Your Calendar to Study for Your PPL Written

We have the flexibility to choose when and where we study for the FAA written test. So why do some students struggle to understand FAA practice test questions, while others don’t?

An FAA written exam or written test is officially known as an FAA Airman Knowledge Test. The FAA uses multiple choice questions on the test. They can be a direct question with several answers, an incomplete sentence followed by several answers that complete the sentence, or a stated problem with several answers based on a provided image. Only one answer can be correct, and the others are referred to as distractors.

One thing that aspiring pilots like you have in common is a desire to pass the FAA written test.

As Atul Gawande shares in his book The Checklist Manifesto:

It is common to misconceive how checklists function in complex lines of work. They are not comprehensive how-to guides, whether for building a skyscraper or getting a plan out of trouble. They are quick and simple tools aimed to buttress the skills of expert professionals.

The difference is how we approach our skills. Understanding how to use a checklist is a skill that will help you in your aviation journey.

Here is a mental checklist to build confidence with practice questions while preparing for your FAA knowledge test.

1. What are they really asking about?

Our checklist begins with simplifying a question to the key ideas. You’ll do this by prioritizing what is important and setting aside extra details. At first, it will seem like everything is important. Plus, the process may seem slow. Trust the process. Your speed will improve over time.
[Read more…] about How to Approach FAA Practice Test Questions