To Master Paragliding, copy this
It all clicked once I discovered this
Mastery is a free-flowing, unhindered celebration of our humanity.
Most people don’t fail to master paragliding because they lack information.
They fail because they’re not living in alignment. They lack self-insight, a clear vision, and are often chasing the wrong goals under false beliefs.
“Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.”
— Bruce Lee
Our society is metric-obsessed, and this has carried over to our art form—numbers, rankings, and comparison—with few questioning why they are feeding their ego instead of their spirit.
The Tale of Two Wolves
One day a Cherokee man spoke to his son about a battle going on between two wolves.
One wolf is evil. It represents anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other wolf is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.
The boy thinks about the fighting wolves and asks, “Which wolf will win?” The man simply replies, “The wolf that wins is the one you feed.”
Today we course correct by feeding the good wolf on the path to true mastery.
The Vision
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-ambition.
It’s the why behind our goals that trips us up. That, and the widespread ignorance of our inner world and the role it plays in performance and well-being.
Bruce Lee was highly ambitious.
But his motivations came from a far deeper source. He became a master of the outer world by mastering his inner game.
In January 1969 he was a nobody.Three years later he sadly died, but he’d already surpassed the 10 year, $10 million dollar, vision he had for himself. And he did so while living a harmonious and happy life.
How?
Bruce Lee lived in a state of alignment.
He was clear on his future identity - his vision, for the person that he wanted to become.
This vision served as his operating system, co-ordinating his mind, body and spirit in action towards this common goal.
Here’s what he wrote to himself:
My Definite Chief Aim
“I, Bruce Lee, will be the first highest paid Oriental super star in the United States. In return I will give the most exciting performances and render the best of quality in the capacity of an actor. Starting 1970 I will achieve world fame and from then onward till the end of 1980 I will have in my possession $10,000,000. I will live the way I please and achieve inner harmony and happiness.”
Bruce Lee – Jan. 1969
Notice how his vision wasn’t about what he could get. But rather, an exchange of value driven by an internal drive for freedom and well-being.
His commitment to “render the best of quality” required total immersion in his craft. This “flow state”—or mushin (no-mind in Japanese)—is the psychological state where challenge meets high skill, which Lee identified as the only way to achieve “true mastery.”
Lee’s path remains a primary example of how setting high-performance goals (Achievement) can be harmonized with deep presence (Flow) and a purpose beyond the self (Meaning).
The Way of Flow
Chasing highs are exciting in the short term, but the cost is high and the reward is low. Like any drug, all highs fade, and we need higher and higher doses to get the same effect.
It’s so easy to get caught up in this dopamine fuelled pursuit. We see it all around us in every part of society.
But this chase inevitably, and often subconsciously, feeds the wolf of envy, comparison, arrogance, self-pity, regret, resentment, superiority, and ego.
The Buddha has a name for these ruminations of that mind that impede flow; he called them hindrances.
And if flow is a superpower that let’s us achieve the impossible as demonstrated by Steven Kotler in “The Rise of Superman,” then these impediments to flow are our Kryptonite.
So, you have a choice.
Will you chase external gratification, or will you dedicate yourself to something greater?
Which wolf will you feed?
At Wingmates, we choose the latter, where paragliding is a vehicle for holistic self-mastery — mind, body, and spirit - aligning our vision for ourself in harmony with the greater community, using the PARA framework.
PARA
Prepare: this is where you set your vision for yourself and set the specific goals and habits that will get you there, Bruce Lee style.
Act: This is the practice phase. Here is where we use flow to improve our skills in line with our vision of holistic mastery.
Reflect: now we integrate our learnings. You can use a logbook but as flow thrives on feedback, having a supportive community like Wingmates is your turbo charger.
Adjust: use your reflections to adjust your goals in prepare, aligned with your vision.
The Truth
Here’s the truth: pilots know that you should be doing specific practice, like ground handling. They’re just not doing it.
The missing piece is accountability.
Why? Because it’s lonely and hard to measure alone. That’s why Wingmates exists—to provide the mirror and the map that solo practice lacks.
It’s the accountability, feedback, and problem-solving that come with having knowledgeable people in your corner.
We share in the community, and support each other along the journey.
Time to Do
Now it’s your turn. This week’s Wingmates challenge is to develop the vision of the pilot you want to become—your North Star.
To make your vision effective, it must be:
Specific: Who are you as a pilot? (Tip: use traits of role models you admire to craft a unique identity—the clearer your vision, the better.)
Unique: What is your value proposition? Beyond the metrics, how will your goals contribute to the community in a free-flowing exchange of value?
Dated: When will this identity be your baseline reality?
This practice is the start of an identity shift. Mastery isn’t a destination; it is an upward spiral of becoming. This is the path to true transformation.
However, this shift relies on an alignment with our emotional blueprints, our personal narratives, our values, and our underlying beliefs. When these are deeply ingrained, the process requires rewiring to prevent cognitive dissonance—that internal friction that happens when your daily actions don’t match your new self-image.
But that is a subject for another email.
For now, sit with the question:
Who do you see yourself becoming?
— Grant
And if you want a supportive community to keep you aligned with your vision, I look forward to personally welcoming you inside Wingmates.