Today I want to talk about mastering what you do – be it your job, your hobby, your sport, playing blackjack… whatever it is.

What inspired me last week is the heroic act of Chesley B. Sullenberger, otherwise known as “Sully”, who piloted the US Airways plane that crash landed into the Hudson River.  What a hero – Well done fella!

It was described as a “masterful landing“, but knowing a little about flying, it was not just the landing but also the quick thinking and decision making that he made, under pressure.  The plane lost power in both of its engines because it hit a flock of birds, just after take off.

With a loss of power the plane will still glide, but it will lose altitude quickly and as the plane had just taken off, there was not a lot of time before the plane hit the ground… or the water in this case.  Pilots are trained to think quickly about where they will crash land.

In this case he was faced with deciding whether to try and turn back to La Guardia Airport and risk not making it, with a very built-up and populated area that he had to get over, or try to find another airport closer, or find somewhere safe to land nearby.  He chose to turn and follow the Hudson River and put the plane down in the river.  Thereby minimizing any harm or damage to people on the ground, and in this case to the plane and passengers!

Apparently crash landings onto water are rare and it is even more unusual that the plane was intact and that everyone survived – masterful indeed.  When they removed the plane from the Hudson, one of the engines was still attached to the wing, incredible considering the force against the engines on hitting the water.

Captain “Sully” must have kept the nose of the plane right up and the wings exactly level so that the plane could skim across the water and land safely.

But lets get back to my point… and that is mastering what you do.  Capt. Sullenberger is an example to all of us, he has over 40 years of flying experience and has become a master at his profession.  His pilot training has probably repeated the safety aspect over and over again.  And, I suppose most pilots hope that they will never have to use their safety training!

You just never know what lies around the next corner.  So it is better to cast away mediocrity and become a master at what you do!