How to Stay Calm Under Pressure: Combat Pilot Sarah Furness on Fear and Focus | #53

Your brain doesn't care whether it's incoming emails or incoming artillery fire. It's the same brain under pressure either way, and most of us were never taught how to fly it.

Sarah Furness spent 21 years in the military as a combat helicopter pilot before becoming an international keynote speaker and mindfulness coach. In this conversation with Erin, she shares how the tools that kept her steady in a war zone translate directly to boardrooms, inboxes, and everyday stress. From her Practice Scared philosophy to her HABITS method for focus, Sarah makes the case that courage isn't the absence of fear. It's what you build every time you act before you feel ready.

What You'll Take Away

- Why your brain responds to everyday stress the same way it responds to combat, and how to work with that instead of against it

- What Practice Scared means and how treating every day as a rehearsal builds real confidence without waiting to feel ready

- The "fly the aircraft" technique pilots use to pull their attention back to the one thing that matters when everything goes wrong

- Why multitasking is a myth, and how unitasking helps you do more by doing less

- The military debrief habit that turns every experience into self-trust, so your instincts get sharper with every rep

Chapters

0:00 Welcome and meet Sarah Furness

1:40 Incoming emails vs. incoming artillery fire: how the brain handles pressure

3:02 21 years in the military as a combat helicopter pilot

4:01 What deploying to a war zone is really like

6:18 The Practice Scared philosophy: train hard, fight easy

9:43 Distraction, mindfulness, and learning to "fly the aircraft"

12:07 Why we're addicted to busyness and what we're avoiding

14:57 Unitasking and the HABITS method

17:48 Control vs. composure: staying grounded when things go sideways

19:22 How courage and fear work together

22:03 Building self-trust through the debrief habit

24:23 Confidence is built, not born

27:02 Where to find Sarah

More About Sarah Furness

Sarah Furness is a former combat helicopter pilot turned international keynote speaker and mindfulness coach. She is the creator of the HABITS method and the Practice Scared philosophy, helping leaders perform with courage and composure in high-pressure environments.

If this conversation gave you a new way to think about pressure, subscribe to I Can Fit That In so you never miss an episode like this one.

Connect with Sarah:

💫 Instagram: @wellbeitcoach

💼 LinkedIn: Sarah Furness

🌐 Website: SarahFurness.com

Connect with Erin Coupe:

💫 Instagram: @authenticallyec

💼 LinkedIn: Erin Coupe

🌐 Website: ErinCoupe.com