What Were The Results Of Your Last BITE Test?

BITE: Built-In Test Equipment

In my previous article, How do you feel about being an LRU? I was talking about being an LRU.

I will let you read that article and come back.

Welcome back.

In an aircraft, most equipment comes with a feature hardcoded in them.

They perform a BITE (Built-In Test Equipment) test. Basically, they perform an auto diagnosis whenever they are powered.

They will run a program within their internal system and produce a warning or an error message to the aircraft system.

Then, that message is displayed in the aircraft cockpit to make the pilots and the cabin crew aware of what's happening.

This BITE test equipment is not unique to the aircraft industry. It can be found in satellites, cars, and many other systems in our daily lives.

I like it when my car tells me this left-hand side bulb should be replaced without even asking.

Why is it that we don’t perform this kind of BITE test in our lives?

Since three years ago, I have always taken the time to reflect on my life. I was mindlessly "living" a life of doing what was the least painful for me.

I thought being in an engineering school was sufficient for me to climb the ladder of success. I was not performing any BITE (Built-In Test Earth being) to assess my life's direction.

One day, I was 35 years old. And in France, at 35, you receive your first letter telling you how much time you had to work before having a full retirement package. For me, it was something like 133 quarters before having to enjoy retirement with the condition of me being alive then and being able to enjoy my savings.

This is when it hit me, the lie I was telling myself: "Be like everybody else, work now, wait for retirement, and enjoy."

I was surrounded by the void of the promise of heaven that would be "retirement."

I needed to change that. I could not wait for my whole life for a hypothetical gift that I may probably have if I was lucky to be still alive and with enough health to enjoy.

I started performing my BITE test to check up on me regularly.

I asked myself the four following questions.

1. Who am I?
2. Where am I?
3. Why am I here?
4. What do I intend to do about it?

1. Who am I?

To answer this question, I reflect on what's essential for me and what drives me. I defined a set of values that are my North Star.

2. Where am I?

The best moment to be alive for me is when I am alive. I acknowledge that being in this period is where I will build the most impact I can witness.

3. Why am I here?

I believe that we are all here for a reason. I could just let the other define that reason for me. Or I can take the matter into my own hands and accept that I can also contribute to this world.

4. What do I intend to do about it?

My intention is not to be an accumulation of warning messages and bit errors. I know those messages are here to help me improve and learn from my system.

Final Thoughts

That is the BITE (Built-In Test Earth being) ritual I perform regularly through journaling.

I log my faults in my journal and review them regularly to learn and improve.

When was the last BITE test in your life? Leave a comment below.

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Photo by NESA by Makers on Unsplash