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The Secret of Gaining Confidence When You’re Doing Something New
It’s not about listening to people who tell you, “You’re great.”
As a die-hard New Yorker, I didn’t take driver’s ed in school. I figured I’d always live in a city with buses and subways.
Then I found myself in California as an elderly twenty-one-year-old. I needed a car. I needed to drive.
Driving didn’t come naturally to me. I’d never ridden a bicycle, so steering in a straight line was something new. I couldn’t believe other cars would do what they were supposed to do, i.e., stay in their lane and let me in when I wanted to merge. Each left turn represented a moment of sheer terror.
Night driving was a special challenge. It was dark out there.
The driving instructor reminded me, “Don’t drive past your headlights.”
Over the years, I came to understand what he meant. I learned to look for reflectors, signs, and lights, and to drive slowly on country roads that lacked these amenities. I also learned that I could drive much faster when I had driven a road many times.
