A Perfect Day, Until It Isn’t
It’s a perfect Saturday. You’ve taken the family out in the 4WD for a run along the beach — warm sun overhead, kids calling out whenever they spot a gull or a dolphin, a light breeze pushing the smell of salt through the open windows. You find a quiet stretch near the dunes, kill the engine, and unpack the esky… or the chilly bin, depending on which side of the Tasman you first learned the word. Lunch tastes better out here.
A couple of hours later, it’s time to head home. You turn the key, roll forward a few metres, and the tyres spin. Soft sand sprays out behind you, but the car isn’t going anywhere. No worries — you’ve got the Maxtrax in bright orange, heavy-duty vehicle recovery boards that make short work of getting unstuck in the sand. You smile — I’ve got this covered. In fact, you’re almost glad for the chance to use them at last. Finally, a moment to justify what you paid for them.
Then you see it: the left rear tyre slumped flat, a splintered branch punched straight through the sidewall. Time starts to tick just a touch slower, your attention narrowing to the problem in front of you. Out past the breakers, the tide is crashing in, each set of waves sounding closer than the last. You reach for the UHF, call out for a hand — nothing. Must be out of range. The ticking of time feels louder now. The kids are tired, one starting to cry, the other kicking at the sand. And suddenly, time flips — it’s racing, the tide faster, the problems stacking, the window to act feeling smaller by the second.
Stacked Setbacks
It’s funny how quickly the day can turn. One moment you’re solving a simple problem, confident you’ve got it handled. The next, another setback arrives, and the one after that. Each one chips away at your calm, and before long you’re no longer thinking clearly — you’re reacting.
It’s not the first problem that gets you. It’s the way the next one shows up before you’ve even caught your breath. The tyre by itself would have been fine. The lack of comms by itself would have been fine. But layer them together, throw in the rising tide and a tired, cranky crew in the back seat, and suddenly your focus narrows to what’s going wrong instead of what you can still do.
This is the point where even the most capable pilot — the same one who trains for engine failures and crosswind landings — can get caught off guard in everyday life.
We expect turbulence in the air, but on the ground, we don’t give everyday setbacks the same attention we give to practicing our engine fire drills. And fair enough — they’re probably not critical. But maybe they deserve a little more thought than we give them. A small dose of “stacking” preparation — mentally thinking through how you’d handle not just one problem, but the way two or three might land at once — can mean the difference between maintaining control and being swept away when the tide turns.
Seeing the Bumps Before You Hit Them
You can’t stop problems from showing up, but you can be less surprised when they do. In flying, we call it thinking ahead of the aircraft — mentally running the “what if” scenarios before they happen, so your response is almost ready before you need it. The same principle works on the ground.
If you’d pictured a scene like this before the trip — bogged, flat tyre, no comms — the moment wouldn’t feel quite as sharp. You’d already have a mental map for staying calm, working through the options, and making the next move. The trouble might still be there, but the shock wouldn’t knock you off balance.
This isn’t about pessimism or expecting the worst. It’s about knowing that the world doesn’t run to our schedule, and sometimes the tide will come in faster than we’d like. By imagining possible bumps in the road — or sand — you take away their novelty, and with it, a good portion of their sting.
When Problems Stack
One problem is usually manageable. Even two, if they’re spread out. But when they arrive back-to-back, it’s different. The first takes your attention, the second steals your focus, and the third can tip you into reaction mode instead of response mode.
Think of your last sim session, or an engine failure drill. Did the examiner or flight instructor give you just one neat, isolated issue? In my experience, almost every simulator check involves cascading failures — one system after another — the sort of scenario that’s highly unlikely in real life, but we train for it just in case.
Yet in everyday life, we rarely apply the same mindset. That’s where a small amount of “stacking” preparation helps. Not an anxious rehearsal of everything that could go wrong, but a simple mental walk-around of the possibilities. Picture yourself in the middle of something important. Now imagine the first problem showing up… then a second before you’ve solved the first… then a third. Ask yourself: What stays in my control? What can I still do well? Even a few seconds of this kind of thinking, done ahead of time, can stop surprise from taking the wheel.
Have a Story to Share?
I’ve been hearing from pilots around the world about their setbacks, turning points, and the lessons they’ve taken from them. If you’ve faced a moment that taught you something valuable, I’d love to hear it. Your experience—shared without your name—could appear in a future Perspectives article and help another pilot navigate their own journey.
Email me at perspectives@pilotlife.com.au to share your story.
Your Move Before the Tide Rises
Cascading problems aren’t just something you meet in a simulator — they happen on quiet weekends too. You’ve already been there in your mind: bogged on the beach, a flat tyre, no comms, and the tide coming in.
Just as well you’d thought to carry the tyre repair kit, the shovel to help dig out, and the extra water and food you’d packed — in case you ever got stuck overnight. It wasn’t the afternoon you’d planned, but the tide didn’t win, and you got the family home in one piece.
That’s the value of preparing for the unlikely. We know it in the sim — cascading failures are rare, but we practise them so we’re ready. Everyday life deserves a little of that same foresight.
This advice has been around a long time. In fact, there’s even a Latin term for it — premeditatio malorum — “the premeditation of adversity.” Modern psychology has a name for it too: “coping ahead,” a cognitive behavioural technique where you mentally rehearse challenges before they happen. The effect is the same — when the real thing arrives, you’ve already reduced the sting and cleared the way for better decisions.
When setbacks start to stack, the choice is the same as the one we face in the air: resist and be dragged, or accept and adjust your plan.
You might remember the story of the puppy and the cart (spoiler: you are the puppy!) — how going with the pull makes the journey easier. The cart will still move, no matter how much you dig in your heels. Better to save your energy for what’s still in your control: plan your next move, act with purpose, and maybe even smile at the challenge. Life, fate, or just bad timing — whatever it is — will throw things your way. How you meet them is still yours to decide.
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