One Mile of Road vs One Mile of Runway

One day, a long time ago, I was with my Instrument Instructor, who later became my mentor, Kareem ar-Rushdi. We were getting ready for an instrument training flight out of Monroe Executive in the Charlotte area.

It was one of those days. A chilly, raw fall day. Low ceilings, steady rain, visibility not doing you any favors. The kind of day most people would rather stay on the ground or just stay home. Kareem was the opposite. He believed in real flying, not just hood time. If the weather gave you something to learn from, you went and learned from it. As we were taxiing out, he looked down the runway and then over at me and said,

You know, Don, one mile of road will take you exactly one mile, but this one-mile runway will take you anywhere in the world you want to go.

Think about that possibility. He didn’t say another word. But that line stuck.

Because he wasn’t just talking about that runway. He was talking about life.

Most people stay on the road. It’s predictable. It’s mapped out. It feels safe because you can see where it’s going. You know the turns. You know the outcome.

But you also accept the limits that come with it.

Leadership doesn’t happen on the road. Leadership happens on the runway.

The runway demands something from you before it gives you anything back. You’ve got to prepare. You’ve got to know your aircraft, know your numbers, know your environment. You’ve got to make a decision to go, even when the conditions aren’t perfect. Especially when they aren’t perfect.

And once you push the throttle in, there’s no halfway; either you’re going flying, or you’re not. That’s where life separates people. Not in talent. Not in opportunity, but in a decision, or more importantly, a mindset. The willingness to move forward when it would be easier to stay put.

The discipline to prepare when nobody is watching. The humility to learn when the conditions get uncomfortable. That rainy day at Monroe wasn’t just another training flight. It was a shift in how I saw everything that came after.

Over the years, I’ve come to realize that the runway is more than pavement. It’s a mindset.

It’s the place where preparation meets commitment. It’s where fear and possibility sit side by side, and you have to choose which one you’re going to listen to.

A one-mile road will take you one mile.

A one-mile runway will take you anywhere.

But only if you’re willing to line up, push the throttle forward, and go.

I would be honored for you to learn more about aviation discipline from my new book, The Aviation Discipline Mindset: 7 Disciplines That Will Transform Your Life and Leadership Skills.

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