Ep. 310 Designing the Pilot You'll Be in 2026
Ready 4 Pushback
Nik Fialka
5.0 • 797 Ratings
🗓️ 1 January 2026
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Nik reflects on an incredible 2025—family, flying, and the continued growth of the Ready 4 Pushback community—and turns the focus toward meaningful New Year's resolutions. But this isn't about willpower. It's about identity, systems, and direction. In true pilot-mindset fashion, Nik frames 10 powerful resolutions designed specifically for aviators who want to level up in 2026—professionally, personally, and relationally.
Whether you're sharpening your skills, building your career, or working on becoming the type of person your mom thinks you are, this episode will challenge you to be intentional, consistent, and deliberate in how you show up this year.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, pilot, welcome to Ready for Pushback. It's a solo show. I'm Nick Fialca. We are so close to the new year, so let's talk about resolutions. |
| 0:13.7 | It all started as a spark. Maybe it was the sound of jets racing across the sky. |
| 0:26.6 | Or the feeling of your heart racing as you watch Crop Duster flying low and slow. Even then, you knew you were meant to fly. |
| 0:30.6 | For pilots, it's more than just a job. It's a calling. |
| 0:35.6 | The early mornings, the long hours, the relentless training, you didn't |
| 0:40.7 | do it for the money. You did it for that moment. That moment when the wheels lift off and |
| 0:46.0 | the earth falls away beneath you. But flying is just the beginning. The journey to your dream |
| 0:51.8 | job takes more than just skill in the sky. It takes strategy on the ground and a lifetime of learning. |
| 0:58.0 | Most pilots don't understand what career opportunities are available in the world of aviation. |
| 1:04.0 | Learn how to go from good to great, from flight school to regional to major, and from hopeful to hired. Whether you're sharpening |
| 1:13.9 | your skills, building your resume, or preparing for that big interview, this is where pilots come to level |
| 1:20.2 | up. Let's get ready for pushback. Here's your host and my dad, Nick Fialca. I've really been reflecting on how great 2025 was for my family, for my life flying, for the |
| 1:36.6 | podcast, like things just keep getting better and better. Things are growing. The show is |
| 1:41.9 | crushing. And first off, thank you. Thank you for being part of the show is crushing um and first off thank you thank you for being part |
| 1:46.6 | of the show thank you for listening thank you for telling your other buddies about the show because |
| 1:51.1 | without that i mean i'd just be sitting here in this room above my garage talking to myself which |
| 1:59.0 | sometimes i kind of feel like am but it's time right now just to talk |
| 2:03.7 | about New Year's resolutions because I think that a resolution is really important. |
| 2:10.6 | You should see my wonderful wife, Anna, she writes pages of resolutions of things she wants |
| 2:16.3 | to accomplish throughout the year. And I really, |
| 2:18.5 | really respect that. And what I've learned when we're talking about it is that the best resolutions, |
| 2:26.2 | they're not about willpower. They're about your identity. They're about the systems that you |
... |
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