Confidence driving

Reacting to the recent podcast on 10 steps to confidence. Really loved this podcast and took it as an invitation to think about my approach to driving, which is a bit like you experience with a horse . Changing my relationship with driving has been a goal that I’ve been working on for quite some time. I can already see my my thought pattern here that I should be ready to drive by now because it’s something I keep writing to you about on ask a coach..

A goal in the past has been changing my relationship with driving, which I have been making progress on and I do want to celebrate that currently I am continuing to show up. I’ve made it a practice every week to just get in the car and drive sometimes it’s around the block sometimes I get the courage to drive to a nearby lake, which is a 10 minute drive on a fast bit of road to see how it feels with speed. Sometimes I just ride around the block and practice reverse parking. So I recognize that if I look at your 10 lessons, I am showing up. I’m prepared to get uncomfortable with it even though I don’t feel like doing it. I try to make it a ritual of at least going once a week to get in the car and drive a little bit somewhere This year. I made it a goal to try and drive somewhere new once a month and last year I made massive action in driving to woods that I love which is 20 minutes away that was on December 31. I find that I keep making excuses not to go on a weekend. My brain says it’s too many cars on the road. it will be too busy, which feels scary. I’d rather go in the week when it’s quiet. But during the week other things get in the way and I don’t end up going. I find that my body does tense up in the car. I’m gonna try and do this relaxing softening thing to see if that helps.

Where I struggle is with the thought of driving somewhere where I don’t know the road or don’t know the way because I feel that I need to know where I’m going in order to respond to outside traffic. I think the thought behind that is if I know where I’m going I’ll be more in control But deep down perhaps it’s because I feel like I don’t know how to master the car yet I’m always worried that I will hit the side of the road. I don’t have a good feel of how to use the vehicle. These sort of thoughts come in the way and that is stopping me from driving to places that I don’t know driving in the day with more traffic on the road and driving on the motorway, which is a huge fear for me

So if I put this into a model formula, I get the following

C. I’m in the process of changing my relationship with driving.
T. Driving on the motorway is too scary. I’m not ready.
F. Scared
S. Tight chest .
A. I procrastinate. I tell my self to keep showing up and just drive around the block so that I get comfortable in the vehicle, and I avoid stretching my growth zone.

An intentional model could be.

T. Fear is your fuel for stretching your driving zone.
S. Curious
A. I look at a map to find a new place to drive . Go on a Sunday when quiet.

Another one

T. You can do this .
F. Calm
A. Tell myself I’m calm and do it

Writing these feels like I know what to do, but I’m still procrastinating doing it. Please help.

 

 

Answer:

What is your inner wisdom telling you that you need to do in order to be a confident driver? It has a great list from what I can see here. There’s a reason we start learning with the basics, then go to the next level. What do you think would help you build a good feel of how to use the vehicle? How can you support yourself in this?  Right now it sounds like the only idea your brain has is forcing yourself to go on drives. Do some brainstorming and see what you can come up with. You always have permission to change the way you are approaching your goal. What do you think?