Forging self-efficacy amongst crises, failures and mistakes. How do we become stronger?

I used to be terrified of doing the wrong thing. I avoided eye contracts at school, on the street and even at stray cats that looked worse off than how I feel for fear of staring at daggers, sharpened by scorn and judgements from all directions.  

I was a small child and a lost soul. I didn’t have any confidence and no sense of who I was and it showed in school reports, in my relationships with friends and later in life – like being egged on to test out my arm wrestling prowess at a club after a few beers. That resulted in me snapping my arm like a KitKat, ending that career.

It ought to have been said that the people who has the most confidence in themselves and their abilities are those who have failed the most and faced their biggest inner demons. The most self-efficacious people are those who have gone through some of the biggest crisis in life.

Self-efficacy is a term used to describe an individual's belief in their own ability to accomplish certain tasks or achieving goals (Lopez-Garrido, 2023). Introduced to the world by psychologist Albert Bandura, it is one of the foundational element related to motivation, determination, and personal growth. Professionally, self-efficacy becomes a super-power for achieving goals, overcoming challenges, and for reeling in that glorious promotion.

Understanding Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy is the confidence you’ve placed in your skills, knowledge, and ability to successfully perform certain tasks in various areas of your life. But it’s not just self-confidence per se, it’s an unshakable belief in your own control and actions that leads to a desired outcome. The development of your unshakable belief affects the goals you choose to set, the effort you’re willing to put in, and the grit or perseverance you’re willing to tolerate when facing difficulties.

Importance of Self-Efficacy in Achieving Goals

Numerous studies have shown a similarity between self-efficacy and goal achievement. This means that you’re more likely to set challenging goals when you have high self-efficacy. You’ll have and retain higher motivation throughout the set goal, and have grit in spades when things don’t seem to go your way (Lopez-Garrido, 2023). It is one of the most powerful force that drives your personal growth, increases your performance and boosts your resilience. When you have self-efficacy, you’ll see obstacles as a challenge to overcome rather than something that’s impossible, hence it gives you a better chance of success.

With that preface, here’s how I defeated my inner demons and became a much better version of who I was.

Practical Strategies I used to Cultivate Self-Efficacy

a.       Setting realistic goals

Start by setting realistic, achievable goals that matches with your abilities and interests. Break them down into smaller tasks to make them easier to achieve and when doing so, each of these completed tasks will help reinforce your belief in your capabilities.

b.   Looking for aspiring individuals or Role Models (mine happened to be Eric Thomas)

Be in company with successful people in areas similar to your aspirations. As them to be your mentor and pay attention to their achievements as it can boost your self-efficacy since vicarious experience is also effective at building self-efficacy.

c.       Celebrating my wins, big or small

Celebrate your wins, no matter how small they are. When you have evidence of progress, it acts to reinforce your self-efficacy, and the belief that you are capable.

d.       Seeing failure as a learning opportunity

Most people view failure as a negative to be avoided at all cost. Maybe because they see it as a reflection of themselves or their abilities. However, the nature of failure is to provide an opportunity for learning experiences, to analyse the mistakes, identify areas of improvement, and move forward with renewed vigour so that you’re more likely to accomplish whatever goals that you’ve set out – no matter how audacious.

e.      Developing competence through skill-building

Improve your competence in chosen areas by continuously and never-ending improvements. Expand your knowledge and skill set by attending workshops, further education, and seeking every opportunities for growth and development.

As a leader, I try to provide plenty of diverse skill development opportunities, encouraging a participative culture where failures and challenging the status quo won’t be punished. I also encourage agreement on clear expectations from each employee and empower managers to create a work environment where individuals and company experience mutual growth. Additionally, by offering specific, timely, meaningful, and candid feedback and personalised performance improvement plans, managers will enable employees to unleash their full potential. This will result in engaged employees who finds more meanings in their work, have increased work motivation and job satisfaction, and ultimately increased productivity.

Final Thoughts…

The process of building self-efficacy is accumulative and transformative, meaning that all our wins (big or small) will add up to build our unshakable belief in our abilities and as such, it changes our mindset and the way we approach challenges. The most important takeaway here is that self-efficacy is not a fixed trait that we’re born with that doesn’t change, but a skill that can be improved and developed over time. Our full potential can only be unlocked once we have built an adequate amount of belief in our own abilities for certain tasks. Start by doing a self-assessment so that you can set realistic goals, find role models that you look up to, and realise that failure is an opportunity to learn and grow, not a reflection of your worth. If you can embrace the journey, then prepare for your true potential to be unleashed.