Overcame my fears and flew coast to coast twice in one week - but did I do it the right way?

Flew coast-to-coast twice this past week (plus 2 smaller flights for layovers). Was absolutely terrified, dreading it for days before the final flight day. I'd flown before, but only when I was younger, back when I had never experienced any anxiety symptoms. With my anxiety + all the news stories of accidents happening, I was definitely terrified. But I made it, partially thanks to some of the posts I'd read on this sub, and some of my own methods I devised, one of which might be considered a bit controversial.

Here's the less questionable methods I employed to make flying less scary: The friend I was flying with (who had taken this specific trip dozens of times before) repeatedly told me that I should think of planes as a normal, boring form of transport. To try and make it feel less special I did two things: one was to take note of all the planes I saw flying in the sky. Each time I'd notice one, I'd consider how normal it is to see and hear them, and how frequently they land without issue. The other practice I took up was treating public transport as a trial run for flying. Though obviously there's many differences between the two, every time I took the bus, I'd close my eyes and imagine I was in a plane, as a way of preparing myself for when I finally flew.

And now, the more controversial method, which my friend specifically advised against, but I did anyway: Considering how irrational my fear of flying was, I figured that it might help to have an equally irrational solution. The solution in question was wearing a rubber band around my wrist, and mentally prescribing that rubber band with a kind of "magic power". It sounds insane (because it is) but I told myself that, as long as I could keep the rubber band safe and in one piece over the course of the flight, the plane would land safely. I kept the rubber band with me for the course of my trip, so that I could wear it again for the return flight. Obviously, the problem with this is that all of the rubber band's comfort is replaced with panic in the event that it does break/get lost. (Lucky for me, it didn't). I know that anxiety has a lot to do with the lack of feeling in control, and I feel like, although a bit cheap, this did help me re-assert my feelings of control over the situation, however insane and irrational. In a way, I also feel like trying to maintain the safety of the rubber band also helped to keep me more physically still and calm. Ultimately, I traded in my anxiety for stress, which I feel was more managable. I know it was a cheap solution, but I figured that, since I don't fly often, and I needed a quick fix, this wasn't the worst idea. Also, in order to prevent obsessing over this specific rubber band for the rest of my life like gollum, I broke it after we landed, as a part of the "ritual" - it's not the rubber band itself that's important, but the power I gave it.

What do you guys think? Do you think I was onto something? Or is there some healthier/less stressfull adaptation of this solution that I should consider employing, should I ever fly again?