The story of Icarus leaves us wishing to equip our children with the character and skills to navigate through life and change course when flying too close to the sun. In today's world, young adults face unprecedented distractions and instantly gratifying messaging that challenge anyone's ability to focus, decide and/or execute a game plan for launch. Students, parents, mentors, and mentees may find themselves disoriented. Icarus 2.0, parachute included re-cages our gyros and orients us toward InCentivE$ for CREATEing our way.

The author experienced an uncertain, troubled, and somewhat rebellious childhood within the divorced environment of his parents. Time away from this environment living with his Aunt and Uncle, a Fly Navy commercial, and a joyful flying experience with his father altered the course of his life. Uncertainty was replaced with his mission to fly fighter jets. 25 years later while flying an air combat training mission at night over the Gulf of Mexico, he became disoriented, ejecting from his F-16 with less than a second left to live. This near-death experience inspired him to write down lessons learned for his four young children should he not be there to guide them in the future. 12 years after the accident and after several years of experience mentoring high school students as an Admissions Liaison Officer, attending 'career days', and observing his own kids encountering the challenges of our nation's 455:1 student to guidance counselor ratio; he was inspired to provide counselors with more resources. This life-changing book serves as a manifestation of his hopes and desires to help the next generation navigate doubt, uncertainty, and imperfection.
About the Author: Lt Col Pete Stinky Smith is a retired U.S. Air Force pilot. His father had this inscribed on his graduation ring from the United States Air Force Academy: Blue Side Up-Dad. During a night training mission over the Gulf of Mexico, he found himself unable to orient blue side up, ejecting with less than a second left to live. Immediately following his accident, he put pen to paper to ensure that his children had lessons learned to consider, should he not be the one to guide them in the future. This book comes thirteen years after the accident. Having almost completed launching all four children from the house of Mom and Dad, Smith wrote InCentivE$ for CREATEing Our Way: a checklist and acronym to reference for guidance and course correction, should they find themselves flying too close to the sun.