P3 Inspiration by Cullen Habel

I come here because I’m outside of my comfort zone. Eighteen years ago at about stage 4 of my freefall course I said to myself “perhaps I’ve found something I want to do that I just can’t get the hang of” and of course – I was hooked for life.

And when I come here the challenges are the same. And I just need to listen to hear the things that can help me through. In skydiving and in life:

• Just because we’re confident doesn’t mean that we’re not totally humble, aware of things we need to improve. Larry.
• When someone is low on the formation and skating underneath you, deal with it. Don’t be drawn into other people’s drama. Kate.
• The best place to go low on a formation is above it. If you’re in the stadium and having to fight to stay up, it’s way better than being underneath it. Dan.
• It takes courage to fly up close in your slot, but that’s the only way we can build large formations. Come and join the party! Kate.
• Don’t make your comfort the reason the team gets held up. If you’re not comfortable being uncomfortable then this is the wrong sport for you. Chris.
• You can’t fix a mistake by making another mistake. If you mess up an exit and end up on the wrong side of the formation then cutting across other people to get to your slot is only compounding the problem. Chris.
• Be calm. Everything in this sport gets better when you’re calm. Rehearse your calmness. Plan it into your dirt dive. Dan.
• On performance anxiety: I’ve seen much worse and believe me you can’t disappoint me or impress me. We’re all just at different points on a learning curve. Chris.
• There are only about three of the great skydivers that it came naturally to – the rest of us have had to work really really hard at it. It’s not rocket science – you can do it if you want to. Chris.
• Three rules. Don’t dock until it’s ready to be docked, don’t dock until you are ready to dock, don’t dock until you are ready to be docked on. Tom.
• Don’t dock to the formation unless you can improve what’s going on in there. Kate.
• When you’re approaching the formation you’re all timid and not wanting to mess things up. Once you have taken a grip you become part of the base and then nothing should move you. Dan.
• Bigway skydiving you need to skydive a little bit angry. Tom.
• You don’t get the nickname you want – you get the nickname you deserve. Mark.

 

Cullen Habel is currently skydiving in Perris Valley, USA at the Spring Fling P3 Skydiving Event – 21st May 2017