Hit 1,000 hours on my personal logbook and freaked out

I was just sitting in the office checking my maintenance logbook last night and noticed I hit exactly 1,000 hours of hands-on work since I started at this MRO in Phoenix. That number surprised me because I never thought I'd stick with this trade long enough to see that kind of milestone, but now I'm wondering when the imposter syndrome finally goes away. Has anyone else hit a weird number that made you stop and think about how far you've come?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_lucas14d ago

Dang, a buddy of mine hit 500 and said it felt just as weird.

nancyramirez5d ago

Wait, even after 500 landings it still feels weird? How does that even work? I would have thought by then you'd be so used to it you could do it in your sleep.

martinez.paul11d ago

@the_lucas yeah that makes sense, 500 and 1000 both hit you in a weird way. The thing is, that imposter syndrome never really goes away completely, it just shifts targets. You start out worried you don't know enough to fix a simple thing, then you get good at that and start worrying you don't know enough for the next big thing. It's like the whole trade is built on this cycle where you prove yourself wrong every time, but your brain still finds something new to doubt. I've noticed it happens in a lot of areas of life too, not just aircraft work. You hit a number, look back at all the stuff you figured out, and realize you were always more capable than you gave yourself credit for.