In this post, I want to talk about self-efficacy.
So, what is self-efficacy?
Basically, it is your success barometer. It’s a trait that can predict how successful you will be!
What makes it even more awesome is that you can build and develop it in a short period of time. It’s almost like a superpower.
Self-efficacy is basically a fancy term for what happens in the children’s story, “The Little Engine That Could.”
Do you remember it?
It’s about a train that had to climb a big hill … and at first it wasn’t so sure it was possible.
It chanted, “I think I can, I think I can,” … which turned into “I know I can, I know I can,” … and eventually it pulled itself to the top of the hill.
Self-efficacy – the engine’s belief in itself that it could do hard things – is what powered that train up the mountain!
In a nutshell, self-efficacy is like self-confidence at the next level.
It’s the KNOWING that you can count on yourself when the chips are down … and that you can and will do your best whenever possible.
When you challenge yourself and push yourself out of your comfort zone, your self-efficacy meter goes up.
We teach it to kids, but it falls by the wayside as we get older.
There can be so many reasons we stop flexing our “self-efficacy muscles” … time, expectations (from others and from ourselves), disappointments, and even fear.
Over time, this can have a profound impact on your life, making it so you don’t even consider trying new things and we end up giving up before we even start!
This is where the “comfort zone” comes in … and over time, that comfort zone can get smaller and smaller and not very comfortable at all.
So how do you work on building your self-efficacy?
You do something that makes you uncomfortable.
It doesn’t mean going bungee jumping or signing up for a marathon.
It can be as simple as deciding you are going to stick with a program for a month… and then following through with it, NO MATTER WHAT.
Even on days you don’t want to. Even if you’re tired or busy.
Especially when you’re tired and busy.
There is a huge payoff in all of this.
You realize everything you’re capable of!
In the words of writer A.A. Milne in Winnie The Pooh, you learn:
“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” –– Christopher Robin.
I KNOW you can do whatever you put your mind to. But do YOU know it?
All you have to do is decide … and then just do it!
You’ve got this.
