1. Prior planning prevents poor performance.
I joined the Emirates Skywards program. Logged on, plugged in my itinerary and booked all aisle seats there and back. On the leg over I was asked by three seperate people to changed seats with them.. no can do… plan ahead!
2. Focus on the job at hand.
Bottom line is that I hate flying. My son still sees it as a massive adventure, to me it is like getting on a bus. In order to get through I employ the same technique I do in business, I concentrate on what needs to be done at that moment. It is like the old saying ‘How does a lion eat an elephant? One bite at a time’.
3. Look at the big picture.
As entrepreneurs we can often get blinkered so sometimes we need to
A380 Tail Cam
4. Tolerance.
There is nothing more testing, in my opinion, than sitting on a plane crammed in with hundreds of people you don’t know. It tests the patience, but approaching it as a mental excercise in tolerance can add another skill and expereince to your self-belief bank.
Dubai Airport
5. Awe.
I have sufferred from being blase about things or concentrating on small problems, I now try to appreciate the awesomness around me and put those problems into perspective. I was on an A380 on one of the legs… totally awesome engineering. Dubai airport… awesome. Seeing the converture of the Earth through the ‘tail-cam’ on the plane’s video.. awesome. The organisation that goes behind getting millions of passengers to their destinations safely.. awesome. Seeing the love that people have for each other when reunited at the airport… awesome.
These are just a few things that got me thinking when I was flying. One of the things I also found is that although 30 hrs on a plane is not something a human being should do regularly, it is necessary for achieving that most rewarding of feelings… face time with your clients and colleagues. Technology has kind of taken over our lives with email, Skype video and telepresence, but actually sitting down with colleagues and clients, having a beer and a meal and talking through business cannot be replaced by any technology… just yet.
Regards
David
@OneLifeNoFear
The final destination is always a welcome sight but getting there, I agree… isn’t much fun at all. I don’t like being stuck in a little tube for hours on end, especially with the new rules when flying into or out of the USA. I always buy my ticket in advance by at least a month or two, this way, they are very cheap and getting an aisle seat is much easier to reserve, those are the first ones to go!
What I learned from getting my pilot license was that flying sucks if you aren’t the pilot
Jon @ WoodMarvels.com
That sounds very stressful , seems you’ve been very tolerant to the situation
@Jon – My wife is a pilot… she says the same thing….. Thanks for your comment
@Ruben – I may seem tolerant in this article… but that is with the wisdom of hindsight and the fact that it is over (although I did a similar flight just last week…)…