from mind to reality

I know someone who was completely terrified of traveling by plane.

So he got a pilot license.

(What a totally normal reaction.)

And now he regularly flies planes, just for fun. (The lightest weight ones for 2 people).

I met him when he was already working on the license, saying he’s got flight training every other weekend and sending me smiling selfies of him in the pilot’s seat up in the air.

So I was positively amazed when I found out the backstory.

And I had to think, man, what a smart way to live!

He could have spent his life being controlled by this fear, having a terrible experience every time he traveled, or even being limited to not traveling.

But he decided, “you know what, I get to decide my life! And this fear will not lead it.”

It made me think about the things that I personally worry about, obsess over, and low-key (or full-on-freakout) fear.

Things like:

• Will AI take over every career path I’ve invested any time into until now? (These careers were largely languages, translation, and copywriting. It does not bode well, my friends…)
• Will there be any chance to make a decent amount of money for me or most people in my generation?
• And on the worse nights, have I completely made all the wrong decisions in my life?

These thoughts jostle around in my brain, and quite frankly, slow me down quite a bit.

And, what a waste!

If I’m going to spending that much time on these worries, then I might as well take my pilot friend’s approach:

Spend that time constructively, on mastering the fear, rather than marinating in it.

Because fear is arguably just a knowledge gap. Not knowing what will happen, or the process of how it will happen, or when it will happen, and worrying about it.

This idea has existed for about a hundred years now, commonly attributed to Lovecraft:

But it’s not just a pop culture idea, scientists have found reason to believe it’s true too.

So the solution is simple: gain more knowledge!

• Learn what the outcome will look like
• Learn the process of how it works
• Learn how to recognize signs of when it will happen
  This applies beautifully to our careers too.

Take for example my worries about future career.

I could set aside time to learn:

• How the AI actually works (the nitty gritty details, not just “punch in a prompt, and magical words appear”)
• Current trends and where AI is heading
• Actual metrics about the adoption, ROI, use cases, and limitations

And the most important part is to dive into all this yourself, not just follow influencers who talk about it.

You can listen to all the experts but still wonder, “Is this true? Will it be true for me?” The only thing that will help with the uncertainty is learning more about it yourself.

What’s something you want to learn more about in 2026? I’d love to hear in the comments!