The "Drill" of Flight

Have you ever felt a crippling fear of losing control?

When we deal with our "inner stutter", the underlying trigger is rarely just the situation itself; it is often the terrifying feeling that we have zero agency over what happens next. We feel like a passive passenger in an airplane heading into turbulence, bracing for the worst.

No one understood this struggle better than Dr. Mark C., a practicing dentist and McGill University alumnus.

For decades, Mark lived with an overwhelming, debilitating fear of heights. Whenever he was on a high floor of a building or stepped onto a balcony, a wave of panic would wash over him; he had to retreat indoors immediately. His fear was so severe that he couldn't even climb a household ladder.

When traveling by plane, Mark was a licensed professional avoider. He would intentionally select aisle or middle seats so he wouldn't have to look out the window and see how high up he was. As he admitted, his fear had become a massive, daily hindrance that kept him playing small.

When he analyzed his fear,Mark realized that the root cause wasn't just the altitude; it was his intense fear of a lack of control. If a car breaks down on the highway, you can simply pull over to the shoulder; but if a plane encounters a problem at 30,000 feet, you can't just pull over.

So, how did he decide to break this cycle of hesitation? He didn't try to visualize his way out of the panic, nor did he wait for a magical breakthrough.

He chose the ultimate, bottom-up action: he decided to learn how to fly an airplane himself.

Mark enrolled in flight school, completing 80 hours of ground school to understand the mechanics of flight, followed by 85 hours of intensive flight training with an instructor.

The ultimate test of his courage came when he had to learn how to recover an aircraft from a "spiral dive" or spin. In a spin, the airplane loses lift, the nose points straight toward the earth, and the ground comes rushing up at terrifying speed. During his first few flight sessions as a passenger, Mark was as white as a sheet.

His flight instructor offered a piece of advice that changed everything: "It's common to feel that way when you're a passenger. When, however, you do it yourself, you have specific parameters to follow, and you can get through it".

By stepping into the pilot's seat and physically executing the recovery procedure; tilting the nose down, stepping on the rudder pedal, and leveling the wings; Mark replaced helpless panic with active execution. He realized that height wasn't his enemy; it was his friend, giving him the altitude and time needed to correct any course.

Out of a class of 50 students who started the rigorous program, only three people passed the final flight test. Mark was one of them. Today, he proudly wears a set of pilot wings on his bomber jacket; a physical receipt proving that he took control of his deepest fear.

By becoming an expert at your inner stutter, you can combine learning and knowledge with taking courageous action 

The "Yes Way" Takeaway: 

When you feel overwhelmed by a situation, stop acting like a passenger in your fear. Step into the pilot's seat; learn the parameters, take the controls, and execute the rep!

Your challenge this week: 

Identify one area in your life where a fear of losing control is causing you to hesitate or avoid a task. What is ONE concrete, physical step you can take this week to take the controls and face it head-on?