The Gravity of Self-Efficacy: Unlocking the Power of Believing in Yourself
In mental health and personal growth, one concept often stands out as a staple of transformative power: self-efficacy. Self-efficacy refers to one’s belief in their capability to be successful in their endeavors, quests, experiences, and challenges. This belief is an essential component of our mental health that impacts every aspect of our lives. Not only as a therapist but also personally within myself, I’ve seen the profound effect that self-efficacy can have on one’s life.
Understanding Self-Efficacy
Self-efficacy is more than just being a positive person. It's the whole belief in oneself being in control of the outcomes in life. This belief impacts how we approach everything in life, from tasks to how we handle stress to persevering through adversity to so much more! When you believe in your ability to succeed, you're more likely to tackle challenges head-on, set higher goals, and remain resilient in the face of setbacks.
On the other hand, a lack of self-efficacy can feel almost paralyzing. It may lead to avoidance of challenging situations, lack of motivation, and a tougher time coping with stress. When you don't believe in your capacity to succeed, you're more likely to give up when faced with obstacles, which can create a cycle of frustration and self-doubt.
My point is that what we believe is what we produce: if you believe in success, you will likely produce success, and if you believe in failure, you will likely produce failure.
Building Self-Efficacy
Building self-efficacy isn't an overnight process; it involves consistent effort and self-reflection. I know that this can seem a bit daunting, but don’t worry!
I’ve provided some tips below to help you begin your self-efficacy journey.
(1) Small (but mighty) Goals!
The best way to start our self-efficacy journey is by being realistic with ourselves and setting small, yet impactful goals that will bolster our confidence and allow us to keep pushing the limits of our belief in ourselves. Setting small goals that can grow eventually into larger accomplishments, and breaking down these goals can help us stay calm and provide the proof that we can be successful!
(2) Looking Back
Remembering what we excel at and how far we have come is a common tactic used in therapy to remind ourselves of just how much we are capable of. This reflection directly allows us a chance to take a step back and acknowledge our own capabilities. Within these capabilities, we are able to identify our strengths and use these strengths to our advantage in the future!
(3) You Learn Something New Everyday
There is truly nothing like the feeling of learning something new. It’s both new and exciting, all while adding a new skill to our toolbelt of confidence! This, with consistent practice, gives us hard evidence of just how impressive we can be when we put our minds to good use.
(4) Watch Your Mouth (or mind)!
This one is a big one: how we speak to ourselves matters!!!! If we are talking or thinking negatively to/about ourselves, then we are going to project this negativity out into the world through our body language, our tone, our communication styles, and our actions. These behaviors can cause lower self-esteem, increased stress, and worsened moods undermining our confidence and self-efficacy. It’s important that whenever we find ourselves being negative, we take the time to acknowledge the negative thought and think about the reality and gravity of each thought. From here, we can use positive affirmations to overcome these pesky negative thoughts! Be GONE negative thoughts!!
I know, I know, I know what you’re thinking! “Affirmations make me feel silly,” or “Affirmations don’t work for me.” I used to think so too, and I’m not asking you to look in a mirror every morning and tell yourself that you’re the most perfect person in the whole world and that your life is going to go exactly as you imagine it will all the time...
Because you’re not, and it won’t! And that is a wonderful thing!
(1) It would be exhausting to be the most perfect person in the world
(2) it would be SO boring if your life went exactly the way you imagine it would all the time.
But just because you’re not perfect does not mean that you are not capable of accomplishing great successes. I’m simply asking you to talk more nicely to yourself and acknowledge that you deserve all things good simply because you are you, and that’s that.
(5) Support, Support, SUPPORT!
Who we choose to surround ourselves with matters! It’s so important to surround yourself with supportive friends, family, and peers who believe in you and encourage your growth. Positive reinforcement from others can boost your self-efficacy. I recently took a class that focused on the
effects of self-efficacy in every facet of life (it literally has a positive effect in every area of life), but the one that stood out to me most was the power of self-efficacy when sick! Studies have shown that one’s self-efficacy impacts the success/time of one’s recovery from an illness or an injury, particularly when you have the support from others who believe in you too.
