Suggestibility in Positive and Self Talk

Why should we want to overcome fear of flying, specifically?

You should overcome all fears, include fears of flying if you intend to manage pressures and thrive on stress. While there are many fears experienced by a wide variety of people, probably one of the most common today is the fear of success. It may not have a debilitating effect on everybody, but for a culture that relies so much on succeeding; it can be especially problematic for many people. One of the biggest fears today aside from success however involves flying. While this notion may make you wonder what it has to do with success, managing pressure, thriving on stress, etc, the fact is some degree of our lives revolves around flying. We must overcome all fears in order to manage pressures and to thrive on stress, including the fear of flying.

Some people who would rely most heavily on plane travel are of course those who fly most frequently, such as people who need to travel by plane for business purposes, or those who have family spread out over a wide area and the means with which to keep in frequent touch with them. These people, however, likely spend so much time flying that they have been able to overcome whatever timidity may have experienced. Instead, it is the people who find themselves by necessity compelled to board a plane, perhaps to visit a relative in an emergency or to travel due to a recent relocation, who are most likely to find themselves suddenly forced to confront their fear. While it may be possible to book an alternative route, this is often cost-prohibitive, especially if travel is required over water. In such cases, it becomes especially necessary to confront the fear.

All right, so how do I employ positive self-talk techniques to help me overcome my fear of flying?

Because the process of employing positive self-talk techniques is really just the process of initiating a program of self-conditioning, many of the techniques used to employ the process are very similar to those used when a subject wishes to engage in self-hypnosis. Bearing this in mind, subjects will be able to understand why in this instance it can be very helpful to employ the use of recorded tapes or CDs to help in training the mind to overcome the fear of flying. Tapes should obviously not be purchased pre-recorded but instead should be recorded in the subject’s own voice, thereby increasing the comfort level even of those people most resistant to the idea of suggestibility, since recognizing their own voice speaking to them is likely to lower their level of mistrust significantly. If tapes are unavailable or the subject is uncomfortable when using them, start speaking to one directly – the “old-fashioned” way! – Also works.

What should these tapes say?

It is important that subjects use the tapes not to stress what is currently the case, such as their fear of flying, but instead to stress what they want to be the case in the future. For that reason, they should be certain that the statements on the tapes reflect the reality that they want to take place. Some suggestions are: My ability to overcome my fear of flying will give me greater self-confidence in all areas of my life. It will give me an increased sense of self-control.
I will manifest faith and confidence when I am on the plane.
Instead of worrying about my fear, I will adopt the ability to take control of it. I am in control of my fear and I will overcome it.