Lessons In Travel
Posted on 21. Dec, 2008 by admin in Motivation
I often tell my clients that learning coaching tools is like winning the mental lottery. Much of the time I literally feel like I’ve won the powerball. It’s because I’ve learned how to create thoughts and feelings that get me the results in my life that I want. It’s actually much better than just being a lucky ticket holder. I create the ticket. Much more fun.
Last week I spent a week in LA working, and was very happy to be catching a 6 am flight back to my family, my pets, my red chair, and my fireplace. I arrived at LAX with plenty of time to check in, get through security, and grab a Starbucks before boarding. Have you BEEN in a major airport a week before Christmas? When I walked through the automatic doors and my left and right brain had a split second to assess the several thousand travelers, lines that rivaled any at Disney World, and the panic energy that permeated, I knew that I was CLEARLY not as “on time” as I thought.
I stood in line at the self check-in machine for twenty minutes. When I entered my flight information, it would not let me check in as I had missed the “must check in 60 minutes prior to departure” deadline by one minute. I looked up at the lines of tired and angry travelers, glanced at my watch, and felt my heart begin pounding, and sweat bead up on my forehead. And then, and THEN, I heard my thoughts swirling with, “You are going to miss your flight and there isn’t another one to Evansville until tomorrow. You are so screwed. Why didn’t you get here earlier…” You get the picture. Listening to these thoughts, I was ready to stand in a long line to get rerouted or fly standby or find a hotel for the night.
This is where it gets good. Here is how I self coached myself onto my 6 am flight:
What is the result that I want?
To get on that 6 am flight.
Thinking that it is impossible to make it is not going to get me there. What do I need to think and believe to make it happen?
There is a way. Someone in charge is going to get me on that flight.
What can I DO to make it happen?
Find an airline manager or someone in charge and talk to them.
How does that feel?
Much better, thank you.
In about ten seconds, I completely shifted my thoughts away from what I didn’t want, to a result that I did want. My thoughts and feelings pivoted. I wasn’t ignoring the circumstance that the airport was slammed, that the lines were so long that if I stood in them I would miss the flight, or that it was now only 30 minutes until they would start boarding, and I was standing in the main ticketing area with no ticket and not bag checked. I chose to focus on the result that I did want, and went to work to prove THAT true,
I looked around and spotted a woman in charge, Hey, she had on a fancy blazer, walked around like a badass, and was carrying a walkie talkie. She was in charge in my book. Just to make a very long story short, the airline saint took me over to a ticket counter, printed me a boarding pass, checked in my bag and had someone take it to the front of the security screening area, and instructed me to RUN to my gate.
And I ran. I ran in my tight jeans and cowboy boots, with my enormously huge purse that could swallow a small child, and my laptop case. I talked my way to the front of the security line with my story of not wanting to miss the only flight home to my family. People helped me. Mean looking, scowling, yet adorable security men and women allowed me to go to the front of the line. Tired and cranky passengers let me go right pass them and cheered for me when they saw that I was going to get through.
And I ran some more. About a half a mile to my gate. And all the while I kept saying, “You are going to make it.”
I screeched up to to the departure counter at 5:58 am. The waiting area was empty. The door was shut. But the plane was still there. I could barely talk to the gate agent I was breathing so hard. I asked/stated, “I’m not too late.” She said, “Yes, you are.” I said, “I was here on time and ran as fast as I could.” And, with that, in silence, she walked over to the door, punched in her security code, and reopened the door.
I made it.
But I wouldn’t have gotten on that plane without a change in my thoughts. My thoughts created the platform of possibility, which changed my feeling from irritation to hope, which changed my actions, which led to my desired result.
This isn’t a lesson in how to talk your way around airport personnel and security.
It’s a lesson in how to make it. ANYTHING. Whatever your circumstance. You can get there. Even if it seems impossible.
Sure, there’s running involved. But it was the best half mile I think I’ve ever sprinted.
Think. Feel. DO. Enjoy.
That’s awesome!! I love how you show we are all human – thoughts creep up on us but we have the power to change them. Run Forest Run!
Susan,
LOVE this post, and because many of us travel frequently, we need to be reminded how to control our thoughts…even in airports. I’m so glad you made it home to your family, dogs, and red chair.
Thanks guys! Yes, I am certainly human, and was having a moment or two in LAX. lol
Susan – what a great post for this time of year when so many are stuck in airports, and waiting in some cases for days before a flight leaves. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas!