In today's episode, we wanted to talk a little bit about effort and how much effort you put into your driving. And this is something we see quite a lot, Kev. Isn't it, it comes up time and time again, not just with learners, but with nervous drivers. Yeah, I suppose the amount of effort you put in before your lesson or before. You go on a drive, the amount of effort. that you. What do you want out of the lesson? You need to put the effort in. To get what you want at the end of it. One of the things that you see regularly as a driving instructor, but we've seen it very clearly. When we work with people one-to-one with the coaching, is that when somebody is prepared to put some effort in and really thinks about their drive in. They get much better results compared to people who just show up. And hope for the best. Yes. What do you want to get out of that? The drive. You know, you actually want to get something out of it. And where you are making the effort. The results are better. Rather than. Just showing up for a lesson or showing up to go drive in. You're not really thinking about it. It's you'll just go in through the motions to a certain degree. Yeah. So it's a good question to ask yourself with your driving. So whether you're a learner, whether you're a nervous driver, All are you just turning up, going through the motions and hoping for the best hoping for that? Mythical magical wand to suddenly make everything come together what are a few of the ways that people can put some effort in. Well, I suppose, planning for the lesson in advance. And again, it might well be that. Not just a lesson, but a drive, you know, plan for the drive. What hazards are you going to get on the way? What. Uh, situations, might there be, how long is it going to take you? What's the best route to get on little things you can do in advance of driving can give you a real insight. Into how you're going to deal with that challenge of driving or that route. Whatever it may be. But making sure that you plan. You might plan to, your next lesson might well be on a parallel park. You've never done parallel parking before. And you've heard about how difficult it is from friends and family. But just put in a little bit of effort into planning that lesson. You can watch YouTube videos on how to parallel park. You can get mum and dad to show you how they parallel park. And then think about all the skills that you've got that are going to help you get the most out of that lesson. Yeah. So it's a little bit of planning, a little bit of preparing yourself with knowledge, but also preparing yourself mentally for what you're going to do. Exactly. And I think it's the amount of effort in works, hand in hand with the mental side of driving, but also the physical side. And when you put effort in, on both of those sides, people work with you as well. And I think this is sometimes gets overlooked when. If people know your put in effort in, they're more likely to help you. And that goes for driving instructors, friends, and family who might be supervising you if you're a learner, but also friends and family who might be out with you and supporting you if you're nervous and anxious, but have already passed your test. Yeah, I suppose it's just in life though. Isn't it? You know, this is how much effort do you put into something. How important is that task that you're about to do? How important is it for you to drive? Do you actually want to drive? And I know it's going a bit extreme. But if you actually want to drive. How much effort are you likely to put in? Probably more? Yeah. This brings us to priorities. Doesn't it? This is, this is all about. How important. Is driving in your life and are you willing to prioritize it? And where does it fit in, in the priorities in your life? And actually. If it isn't a priority. That's okay. But you need to match your expectations. Alongside how much preparation planning, how are you prioritizing? How much effort are you putting in? So there's different levels. Isn't there. If there's something that you're. What to have, for example, if you're learning a musical instrument or if you're a sports person. Any new skill, you don't get good at something or confident in something. Without putting in that effort. And so in those scenarios, people choose to prioritize it over other things. And You were expectations are going to match how much time you've prioritized for that particular task. And so the same as for driving. So it's okay if it isn't a priority, but make sure that your expectations match that make sure your expectations match the level of effort. That you're putting in. Yes. When you first started to drive and it's probably exciting and you actually want you to do it. But. In the current situation we're in. You know, test waiting times are longer. So the actual driving. It's probably prioritized slightly lower than other things. Whatever it is. What we need to do is to make sure that we're putting the amount of effort in that we need to be successful. Yeah. And I can see that actually with those long waiting lists times, if you're a learner driver, it might feel like there doesn't seem a lot of point in prioritizing or putting lots of effort in if you've got months to go. And then I can imagine as the deadline looms closer, suddenly that comes up the ranks in terms of priority and effort. But I'm guessing if you can. Level out. The amount of effort and preparation that you put in. Then that's going to be a lot less stressful when you get closer to deadline. And there's, it's just rung a bell with me, this, this, for that. You have to put 10,000 hours in to become good at something. Is it good or master at something is, I can't remember. It's mastery. He has to put 10,000 hours in. Again, you know, You're probably not going to put 10,000 hours in before your driving test. But what it does show you is the more hours you put in the better you will get at something. So. That also must go for the amount of effort that you're going to put in. If you put more effort into something for a longer period of time. Shorter. You're going to get better at something. And I think it's about making each hour. Count. Making each drive. Count. Yeah. So when we think about levels of effort, and I'm, I'm guessing I'm imagining here because I've not been in your position sitting, teaching someone's drive, but I imagine. The lowest level of effort possible. Is somebody. Rocking out of their house or school or work. They haven't given drive in a thought. They jump in the driving seat and they're still not given their drive in any thoughts. And actually what they may be doing is thinking about. Something that's just happened earlier on. Or they're busy worrying or thinking about something that's going to happen later and that they spend the whole time in the driving seat. Not even thinking about their driving. Now, I'm guessing that's the lowest level of effort that somebody can put him. I would've said so. Um, and you know, somebody might. Have lessons paid for them or. They don't actually want to drive. They're being forced into the driving. Yeah. So they don't really want it. It doesn't rank on that priority that. It's not their priority, but I'm guessing those people who just, who, who do that put in that lowest level of effort. It