This Is How You Determine Success
I’ve got a throwback for you – and one that you’re going to love.
It is all about SELF-EFFICACY, which is basically 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. We give 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 (and as powerful) 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…let’s get to work!
