Bonus Short from Episode 118: Stress Management or Confidence Building?

0:00You're listening to the Driving Confidence Podcast for drivers who want to become and confident on the road. We will be sharing tips, stories and advice to beat driving nerves and anxiety and build your driving confidence. Whether you are just starting out as a learner or have had your driving licence for years, if you want to transform how you feel about driving, this podcast is for you. We're going to talk about the difference between stress management and confidence building and why we think that you should use both in your lessons with your students. So what is stress management? Well, basically, is what you do. So you don't end up feeling really stressed or feeling really frazzled. And I suppose if you get to that state is gone too far, isn't it? Yeah, I would say so. And certainly in driving lessons. You don't have to come up to a bend with the kind of pull your hair out. It's, you know,

1:03it's gone too far, isn't it? Yeah. So what we're really talking about is noticing, I suppose, stress and how we can manage that, is that? Yeah, it's making sure that yourself and students have strategies so that they recognise when they become stressed, recognise what their triggers for stress might be. So what scenarios and situations are likely to make them feel more stressed? And then having some tips and tricks that they know will work for them to help to keep them calm, because you know that the more stressed somebody is, the driving changes, doesn't matter. Yeah, I also noticed that there, you know, I can notice them getting more stressed. I mean, it's the body language, the way they grip the steering wheel, the way they change gear or not change gear, should I say sometimes

2:04is just like, okay, something's happening here, or I might notice in them, the face changing to a different colour, like red, you know, so there's lots of different things that I notice, and it's probably about getting them to be more aware of what they notice as well, isn't it? And this goes for you as well, you know, if you're getting stressed, where do you feel it? You know, in the body, what happens is it you start crunching your fists? Is there a feeling in the chest that goes a bit tight or something, you know, so being aware of when you become stressed, what does it feel like? Where is it? And then, okay, what do I do now? So even as an experienced driver, your knowledge about driving, your driving, in theory should stay the same, but if you're emotional, if you're feeling stressed, then your driving changes, it becomes more jockey and faster or slower, or you get closer to people, you're distracted because you're stressed, you're

3:09thinking about other things, so this fact is everything we'll do. Thank you for listening. Find out about the different ways that you can work with us on our website, www.confidentdrivers.co.uk, and begin to transform the way you feel about driving.