In this video, I'm going to share with you three tips to help you to manage your driving
test nerves so that you can maximise your chances of passing your test.
Now, before I share those tips with you, the first thing I want you to hold in your mind
is that nerves can be really helpful; they can help us to prepare for things, they can
help to focus our attention, to improve our decision making, and, also, our response times.
But, past a certain point, they turn into anxiety and start to undermine our performance;
they can distract us, cloud our judgement, and interfere with our ability to perform
and respond appropriately. So, it's really important that you can learn to manage your
nerves so that they help and not hinder you. Okay, now a little bit of biology. So, there
are two parts to our nervous system. The first part is the sympathetic nervous system, and
this is active when we are feeling nervous, and it can help us to perform better. But,
if it becomes overstimulated, it creates feelings of anxiety; it creates negative thoughts;
it leads to poor decision-making and poor response times.
The second part of our nervous system is called the parasympathetic nervous system, and this
is active when we are relaxed, and it leads to feelings of calmness, clear thinking, and
controlled action. The way to remember this is, sympathetic nervous system begins with
an 'S', like stressed; and parasympathetic nervous system begins with a 'P', like peace.
Okay, well, that's the way I remember it! Now, the ideal is to switch off your sympathetic
nervous system when it becomes overstimulated and switch on your parasympathetic nervous
system to calm you down—to enable you to regain control of your thoughts, your feelings,
and your behaviours. Okay, so there are three ways that you can
do this. The first way is by changing the way that
you think about things. Now, when we're anxious, we tend to dwell on the worst-case scenario
and assume, or start to believe, that this is the thing that is most likely to happen.
So, you might be thinking, 'I'm going to fail my driving test', and these types of thoughts
lead to our nerves turning into anxiety as our sympathetic nervous system becomes overstimulated.
The way to deal with this is to highlight to yourself how you would cope with that worst-case
scenario, and then, also, what is more likely to happen, what's the more likely scenario?
And these two things will signal to your brain that it's okay to switch off the sympathetic
nervous system and switch on the parasympathetic nervous system. So, for example, the worst-case
scenario is, 'I'm going to fail my test.' How would you cope with that? Well, you'd
take another test. And that happens a fair amount of the time; it took me three attempts
to pass my driving test. Then, once you've done that, put together a more likely scenario.
So, for example, 'Well, my driving instructor thinks I'm ready, or else he wouldn't have
suggested that I take the test. So, I need to trust his judgement, put in my best performance,
and I'm more likely than not to pass.' Okay, the second way of dealing with your
driving test nerves is through your breathing.
When our sympathetic nervous system is overstimulated,
our breath becomes very fast and rapid—as if we're being chased. And just by slowing
down your breath—deepening your breath—you can signal to your brain to turn off your
sympathetic nervous system and turn on your parasympathetic nervous system.
So, try this breathing exercise. I want you to breathe in for the count of
two. One...two... And exhale for the count of two. One...two...
Now, inhale for the count of three. One...two...three... And exhale for the count of three. One...two...three...
Inhale for the count of four. One...two...three...four... And exhale for the count of four... Two...three...four...
Now, inhale for the count of five... Two...three...four...five...
And exhale for the count of five... Two...three...four...five...
What you'll find is that as your inhale and exhale becomes longer, your sympathetic nervous
system will switch itself off, and your parasympathetic nervous system will switch itself on, and
you will begin to feel calmer. And the more you practice this, the better you will become
at it. Okay, the final way of managing your driving
test nerves is to slow down. Now, when our sympathetic nervous system is overstimulated,
we tend to behave in a very frantic way, and simply making the conscious decision to slow
ourselves down signals to the brain to switch off the sympathetic nervous system and switch
on the parasympathetic nervous system. With practice, over time, you will get better and
better at doing this—just taking that conscious decision to slow yourself down.
Each one of these techniques, used on their own, will help you manage your nerves; but
if you can use them all together, it will ensure your best performance in your test,
and maximise your chances of passing. So, good luck. Thank you for watching.
I hope this was helpful, and I'll see you soon.