What can you control?

Just two things:
1) Your resume
2) Your reputation

I have given this talk at several aviation schools and one law school. I'll sum it up here in light of fellow ARFCOM member CFII's discussion elsewhere in the Aviation forum.

1) Your Resume: You get to control this one; your education, flight time, ratings, and making sure you don't take any check-rides you cannot pass. It's as simple as that.

2) Your Reputation: You get some control over this one, mostly by not doing stupid stuff. Stupid stuff would be described as somewhat obvious, but pilots are human too and make mistakes.
   
Don's do the following:
Write bad checks, beat up other people, date crazy people more than once, drive drunk, forget your goals, scud run, buzz anything, or make other bad decisions.
   
Do to the following:
Be nice on the way up, you will meet the same people on the way back down. Help others in need, be a friend, and most importantly find joy in adversity and remember that once you get to FL350, the view is the same for all. When you get there, turn around and help the person behind you get there too.

None of us know when our opportunity to rise to the next level will happen in this very cyclical business, just be ready when your chance comes.

100% agree with your last point, pay it forward. Aviation is such a small community, you just never know who’s sitting next to you.

When I was a fresh CFI working at a little flight school, students that ran out of money or decided flying wasn’t for them would just leave their supply of books and materials at the flight school for the whoever wanted it. Owner eventually got fed up with this pile of supplies and told me to take it out to the dumpster.

I took it out and put it all in my car. I ended up with hundreds if not thousands in books, multiples of what I had already purchased myself.

Met a flight attendant who was trying to become a pilot but didn’t have a ton of money. Ok well I can help you get started, and i mailed her a big box of this stuff on my dime.

Fast forward five years and I was an RJ captain by then, working in the safety department and just got selected for LCA. Run into the flight attendant who had gotten her ratings and was flying an RJ. Her new fiancé was a senior pilot at a major and was more than happy to write me a recommendation letter that led to an interview and job offer.

Life changing job and it all started with $20 to pay for mailing a box of stuff I got for free so someone else could get started.