Matt Hall is a third-generation pilot, a former Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) fighter combat instructor, international unlimited aerobatic competitor, and Red Bull Air Race World Champion.
Hall’s first solo flight was in a glider at the young age of 15, with a pilot’s licence under his belt by 18.
As anyone could imagine, such a career wouldn’t come along without a healthy dose of motivation.
Speaking at the Brisbane launch of the new Cirrus SR Series G7+ aircraft, Hall gave some insight into the state of mind that has kept him flying high through an exciting career.
Fortune Favours the Persistent
One could be forgiven for thinking Hall is an adrenaline junkie, but the star pilot says he actually hates it.
“If you’re getting adrenaline in an aircraft and you’re the pilot of that aircraft, it’s a bad thing,” Hall said.
“You get adrenaline when you are losing control of the situation.
“And if you are getting adrenaline as the pilot, it means you’re losing control. So I have had adrenaline a couple of times in my career, and I hate that feeling.”
Hall also isn’t the biggest believer in the concept of luck, something he often reveals when fans remark on the “luckiness” of his career.
“If enough people tell you you’re lucky because you’ve got something nice—nice cars, nice plane, nice house, nice family—if you’re told you’re lucky often enough, you’ll start to believe it,” he said.
“And the problem with actually believing that you’re lucky for your achievements is you’ll start to feel like a fraud, and you’ll stop taking opportunities, because you’ll be worried, well, what if my mark finally runs out this time, and then people will see that I’m a fraud?”
Hall has another word he prefers to use instead.
“So what I do is, when someone says, ‘geez, you’re lucky,’ I don’t bother explaining to them that I’m not, I just say, ‘yes, I am very fortunate.’ Because fortunate people run by a different program,” he said.
“Fortunate people recognise their own potential and they’re always self-improving.”
The glue that holds it all together is tenacity, Hall says.
“It’s the sleepless nights, it’s the self-doubt, it’s the financial commitment, which has you pop out at the end with the result that people call lucky.”
Journey, Not Destination
When Hall was offered the opportunity to become the first Australian racer for Red Bull, he had to take six months off work, mortgage his home, and change his mindset to focus on his physical and mental health every single day.
But there was one pitfall on the way that became a catalyst for how he looked at his life.
Flying in a qualifier in Ontario and battling a head cold and jet lag, he crashed part of the plane into a river, though still managed to land the plane safely.
That was when he realised he’d been focusing on the outcome more than the process-a moment that fundamentally changed his outlook.
Dream Bigger
Hall emphasises the importance of dreaming big.
“If you’ve got a dream and people tell you you can’t do it, it’s probably a good dream, because if everyone goes, ‘oh, yeah, whatever,’ it’s probably not big enough—make it bigger,” he said.
“The key with the dream, though, is don’t put a timeline on it.”
According to Hall, one should always go to sleep imagining how they can do better the next day.
