Interesting skydiving analogy. The overall advice maps pretty closely to general guidelines for going into the literal sport. 1. Cut personal costs to a mini

Interesting skydiving analogy. The overall advice maps pretty closely to general guidelines for going into the literal sport. 1. Cut personal costs to a minimum. Skydiving is an expensive sport. You can and will spend thousands just to get the lowest level USPA license. Plan to make cuts so you can plan to jump regularly. Being too cheap or having an irregular jump schedule is not good for you, especially when starting out. 2. Do not take funding. In a few cases, a drop zone might let you clean bathrooms and pack parachutes in exchange for student jumps. However, taking out loans isn't worth it in the long run. 3. Connect with mentors and peers and listen to them. Skydivers are full of opinions some of which are well-intentioned. However, the wise student will listen to their skydiving instructor and take advice from non-instructors ( or "peers" in general) with a very big grain of salt. This includes advice from the Internet. 4. Don't tie yourself to one idea. It's smart to have a plan but you have to make sure you have a plan B or C both in freefall and while flying a parachute. The situation on any given skydive can turn on a dime and you have to be ready to react without panicking. 5. Don't make plans or set deadlines. The tag line for that is a bit deceiving with respect to what the advice here actually says. You DO want to plan your skydive. The bit about "not looking back" once you commit I can buy. Once you're out of the plane, it's obviously too late to change your mind and go back in.