I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Barbara Corcoran a while ago, and I learned a few things from her that helped me, and even a few things that can help you as you teach your teen to drive, or learn to drive yourself. Continuing the three part series on what Barbara Corcoran of “Shark Tank” fame can teach us about driver education, here’s part two: Get Confident.

“Confidence is key.” It’s a phrase that is applied to many endeavors, and there’s a reason. Confidence isn’t just important so the other people around you follow your confident example. Confidence is important for your own determination. Confidence is what keeps you forging ahead, even when things may not be going exactly like you planned.

You’re teaching your teen to drive, and it’s taking longer for her to master the skills in the parking lot than you thought. It’s taking a lot longer, like two weeks longer than you had planned to spend there. You might start thinking that you’re not cut out to be her driver ed instructor. And that’s where you’re wrong. You can absolutely do it, and it requires confidence in your ability to do it.

What I learned from Barbara Corcoran, and what I want to share with you now, is that confidence is a choice. You can choose to be confident in yourself, and it will make you better at what you do, and give you the fortitude to forge ahead. Waiting to see if you can do something before believing that you can is backwards. Believe it from the beginning. Get confident.

Watch this video to see me, Patrick Barrett, the Driver Education Guru, talk more about being confident.