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Now, I’m a positive person. When things get rough financially or otherwise, I like to believe that everything will turn around for the better. I constantly bombard myself with inspirational messages and read books on selling, managing, flying, and business.

When I walk/run my dog every morning, I have my mp3 player, like the Apple iPod Classic, loaded up with something that I want to listen to, that I didn’t have time to listen to while I was at home.

A few podcasts I like are any audios done by Yaro Starak of entrepreneurs-journey.com or by Jeff Blout at www.SalesGravy.com for quick motivation. I also like anything by Zig Ziglar (www.zigziglar.com). The man is hilarious!

When I drive my car, I always have something in the CD that is educational, whether it is business-oriented or flying-oriented.

Currently I’m listening to the “The E-Myth Revisited CD: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What To Do About It”.

Finally, in my flying lunch bag (the one I take on trips), I always have a book or two stuffed in the top. One book on business or personal growth and something fun.

Right now I’m reading “Think and Grow Rich” by Napolean Hill and “Robinson Crusoe” by Daniel Defoe.

But I wasn’t always that way…

My Past Isn’t Pretty

If you have read my “About” page, you will know that back in 2001 I was furloughed from ExpressJet and I was devastated. However, I had enough money to live comfortably so I wasn’t shocked into having to find a way to make money, which, in hindsight was a bad thing. If I had immediately gone into dire straits, i.e., broke, I might have learned my lesson and had some way of making money that didn’t require working for someone else but brought in income. But I didn’t. I looked to the future with the mindset that the furlough won’t be for ever… and eventually I would be working as a pilot again soon.

But, in the Fall of 2006, the airlines hit another serious skid and flight hours were cut back drastically. I was in financial straits AGAIN, but this time I did learn my lesson. (OK, I never said I was a fast learner.)

What happened was we had moved to Colorado Springs and I was transferred there in April 2006 after doing a stint of commuting to Chicago and then Denver. SkyWest was short on captains, I was on reserve, and I was making 100 hour months without trying! Then, in October 2006, it came to a screeching halt. No flying anywhere. One month, I flew a total of 30 hours. Ouch!

Now, the SkyWest contract guarantees us 75 hours of pay per month whether we fly or not. But if you don’t break the 75 hour ceiling, you don’t get per diem, so your paycheck is even smaller than if you did break 75 hours.

Suddenly, financially speaking, I was stealing from Peter to pay Paul as a result of the smaller paychecks. (Or is it stealing from Paul to pay Peter?) Anyway, it wasn’t a pleasant situation. I resolved to find a new cash flow that I controlled.

Keep Moving Forward

So after a failed attempt of starting a business finding seller financed notes through the Russ Dalbey Institute, “Winning in the Cash Flow Business” program, in which I learned a lot but never really took off. I looked for other ways of making money.

Then one day I saw some guys cleaning windows and thought that I could do that. So, I bought a book, “The Window Cleaning Business”by John Baxter from Amazon.com. I read it and bought some supplies. I wrote a few advertisements and got some cards through VistaPrint.com…and lo and behold, it took off!

I was shocked!

My wife was even more shocked. 

I was cleaning residential houses and nicely supplementing my flying income.

About this time, I also started blogging. The product of what you are reading now.

In a lot of ways, blogging is writing about something you enjoy! I enjoy being a captain at a regional airline and I enjoy teaching and this was the perfect venue. I can educate pilots and future pilots about being a professional pilot and teach pilots about the CRJ200 and make money doing it.

So What’s Your Point Jeff?

Glad you asked.

My point is that as a professional pilot, or any profession for that matter, you are putting yourself at financial risk if you aren’t finding other ways of making money to supplement your income.

As we all know, no job, flying or otherwise, is ever “safe.” Furlough, reduced flying hours, bankruptcy are the buzz words of the aviation community.

And, if you are new to aviation, you probably have a lot of debt that you need to pay down…F-A-S-T!

I flew with one first officer that had, between him and his wife, at the age of 25, over $80,000 in debt. Whew! I just want to get my car loan paid off.

So, the simple truth: You have to find a way to make money outside of flying!

My Just Get Started Little Solution

Now, I found window cleaning but window cleaning is what Robert Allen, author of “Multiple Streams of Internet Income: How Ordinary People Make Extraordinary Money Online,”calls “linear income.” This means that one hour of work equals one hour of pay. But irregardless, it is still money…and I enjoy doing it.

Alternatively, I enjoy blogging, which is starting to make money for me as well.

I’ve got a plan now, which is more than I had back in 2006.

So here is what I suggest if you want to move forward and protect yourself financially:

1. Read these Books – Pick up the book, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki.It will change you life. Then pick up the book The Richest Man in Babylon” by George A. Clason.I guarantee, you will never look at money the same way again. These books will help get you in the mindset for what is to come next.
   
2. Find Something…Anything – delivering pizzas if need be, but have something to supplement your income, cushion the down months, and help pay down your bills.
   
3. Have a Plan – Start developing something long term that will also supplement your income. I do window cleaning and blogging, both of which I enjoy tremendously and supplement my income. If you think blogging might be your forte, check out BecomeABlogger.com or BlogMastermind.com to get ideas and then sign up for their Premier programs. Don’t want to commit that much too it yet, the get “Blogging to Bank” here. Don’t rule out multi-level marketing (www.mlm.com) programs either. There is a way to make money out there that suits everyone!
   
4. Get Rid of Your Debt - Do you realize that if you finance a car for $20,000 on a five year loan at 6%, over the life of the loan, you are actually paying $23,000 for the loan? Pay it off faster and you will save yourself over $3000 (source: www.bankrate.com) and improve your credit score along the way.
   
5. Don’t wait! – The longer you wait, the deeper you get. Take action today to find ways that will help you get out of debt and become financially independent. To think for a moment, that the airline you fly for will survive or that you can’t lose your job tomorrow, is a form of denial. It’s happened to me, it’s happened to my wife, and it’s happened to our best friends. Stop waiting and take action.

So there you have it. A couple things to do if you are a pilot and want to become more financially independent and less reliant on the company you work for. Basically, don’t put all your eggs in one basket, like flying. Find something else you enjoy and try to make money from that. But the most important thing is to not wait. Please…start today and find something that you really enjoy outside of flying and find a way to make money doing it.

OK…kind of a long article for me, but I hope I’ve made my point.

As always, if your read this article and it helped you, leave a comment or share it with a friend!

Be safe and prosper…

Jeffrey

P.S. If you think you might be interested in blogging, you have to check out these links:

• 10 Easy To Follow Videos Showing You How To Create Your Blog From Scratch!
• F.REE: Discover The Time Tested And Proven Roadmap To Blogging Success…
• Click here to download a f.ree copy of the “Blog Profits Blueprint“