Flying an aeroplane is a risky business.

Right from taking off to landing an aircraft safely on the ground, there are many things that could go wrong.

You might encounter severe turbulence. The aircraft might hit an air pocket. An engine might fail. Or even one of the thousands of flight instruments might malfunction, causing a mayhem onboard.

And when things go wrong, pilots are usually hit with an information overload that could paralyse any sane mind.

But, to ensure that pilots can navigate out of these mayday situations without losing their composure, they undergo a series of "what-if" exercises in their training.

What if there's a leak in the fuel tank? What if a bird hits the engine during takeoff? What if an aircraft stalls in mid-air?

Practising these doomsday scenarios in a simulated environment helps pilots learn how to react with a composed and methodical head when the actual disaster happens, rather than pressing buttons all across the cockpit like a madman.

This is what's called pre-mortem decision making.

You visualise and prepare for a disaster before it happens so that if you're ever in this visualised scenario, you know what to do rather than panicking and potentially making the situation worse. 

Most of us are not pilots, but we can still leverage this technique for personal sanity.

Ever since I had a missing luggage situation at an airport abroad, I've started utilising this technique to divide travel essentials between multiple checked-in bags as a backup.

Preparing an emergency fund is a pre-mortem decision making for potential financial disasters.

Try this:

Take 30 minutes this weekend and think what are some of the areas in your life you can plan a backup for?

For example, you might get locked out of your house because you either lost or left your key inside. What would you do then? Should you keep a spare copy with your closest friend or family?

A few minutes of planning now will save you plenty of future stress.

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If you're still deciding, the Plus membership package is already growing. You'll love the articles, summaries, and app offers yet to come — and in the process, you'll directly support my work on this newsletter and the blog.

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Now, continuing our discussion on frameworks that help you be a better version of yourself, why don't you give Foxley Coaching a try?

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