Are you in the best state of mind to learn how to drive? Do you love your driving lessons or does just the thought of them make you feel nervous? Your emotions have a big role to play in how well you are able to learn during your lessons. We have different zones that we move between when are learning something new.
Comfort Zone - we feel calm, what we learn feels easy but possibly has little or no challenge, is a little boring, learning may be slow but comfy and it is easy for learning to get stuck.
Stretch Zone - we feel more awkward and a bit more challenged but it is manageable. We have to focus more, we learn a lot and feel a sense of achievement. The more time we spend in this zone, the more it will grow. Past learning slips into the comfort zone and new learning that would once have been in the panic zone is now manageable in the stretch zone as we grow in confidence.
Panic Zone - we feel more fearful, possibly frustrated or criticising ourselves and others. What we are doing feels too challenging which prevents much learning from taking place and can generate feelings of being scared to try again. Our defence system has been triggered.
Failure Zone - we feel overwhelmed, angry or frozen. Our defence system is in full swing ready to fight, flight or freeze, preventing any possibility of learning at all and a complete aversion to repeating the experience!
The aim is to stay within our Stretch zone and learn to recognise if we are approaching our Panic zone and triggering our Defence systems. Enabling us to stay in the Stretch zone and maximise our learning capacity. Avoiding the Failure zone altogether! Reflect back on your last driving lesson. If it felt too easy, a bit boring and not challenging enough then you may need to chat with your driving instructor about what you would like to achieve in your next lesson. If however, it felt too difficult making you feel frustrated and self-critical then you may need to chat with your driving instructor about how to keep your lessons in the stretch zone.
We learn best when we are within our stretch zone, challenged but not fearful.
Using the various stress management techniques on the website before your driving lessons will ensure that you are not starting with high levels of stress before your lesson. Learning breathing exercises that you can use in the car means that when it is safe to do so you can pause, activate your soothing system (see the article on emotional systems) so that you are ready to resume, staying in the stretch zone of learning.
Find out more about the stress management solutions included in our subscription packages for learner drivers and group subscriptions for driving instructors.
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If you have a driving test coming up soon you might find our Ultimate Guide to Driving Test Nerves useful.
Read more of our reviews from happy learner drivers on Trustpilot
It's great to have a website offering fantastic techniques to assist with the challenges of driving. The website recognises the fact that learning to drive can be stressful and there are strategies to help with this. The website's name, 'CONFIDENT Drivers' is what a learner is aspiring to be, so it's very positive. The techniques also apply to building general confidence in all walks of life, so useful again. Thank you!
I was so pleased when my instructor signed me up for Confident Driver. I loved the hypnosis sessions & I recently passed first time with one fault. Recommend 100%
Confident drivers has been a really useful tool in changing my attitude to the driving test. I hadn't recognised just how much my negative thoughts about my ability rather than my actual driving ability have been holding me back and putting me off. I particularly liked the quick fix section that gives you strategies to calm down just before the test!
If you would like some self-help stress management resources to help you tackle your driving anxiety and improve driving confidence then our calming kit is created by leading industry experts especially for you. Access to all the resources is online.
These plans are created specifically for drivers and learner drivers looking for online solutions to manage driving nerves and anxiety. We also have a range of group plans created for driving instructors who would like to offer support offroad to their learner drivers, you can find more details on our ADI page.
We created this podcast for drivers who want to be calm and confident on the road. Whether you are a learner driver, a new driver or have been driving for years, this podcast will help you to beat driving nerves and anxiety and build your driving confidence.
Co-hosted by Kev & Tracey Field, each Driving Confidence podcast episode offers bite-sized information and ideas that are both relatable and achievable to help you manage your driving nerves or anxiety and transform how you feel about driving.
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Take a browse around our blog for articles written to help learner drivers and driving instructors recognise the most common reasons for experiencing driving nerves and confidence issues. Each article offers strategies and suggestions that may help you.
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