Meet Shiraz Dalal | World Wide Adventurer, Pilot, Photographer, Speaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shiraz Dalal and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shiraz, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Wow what a great question to ask me! First of all, and to be very clear, there are stupid risks and there are calculated ones. I generally like to take the calculated ones and try to avoid the stupid risks. Of course that’s all subjective, right? I have done things from wing walking on a biplane, to free diving, to shark diving out of the cage with great whites, to skydiving, to hang gliding, and people seem to think I am an adrenaline junkie or I take all of these stupid risks. In fact, the way I see it is, I only take calculated ones. Let’s take the wing walking for example. The school I went to trains about 90% of the worlds wing walkers and they has never dropped anyone. That is definitely a calculated risk. A few years ago, I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. How I mitigated that risk is I picked a time frame that suited my fitness level at the time but that still pushed me to be a better person along the way of training. This increased my odds of getting to the top of the mountain without having altitude sickness. When it comes to career and life changes as well, well I treat those no differently. A few years ago I had a complete shift in my career and picked up a very solid career and what I was doing and decided to start again, with a little bit more experience and wisdom this time around. Turns out, I ended up finding my dream job and currently I love what I get to do on a daily basis. All because I evaluated the risks that were in front of me and made sure it was a calculated one and not a stupid one. But at the end of the day you are the only one who can decide that for yourself. Don’t listen to what other people think, just use their experience in your measurement and your calculations.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?

I’m living my dream of being a commercial pilot. Out of everything I have done, this still brings the most joy into my life, when I get to go to work. When you love what you do, you don’t have to work a day in your life, and I truly feel that way every day. I usually try to learn and fly more planes, I’m over 10 now, but I recently found out that early 2022, I will be switching to the captain’s seat of a large international flying airplane of the Boeing 757 and 767. This wasn’t in my immediate future plans, but a recent opportunity I decided to jump on. With that, comes the ultimate responsibility for the decisions that are made on the aircraft as I will be flying all over the world with its more than 200 passengers and cargo too. I can’t wait to further hone my craft, discover even more places, and continue to serve others.

Not once has it been a smooth road, but who is it smooth for? I want to meet them! But it has always been WORTH IT!

Life is never about taking the easy road, it’s about taking the route that you will think is worth it and that puts a smile on your face at the end of the day and helps you sleep at night. My story to be a commercial pilot has been a long and arduous one with many setbacks along the way, however when I get to watch a sunrise or sunset from 40,000 feet it makes it all worth it. So no matter what you are facing, take the challenge, one step at a time, and get through it. Sometimes get that tunnel vision to look at the most immediate challenge in front of you and tackle it before you move onto the next event. That would be my biggest piece of advice is to take it one step at a time.

In the pilot world we have some thing called a Aviate, Navigate, Communicate. If you search for my TEDx talk on YouTube or click on the link below, you’ll see me expand on this a little bit more and how it can help you in your life. See it doesn’t only apply to pilots in the air, it also applies to us down on the ground. The most important thing is to a Aviate your plane or life, when things don’t go as planned. Filter out all of the distractions and focus only on the data, information, or events that are pertinent to the immediate problem. I encourage everyone to go look at the TEDx talk about this and the link down below. Hopefully it helps you like it has helped me over numerous challenges in my life.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
What a cool question and as much as I love my city, I am so used to bouncing all over the world and discovering new places, somI would never say I actually have a favorite spot believe it or not. It’s all about the people you share it with. So whether it be a day trip, a weekender, or a weeklong trip or a month even, it is all about discovering new things and pushing yourself to be a better person and when you get to share it with a friend, a spouse, or loved one, or whatever, that makes the experience so much better. Never forget that it’s about the people you’re with, more than the places that you’ll go.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Rarely are we able to accomplish the things we do in life without the love and support of others. To include their encouragement and or sometimes even their discouragement from certain events and activities. Over the years, my parents definitely embedded the adventurous spirit in me from an early age but soon after high school I started taking it to the next level. How I get involved in adventures most people don’t even think about, or know about for that matter, so it is hard to describe to others when I think of “a new”adventure. Currently my wife and son are my biggest support network. They have never discouraged me from doing anything I want to do and they know and understand that I only take those calculated risks and not those stupid ones that may risk me coming home at the end of the day. They know that is the man I have become and will continue to be as I keep pushing myself. For that I would like to thank them first for their love and support. I would also like to thank my friends who have been with me along the way. You have inspired me to be a better person and to keep pushing myself. Some of you have also given me ideas for future adventures whether you knew it or not and whether you have done them or not. For that I thank you as well.

Website: https://www.shirazdalal.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imaginistictravel/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shirazdalal/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys03FOCv0QQ&t=4s