Increasing Self-Efficacy
By Alyssa Richards
There isn’t a better time of year to talk about self-efficacy. People are narrowing down which of their goals are realistic and which are only a product of their exhilaration (shout out to the recent blog post on values). Even if you’re itching to move past all this talk of goals, I’ll reconcile; goal-setting without self-efficacy is like January without frequent complaints about goal-setting. It's alright—we’re in February now.
Put simply, self-efficacy is the amount of belief that you have in your own capabilities. Whether it be public speaking, making a friend, or creating a business, we instinctively set goals to seek personal growth. We cannot attain these goals without believing in ourselves. Sure, it may seem cliché. You’ve heard “believe in yourself,” “be confident,” and “trust in yourself” predictably plastered into your perceptive field, right? Even so, we need such confidence now more than ever. Empirical studies report the increasing influence that self-efficacy has on our well-being. Self-mastery, optimism, personal growth, decreased stress, increased performance, and so much more can be yours as you focus on this concept. So where do we turn to first?
Albert Bandura—the most prominent researcher in self-efficacy—proposed that self-efficacy originates from four categories of our perception: how we perceive our past achievements or failures, peers' achievements or failures, our current emotional state, and the feedback or coaching from others. Theoretically, we employ these perceptions to grant us a sustainable reason for why we can rightly believe in our capabilities. Since Bandura argues that humans are “agents to their own development,” this theory can be used to actively shape and sustain our self-efficacy.
However, this theory is not perfect. From my point of view, some of what we have observed from our past accomplishments and failures is commonly used for the purpose of defending our self-worth instead of creating our self-efficacy. Addressing this issue, as you’ll see, is the catalyst to creating powerful self-efficacy that can last.
Self-Worth
Oftentimes, we evaluate our worth based on external factors encouraged by self-esteem. Though it is not inherently wrong to want friends, family, and our society to hold us in high regard, continually evaluating your whole self only based upon it is like trying to sail across the Atlantic Ocean inside an inflatable tube. This is not only impossible and unsustainable, but studies have also shown this habit can lead to increased comparison, self-evaluation, depression, narcissism, ego defense, and even aggression. We have likely all experienced these issues to some degree. The only way to begin rebooting the system is from—of course—the help of our trusted friend: self compassion.
Self-Compassion
Even as self-esteem succeeds in finding evidence to prove our worth, you’ll find that self-compassion isn’t interested in worth to begin with. Just as we accept the sky as blue and the grass as green, self-compassion is so uninterested in worth because it acknowledges worth as innate and unchanging. Kristin Neff describes what self-compassion is really interested in:
“Self-compassion does not get lost in thought of being good or bad. It is not a judgment or evaluation … Our true value lies in being a conscious being who feels and perceives. Instead, self-compassion is a way of relating to the mystery of who we are … mindful of our present moment experience. It is caring about ourselves—fragile and imperfect yet magnificent as we are.”
As you begin relating to yourself through this mindful lens of respect and awe, you’ll recognize your self-kindness becoming more genuine and organic. Grasping the magnitude of our unending potential and capacity will pour an overwhelming amount of sincerity inside your self-efficacy that will hold up against doubt and failure. After which, you won’t need to forcefully muster the confidence to withstand shaking doubts; your instinct will be to appreciate them as an observation inside your perception. Thus, we see self-compassion is the first required step on this journey of developing true self-efficacy.
Strategies
From here, creating self-efficacy can be somewhat straight forward. Apply Albert Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy to actively perceive your strengths and even mindfully rewire past successes and failures in your mind. For example, you can sit with your failures and grant understanding and love, removing any judgment toward yourself. Another essential aspect of self-efficacy is belief all by itself. Ever heard that you’ll believe only what you hear? Thoughts, and how we perceive them, hold immense power because they create the belief that leads to action. You can use this to your advantage by using some of the affirmations below to begin forming healthy beliefs about yourself. You can also work backwards and focus on neuroplasticity—first changing your behavior, and then your beliefs.
For me, I’ve hoped to summon all forces of self-efficacy in preparation for graduate school this coming fall. Whatever it is for you, expanding your self-efficacy with mindfulness can not only allow you to conquer current goals, but can unfold an awe-stretching horizon of your potential, summiting heights you never could have visited otherwise.
Here are some resources to help get you started on increasing your self-efficacy!
"Self-Efficacy: Helping Children Believe They Can Succeed" — NASP
“4 Ways to Improve and Increase Self-Efficacy” — positivepsychology.com
“Albert Bandura: Self-Efficacy for Agentic Positive Psychology” — positivepsychology.com
“The Space Between Self-Esteem and Self-Compassion” — Kristin Neff Ted Talk
Self-compassion strategies — My Best Self 101 Self-Compassion Module
Books
Self-Efficacy in Changing Societies — Albert Bandura
Self-Compassion — Kristin Neff
Affirmations
“My worth is constant, therefore irrelevant and impertinent.”
“I have already been born. Just being here means I’m enough.”
“I am capable / talented / able to [fill in blank].”
“I trust in my abilities.”
“I allow emotion and thought to pass through me.”
“I welcome change.”
“I expect failure and setbacks.”
“I have accomplished so much.”
“I believe myself / respect my choices.”
“I am proud of who I am becoming.”
“My body is working for my good.”
“My body is helping me perform my best.”
“I love and respect myself.”
“I love and respect my past understanding / perspective.”
“I hear and respect my needs.”
Tips for helping kids with self-efficacy!
See good in your children, and they will see good in themselves. You don’t even have to point it out forcefully—if you see it yourself, it will happen organically.
Give positive reinforcement for their effort. Pay attention to their hard work, not necessarily if they reached their goal or not.
After you see they have worked hard, ask them how they feel about the task, about hard work, and about themselves.
Talk to yourself about specific reasons why you believe in each of your children. The rest will flow naturally for them and you won’t have to try as hard.
List reasons why you love each of your children, exactly the way they are, without any expectations of their behavior or future choices.