The Mental Game of Pilot Training: Staying Resilient When You Feel Like Giving Up

The Mental Game of Pilot Training: Staying Resilient When You Feel Like Giving Up

Lessons in Grit, Failure, and Comeback from a Pilot Who Almost Quit — Capt. Awdhesh Singh Tomar’s Journey

By Capt. Awdhesh Singh Tomar Pilot | Instructor | Author – Mastering the Airline Pilot Interview Director, Golden Epaulettes Aviation

"I didn’t just earn my CPL. I survived it."

For every young dreamer who enters aviation, starry-eyed and full of fire, here’s a truth no one tells you: Pilot training is not just a test of your skills it’s a war of endurance, isolation, and brutal mental battles.

And I should know. Because I almost gave up. Not once. Not twice. Many times.

The Breaking Point

I still remember the evening I seriously considered quitting.

I was alone, broke, and emotionally drained. I had just failed an exam—one more failure added to a pile that was getting harder to explain to my family. My phone buzzed with WhatsApp updates of friends posting photos of their airline cadet selections, while I sat with a pile of books and mounting self-doubt.

I questioned everything.

“Am I even good enough for this?” “What if this never works out?” “Is it too late to just take a normal job?”

What I didn’t realize back then was: These thoughts weren’t a sign of weakness. They were a part of every serious pilot’s journey.

But almost no one talks about this.

The Real Struggles Aspiring Pilots Face (But No One Discusses)

Here’s what you’re likely to face in your journey things you won’t find in most aviation blogs or brochures:

Mental Burnout from endless theory classes, inconsistent results, and long waiting periods between flying slots.

Financial Anxiety, especially if your family has stretched everything for your fees. Every hour of flying feels like a debt meter ticking.

Comparison Trauma  watching cadet pilots from airline-sponsored programs fast-tracked while you hustle through each stage, feeling behind.

Relative’s Isolation, when none of your college friends understand your path, and relatives keep asking, “Beta, job kab lagegi?” Trust me this breaks heart 1000 times a day,

These don’t get listed in the DGCA syllabus. But they’re just as critical to pass through.

How I Built Mental Resilience (And How You Can Too)

I didn’t learn this in a cockpit. I learned it in my room at 2 a.m., staring at my multiple failures deciding whether to open the book again or close it for good.

Here’s what helped me rebuild:

1. Own the Emotional Pain

Don’t suppress it. Write it down. Talk about it. Feel it. It’s valid. It means you care.

2. Routine Creates Sanity

I built a structure: Wake at 6 AM. Study 2 hours before class. Daily review before sleep. Not for marks for momentum.

3. Peer Positivity Pods

Find 2–3 people who are also hustling. No negativity, no comparison. Only daily support and check-ins.

4. Physical Discipline

Exercise. Walk. Meditate. Your brain is oxygen-hungry in aviation; move your body, and your mind follows.

5. Create a Flight Plan for the Mind

Just like we plan a VOR-to-VOR leg, make a resilience checklist:

What’s your goal this month?

What failure are you ready to risk?

Who’s your alternate airport (mentor/support)?

Final Words to Every Aspiring Pilot Reading This

If you’re reading this and you’re in that dark tunnel, wondering if you’ll ever make it out—you’re not alone.

I sat where you sit. I doubted as you doubt. And I promise—you’re closer than you think.

Keep going. You don’t need perfect grades or perfect finances. You need one thing: refusal to quit.

And one day, when you wear those epaulettes, your pain will turn into power—or someone else who’s just behind you.