Self-efficacy is your perception about your ability to do something. No matter what task is in front of us, we all have an idea of what our ability is to complete the task. If you have strong self-efficacy, you generally believe that you can master any challenge. Meanwhile, a student with weak self-efficacy typically believes that they will fail at a task and cannot rise to the challenge. 

To reach our most difficult and ambitious academic goals, it is so important to maintain a strong self-efficacy. The belief in your ability leads to the improvement of that ability. Set-backs become experience as you engage in the learning process. Your confidence becomes unshakeable as you embrace the challenges in front of you and grow from courageous attempts at greatness. If your self-efficacy drops, so does your learning as you believe that you can’t accomplish the goal or learn the ability that you are struggling with. 

Here are four ways you can improve your self-efficacy and take control of your learning today!

  • Write down “I can” statements. Sometimes you need to see it to believe it. Put the ability you are trying to master on paper so you can see the belief you have in yourself. 
  • Talk to others who have done it. If a task seems scary or impossible, talk to someone else who has accomplished it and learn from the attempts they made and the successes (or failures) they had. 
  • Break the task down into more manageable steps. Maybe you feel like you can’t get an A on the 5 page research paper that your strict English teacher assigned. However, you might be able to write an A+ introduction. Following that, you might be able to write a perfect first body paragraph. Instead of panicking over the task as a whole, believe in your ability to complete one section at a time with excellence. 
  • Visualize past success. Sometimes we don’t believe that we will win even though we have had success in the past. That’s because it is easier to remember fears and failures than it is to remember success and great accomplishments. You need to be intentional about remembering times that you have done something that you didn’t feel you could. No matter how small or insignificant the moment is, remembering the confidence boost you gained from pushing through and attempting to do better for yourself will increase your self-efficacy.

Growth comes from experience. A lack of self-efficacy can take away your experience. If you believe you will fail, you are less likely to give your best effort which robs you of learning or growing. Commit to increasing your self-efficacy and believe the best in yourself. You deserve it!

Category: Academics