must take the majors to learn to drive and they must have all sorts of uncomfortable experiences. Well, you mentioned uncomfortable. I would probably say, do they actually enjoy driving? Do that. Enjoy the fact of that. What driving we'll give them at the end of it. They probably understand it. But do they just want to be given it? And the just rely on others to give it to them. Like the instructor. Just tell me, well, tell me what I need to do. I'll go and do it. And you know, I'm not really interested in putting some effort in. It's really, really hard. And yes, you might be able to pass your test, but. How long is it going to take you? Where is that effort coming from? Yeah. So I think if we were going to do a sort of scale of an effort scale, Yeah. So if we made that zero on the effort, scale of driving, but not even thinking about driving while you're driving, that's going to be levels zero. So level one's going to be. Thinking about driving while you're driving. And then the next stage on to that would be maybe thinking about driving for 10 minutes beforehand. Thinking about getting yourself in the right mindset, thinking about what you'd like to do. And reflecting on your driving for 10 minutes, 15 minutes afterwards as well. So thinking about how did that go? What went well, what am I happy with? What am I still confused about? What do I need to find out more about? So that would be a. Another, that would be a good level for an average person. Wouldn't it? I spend a bit of time, 10 minutes, half an hour. Before. And afterwards, as well as concentrating on their driving during the lesson, would that be. Yeah, that's quite a good level. You know, you're going to make the, you'll get the best out of it because again, not only would you be doing things before and after the lesson, but during the lesson, you're going to be reflecting as well. Yeah. Um, and you become self-aware. And you start taking responsibility for your own learning. And I think that's the key to this with the effort. It's all about self-awareness and self responsibility. And if you understand that the amount of effort that you put in to your driving. Increases. Yeah. It's making that time count. And that isn't just for learners. So if you're a nervous or an anxious driver, But you you're still driving and making yourself do certain things. Put yourself in exactly the same mindset. Think about your driving before you go. And when I say, think about it, I don't mean thinking, oh God, I've got a drive. I hate driving in thinking about it. In a more positive way in a getting in the right mindset, thinking about, okay, where am I hotspots, remind myself what lanes I need to be in. Remind yourself of things that are going to help you. And. Allow you to make the most of that journey in the most successful way possible. Um, spend some time again afterwards, not in a negative. Oh, this happened. That happened in a, okay. What went well, what didn't go so well, what can I find out afterwards? So it's exactly the same, whether you're. Uh, learner or whether you're a nervous and anxious driver. And you'll probably find that drivers will do this automatically. Because they've driven for so long. Sometimes they will think back to that drive. They just hadn't got out. I was tired there. Or oh, that happened. So, you know, I've got to do that again next week. So what I'll do, I don't want to feel tired again. So what I'll do is I'll make sure I stop on the way or make sure I have a coffee before I leave or go a different route. But drivers that have been driving for a long time will do this automatically. And that's where you will get to, but. In the initial stages, just take small steps. Yeah. You have to choose to do it. And you say that you're absolutely right. I do. Anywhere I go I'll think. Which way am I going to go? Where am I going to park? All of those things, but not in a worrying sort of way. And, uh, this is what I'm going to do, so I know what I'm doing before I've even got in the car and that's not because I'm nervous or anxious. It's just something I do. Automatically, I just have that sort of, oh, where am I going to go? What am I going to do? Do I need Petro? And then I go, yeah. And it's all about you putting the effort into your driver. Yeah, but it's now automatic. You're doing it automatically without knowing. Even, you know, on, uh, uh, first or second lesson, and this might sound. Probably even mentioned this before on a previous podcast, but on that first lesson, when you move the car, How far do you want to drive? Make a decision? Get involved. In making those decisions and you're putting the effort in what I only want to drive here. I want to drive down to there. That it's you making the effort? To make a choice in your driving. Yeah. And if this episode is inspired you to think, actually I don't make that much effort. I'm going to put in some more effort. The ultimate level of effort would be things like the challenge that we did at the beginning of the month. Yeah. Where you actually really prioritize your drive in and you really dedicate some time to thinking about it. Prepping planning, reflecting. And treating it like a project. Actually treating it as if you were learning a new instrument or a new sport or some other new skill. So that would be making it a priority in your life and really dedicating some time to make it a bit more of a project would be. The ultimate level of effort. And the question that, I'd like to just put it out there for everybody really is. How much effort do you put into your driving? I would love to know people's answers. What have they done? How much effort do they put into driving? And when I think about. All the people we've spoken to in our real life interviews. F it is a consistent theme all the way through. So David talked about taken out his, test certificates from his fails and looking at them, analyzing them, doing the detective work. Rosie talked about how much effort she put in. Making our plans and setting those goals, continually making those stretch goals. Mangola talked about how much effort she had refresher lessons. And then she had a second lot of refresher lessons for her motorway driving. So. This is a theme. To overcome driving nerves and anxiety. Or to get to the point where you were confident driver and can pass your test. It takes effort. And if you think of the people are doing it effortlessly. I think that's the myth. And you don't know what's going on behind the scenes for those other people's. How much effort they're putting in? We'll leave you on that note. Yeah, we'll leave you with that question. How much effort are you putting into your driving? and let us know. You can get in touch with us. All of our contact details are in the show notes as always. And until next time, have a great day. Whatever you're doing. If you have enjoyed our podcast, did you know, we can also help you get back on the road to driving confidence? If you want to have the feeling of being safe. Be able to go shopping without relying on public transport. Create more time in your daily schedule. Become a confident driver. Visit friends or relatives that live further away. Drive to and from places of work. Feel safer when driving on faster roads. 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