Real estate broker Brian Campbell always feels a knot in his stomach before leaping from an airplane to skydive. But he says that's a good thing.

"When you get complacent, you get dangerous," Campbell, the managing partner and CEO of Redondo Beach, California-based brokerage BC Urban said in an interview. "Fear helps your focus and execution."

The rush from relying on a parachute reminds him that a bad day in the office can never compare with making a mistake while skydiving.

"It puts into perspective the normal stresses of our daily professional and personal lives," he said.

In November, Campbell, 68, trained for several days with the Egyptian Air Force in Giza, Egypt, a city outside of Cairo that's known for its pyramids. The training was not unusual for Campbell, whose career has spanned multiple continents and has involved stints working with both the military and government.

Outside of his brokerage day job, Campbell serves in the military reserves as the deputy commander of the California State Guard Special Operations team.

While in Giza, where he embarked on the training as a civilian, Campbell and his son jumped for two days out of C-130 airplanes and Mi-17 helicopters. Campbell considered himself a novice around some of the other skydivers he trained with because he's completed 113 free falls so far in addition to 34 military static-line parachute jumps. Others had done more than 15,000 jumps.

Back in California, skydiving also teaches the veteran broker how to manage stress. In his day job, Campbell borrows from lessons he's learned while in airplanes like reminding himself to breath to calm his nerves.

He also focuses on taking each step before skydiving, which steadies him before making the leap. He'll also put his hand out of the airplane to feel the wind prior to jumping to better connect with the process.

Campbell seemed destined to live a life outside the familiarity of home.

After high school, he took a gap year and lived in Switzerland before coming back to complete his education at the University of Colorado-Boulder. He then went into the U.S. Army and volunteered to go to the Demilitarized Zone in Korea in 1978.

He spent eight months there and sat in on several armistice agreement meetings with the United Nations as an aide to a Swiss military officer. That job left a powerful impression on the young Campbell.

"You can't imagine the stress and, consequently, the growth that comes from being in that type of environment," he said.

Returning home, Campbell worked at Cushman & Wakefield and volunteered to work on real estate assignments internationally. He also worked at Colliers and Studley, now part of Savills, before getting elected mayor of the seaside city of Rancho Palos Verdes in Southern California.

He launched BC Urban in 2006.

Looking ahead, Campbell hopes to achieve 200 jumps to qualify to complete a bigger challenge: a high-altitude, low-open parachute jump. Those jumps are performed at about 30,000 feet up and require an oxygen bottle.

Skydiving "makes you stronger, more focused, more alive and excited about what you do for a day-to-day living," Campbell said.