Ep 253 Do the Hard Work, Then Enjoy the Day
Ready 4 Pushback
Nik Fialka
4.8 • 716 Ratings
🗓️ 12 June 2025
⏱️ 7 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Welcome back! In this solo episode, Nik Fialka shares a glimpse into his fulfilling (yet sometimes chaotic) home life, including a special cameo from his two-year-old son. Between playing zone defense on daily chores and enjoying breakfast as a family, Nik draws the perfect metaphor for aviation and life: you’ve got to do the hard work before you can enjoy the day. But this isn’t just about housework or parenting. It’s a reminder to pause and look at the bigger picture. Whether you're grinding through flight school, prepping for a checkride, or climbing the ranks at the regionals, it’s easy to lose sight of what truly matters. This episode is your permission to slow down, reconnect with the people who matter most, and do something that fills your heart—because fulfillment isn’t found only in the logbook.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
How doing the hard things first paves the way to fun and freedom
The power of taking breaks to avoid burnout in aviation
Why hobbies, relationships, and simple joys help keep you grounded
A real-world call from someone who has been there to balance aviation ambition with real-life connections
CONNECT WITH US
Are you ready to take your preparation to the next level? Don’t wait until it’s too late. Use the promo code “R4P2025” and save 10% on all our services. Check us out at www.spitfireelite.com! If you want to recommend someone to guest on the show, email Nik at [email protected], and if you need a professional pilot resume, go to www.spitfireelite.com/podcast/ for FREE templates!
SPONSOR Are you a pilot just coming out of the military and looking for the perfect second home for your family? Look no further! Reach out to Marty and his team by visiting www.tridenthomeloans.com to get the best VA loans available anywhere in the US.
Be ready for takeoff anytime with 3D-stretch, stain-repellent, and wrinkle-free aviation uniforms by Flight Uniforms. Just go to www.flightuniform.com and type the code SPITFIREPOD20 to get a special 20% discount on your first order.
Big Rock - Take the Lead by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
#Aviation #AviationCareers #aviationcrew #AviationJobs #AviationLeadership #AviationEducation #AviationOpportunities #AviationPodcast #AirlinePilot #AirlineJobs #AirlineInterviewPrep #flying #flyingtips #PilotDevelopment #PilotFinance #pilotcareer #pilottips #pilotcareertips #PilotExperience #pilotcaptain #PilotTraining #PilotSuccess #pilotpodcast #PilotPreparation #Pilotrecruitment
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey, pilot, welcome back to Ready for Pushback. It's Nick Fialca. It's been a crazy day in our house. |
| 0:11.5 | We are just kicking off summertime. Most pilots don't understand what career opportunities are |
| 0:20.1 | available in the world of aviation. |
| 0:22.7 | They're making career decisions based on advice from friends or posts on internet forums, |
| 0:28.4 | meaning they are taking huge risks with their livelihood without having all the details. |
| 0:33.6 | This podcast was created to help you understand the aviation industry so you can find your dream job. |
| 0:40.5 | Let's get ready for pushback. |
| 0:42.7 | Here's your host and my dad, Nick Fialca. |
| 0:46.8 | Let's talk about all the things kids have to. |
| 0:48.7 | So we wake up, everybody gets together, Fassadi, my oldest goes outside, gets eggs from the chicken coop, and we make breakfast, |
| 0:56.7 | we make some bacon, we make some eggs. |
| 0:59.5 | If we're lucky, maybe there's like a bagel or some biscuits or something delicious. |
| 1:05.1 | Listen, if you don't already know, the chef that I married Anna she is insanely amazing at creating |
| 1:17.5 | dishes that are just like blow our mind it's like living with a Michelin Star chef every |
| 1:23.6 | single day so so we have our Michelin Star breakfast. Sometimes we don't. Sometimes it's some |
| 1:31.4 | yogurt or whatever. But then we, like the day is ahead of us. We got all these great things going on. |
| 1:38.9 | It's like lots of plans. But before we go out and do our things, we have to do our zones. Why? Because there's |
| 1:48.6 | seven maniacs that live in this house. I'm one of them. And we have to tidy up this house |
| 1:56.2 | because this house gets ransacked as if we were robbed and then the person that was robbing us |
| 2:03.6 | instead of taking stuff just dump stuff on the floor that is my life day in and day out but before |
| 2:09.9 | you can go outside and play before we can go do the things that we're going to do we have to do |
| 2:14.3 | our zones and it's work and it's effort and boy boy, there's wailing and gnashing of teeth. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Nik Fialka, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Nik Fialka and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.