Bonus Short from Episode 141: From Learner to Trainee Instructor: Navigating Fears, Social Media Traps, and Test Day Pressure with guest Laura Johnson

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. On today's episode, we're welcoming on Laura Johnson from Driving Test Success and Laura is also a trainee driving instructor. So welcome Laura. Thank you very much for having me today. Welcome you on and pleased to meet you. Yes, first time. So Laura, we had a little free chat, didn't we, before actually recording this episode. And we've talked about a couple of different things. We've talked about looking at things from a different perspective,

1:03how taking the perspective of a trainee driving instructor can just sort of show that actually everybody can experience nerves and anxiety. But we also talked about things from the other side of what you do, which is social media content. And the sorts of things that learner drivers, anxious drivers might be looking at on social media. And how maybe that can cause more problems than it can help. So could you tell us a bit more about that side of things? Yeah, absolutely. So social media, especially if somebody like me is a really great resource to complement your learner journey. You know, just like with everything, there are maybe some content rates that they're that maybe can misinform. So it's always good to check with your driving instructor to make sure that the information that you're getting from social media is relevant and it's actually going to help you. Lots of driving instructors these days recommend

2:04certain content creators because there is really good information out there. And the fact is, the younger generation does consume a lot of the things that they need on social media. That is just that the world we live in. So it would be silly of us to say, don't use social media to support your learning journey. That's not realistic. So it's important to make sure that the stuff that you're getting is relevant and that you're instruct to agrees with it and supports that. The problem is is that we can't control what the algorithm throws your way. So what I have been hearing a lot more of is anxiety levels in learners increase and specifically around how other people on the roads are. So for example, rushing to pull out and around about because you're worried that people behind you are going to get frustrated and impatient, the nerves around whether the person behind you's going to beat you, you know, even things like in 20 mile an hour zones. Sometimes other people don't believe that 20 miles an hour is the right speed. And so if you're going at the speed limit and someone behind you wants to get past that anxiety of you're following the rules

3:09but you feel like someone behind you is putting pressure on you. And the thing is when you're consuming this stuff on social media, you probably think it happens all the time. And so that increases your like, oh, what am I going to get bit? When it is going to happen to me? What if I'm too so? What if? What if what if? And that's actually really dangerous because what that then puts you in a position obvious, you're then thinking about the decisions you're making not in terms of how safe is it? Not in terms of what is the risk here, but in terms of what is the impact of me taking my time and making sure that I'm safe going to have on somebody getting from A to B behind me. So I think it's a really important conversation to have. And my advice would be and is and you know, I'd be really interested in your input from this as well because I might be wrong. When you're learning to drive, you are learning an instructor who is an expert. Trust me, a really difficult process to become a driving instructor, which is why I've failed a few times so far. You're with an expert. If they feel like you're taking too long, they're going to talk you through that to help you understand when it is appropriate to go.

4:13The people behind you and around you, so long as your behaviour is safe, they don't matter in that instance. You need to make sure that you are judging the risk for yourself and for pedestrians and for other road users in terms of what you do next, not who's behind you and how long you're taking. That will get easier as time goes on, but our focus should never be on whether or not someone behind us or next while someone in front of us is getting frustrated, so long as we're behaving in a safe and confident way. So that's what I would say, but also just take your instructors advice, take their name, they're going to make sure that you're safe. 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.