Whether you choose to work with a mentor, a coach, or a therapist, having someone in your life who can provide a sense of encouragement, and support, give some good old-fashioned guidance, and give feedback in an unbiased fashion can be invaluable. All three of those people have their strengths to help lift you into a person with a strong sense of self-efficacy, but obviously, I’m going to tell you about how a therapist can help you in your journey to the optimal level of self-efficacy:
Helping to identify strengths/past achievementsSetting specialized goalsIntroduce Self-RegulationGiving coping mechanism toolsPracticing Communication SkillsOffering unbiased, unwavering supportGive Realistic FeedbackCognitive Restructuring
(6) Embrace it all!
Challenges are always intimidating, but when challenges are viewed as ways to grow despite the outcome, they can never be looked at as something that can result in total failure. All situations can be taken as learning experiences, for example, my rule of thumb is that if I ever have any interview scheduled, no matter what, I will always go through with the interview as it can always be used as a learning experience. From experiencing challenges, we can learn where we need to rework our approach to better succeed next time, and through this, we boost our self-efficacy through our confidence to succeed in the future.
(7) Coping Mechanisms
I took a class once where my professor told me that we all should have at least 10 coping mechanisms in our back pockets for when we have a hard day, struggle with stress, or feel overwhelmed. Coping mechanisms allow us the space to breathe and handle our issues instead of bottling them up for them to only simply explode in a much more catastrophic way later.
My favorite coping mechanisms are reading a book, practicing mindfulness, grounding myself (3-3-3 technique), and breathing/humming exercises. These coping mechanisms allow me a chance to calm down and recognize that I am capable of hard things without necessarily having to be a stoic, never-feels-emotions person, which on further boosts my sense of identity and my self-efficacy.
(8) Celebrate YOU!
We live in a society that tells us that it’s rude to brag and that we should always be as humble as possible.
It’s okay to be proud of yourself!! Our achievements are proof of our hard work, and our hard work DESERVES to be acknowledged!
This is how we motivate ourselves and continue pushing toward the next goal, as it shows us how far we’ve come and allows us to see what we did right while working on what we can fix for next time.
(9) The Lifelong Power of Believing in Yourself
The process of building up self-efficacy is a continuous journey that involves self-awareness, constant practice, self-compassion, and persistence through successes and setbacks. By setting achievable goals, learning from experiences, managing self-talk, seeking support, identifying coping mechanisms that work for you, and celebrating progress, you will unlock the power of believing in yourself, and once you do, you won’t be able to get enough!
Our minds, bodies, and souls are our most significant investments in life, and the more we invest in developing self-efficacy, the more resilient we will become in navigating life’s challenges. This resilience, through the power of self-efficacy, will ultimately lead us to a more fulfilling and empowered existence.
And you deserve that!
Meet the Author: Mary Cate Stiles
Mary Cate Stiles (she/her) is a counseling intern at Space Between Counseling Services, and she is supervised by Diana Harden, LCPC. Mary Cate treasures the value of the therapeutic process and works to provide a safe space to allow people to freely express themselves without fear of judgement.
Mary Cate believes firmly in the power of self-efficacy, and hopes to shine a light on this impactful therapeutic tool. Mary Cate incorporates her humorous and outogoing personality into the therapy space, and specializes in women's issues, topics of sex and sexuality, is LGBTQIA+ affirming, works with individuals with interpersonal problems, anxiety, and post-traumatic growth, as well as works with teens, young adults, and children.
When not in the therapeutic space, Mary Cate often can be found reading a book, on a walk taking in the day, hanging out with friends at a new restaurant, or hanging out with her fun-loving dog, Hoagie.