Overcome the Fear of Flying

Why overcome the fear of flying? Well, we all have our own reasons. For me the answer comes down family.  I just got back from visiting my son in San Francisco. It’s on the other side of the country from where I live. If fear kept me from flying, I wouldn’t be able to visit him, or at least not as often.

Other people have different, important reasons to deal with their fear of flying. It may be that they need to travel for business. Or perhaps they wish to travel for the sake of visiting places they’ve read about or that have had historical significance.

Certainly, you have a lot more choices on what you can do for holiday if you’re not afraid to flying.

If getting on a plane makes you nervous, you probably have your own reason to want to get over it. Here are some tips to help.

You probably already know that flying is safer than driving.
Get used to the idea of flying and get a sense of how normal it is.

One tip is to visit a busy airport when you aren’t planning on flying. Many times, people with a fear of flying get nervous even going to the airport because they associate that with getting on a plane and taking off. Since you know you won’t be getting on a plane, You should be able to visit an airport as an observer without any difficulty.

This will do a couple of things for you. For one, it will get you used to being relaxed while you’re at the airport. Hang out for a while. Larger airports almost seem like shopping malls these days. Check out the stores and at the same time notice all the travelers whose biggest concern is whether or not their flight is on time, not a flying phobia.

You’re desensitizing yourself to being in the airport and also seeing relaxed behavior that you can model.

Schedule your flight on bigger airplanes.

Believe it or not, some people like flying on smaller planes because they find them exciting. They like the plane bouncing around the same way some people like roller coasters.

That’s not me. I like bigger planes. With the larger jets, you can hardly tell you’re in plane. Really the only time it might feel different than riding in a bus is during take-off.

Which brings me to my next suggestion on how to dear with fear of flying: pretend you’re on a bus. Really. I know it sounds ridiculous, but you’d be surprised at how many people this has helped.

When you think about it, your fear when you’re on an airplane is all a mind game. There’s nothing physically dangerous going on. It’s your imagination of what might go wrong that does you in.

For whatever reason, most people who are afraid to fly have no problem at all getting on a bus. (By the way, when you think about it, that lack of fear is irrational. It’s much more likely that you’ll be involved in an accident riding a bus than on an airplane.)

Visualize and imagine being on a bus rather than a plane. You can think of turbulence as a bumpy road. This simple reframing can be a tremendous help.

Even better, I believe, is the Take Off Today program. Read a review, or go here to find out more about what this program has go to offer immediately.