Trying to get past the perfectionist mindset with driving manual.
Hello all!
I have my attainable dream car, a Civic Type R, and I’ve been driving manual for about 2.5 years at this point.
The problem is I still get way too in my head about driving it perfectly. If I have one rough 1-2 shift, a slightly awkward takeoff, or slip the clutch a little more than I wanted, I immediately start analyzing what I did wrong instead of just moving on and enjoying the car. Then I usually get in my own head and drive worse the rest of the way.
I know how to drive manual. Most of the time I drive completely fine, and I’m 100x better than I was on day one. I just have this mental block where I feel like every shift and takeoff needs to be flawless or I’m doing something wrong or somehow hurting the car. At this point I feel like it should be completely automatic and second nature.
After particularly shitty drives, I’ve even considered trading it for something like a DSG Golf R or DAT GR Corolla just to remove the manual perfectionism from the equation.
The funny part is I drive my best when I just say “fuck it” and stop thinking. If I have a bad drive home, I’ll literally crave going back out later for a “redemption drive.” It turns into this constant test where I’m trying to prove to myself that I can drive well.
Anyone else deal with this?
Serious question. I love driving manual and I’m just trying to become a really good driver, but at this point the only thing holding me back feels like my own brain.
How did you finally get to the point where you just drove the damn car and stopped grading yourself on every shift?