Fueling your confidence • 2 min read
Psychologist Albert Bandura is considered the guru of self-belief. His research has found that individuals with high levels of self-belief use emotional and physical reactions as a performance boosters, while those lacking in confidence perceive these same reactions as debilitating.
The ability to boost our mood and better manage our response to stress during challenging periods, will result in higher levels of self-belief.
Introduction
Ok, we now know that mastery experiences - overcoming obstacles and persevering through challenges - is like rocket fuel for our confidence.
So, how do we make sure we have enough fuel to keep our confidence sky high?
Great question. Well thank you. We talk to ourselves a lot; it’s just a thing we do!
Sorry, back to our question…to fuel our confidence even further, we can pay greater attention to our physical and mental health. This is the second internal influencer when it comes to self-belief.
Physical and emotional responses
Our physical and emotional response to situations plays an important role in either depleting or boosting our confidence levels.
Positive thoughts, feelings and emotions
When we're physically and mentally in a good place, we're more likely to have positive feelings about our abilities in any given task. In turn, our confidence levels are higher and we're better placed to take on the world.
Negative thoughts, feelings and emotions
In contrast, if we continually experience negative thoughts, feelings or emotions, it can have a knock-on effect on our self-belief. These states can influence how we feel about our abilities in our work environment. In short, it’s harder to believe in our ability to succeed.
So…you’re telling me to be happy all the time?
We know, we know…you can’t always be Dory from 'Finding Nemo' or Happy from 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'. Negative thoughts and feelings are a perfectly normal part of life.
The takeaway here is not to suppress these negative states but rather, to manage how we perceive them.
How we react to negative physical and emotional responses
We have two options for perceiving our abilities when our emotional and physiological states are not where we want them to be.
1. We feed a negative narrative that we’re “not good enough”. It’s harder to believe in ourselves when we attribute our negative internal states to poor performance or not hitting a goal. It’s a debilitating cycle. The more we doubt ourselves, the more that these negative states reduce our self-belief.
Or
2. We can demonstrate self-compassion. We can choose to perceive these states as a source of learning. By raising our awareness on the causes for these states, we can begin to understand how to minimise their impact on our self-belief.
Key takeaways
Our emotional and physiological states are a source from which we can draw self-belief.
Booster shots of confidence are a lot easier to source when we're physically and mentally in a good place. It positively influences how we feel about our abilities when we are in this state.
When we have negative thoughts, feelings or emotions, it’s harder to believe in our ability to succeed. The key is not to suppress these states but instead, to manage how we perceive them.
Think big, act small
Simply start by becoming aware of your inner dialogue.
How can you adapt these inner conversations to work in your favour?
When preparing for a performance, focus on the process and not the outcome.
When analysing a performance, focus on how to improve specific elements for the next time and reduce self-criticism.
Content sources
Albert Bandura, Self-Efficacy for Agentic Positive Psychology, PositivePsychology.com, Uyanga Tugsbaatar
SimplyPsychology, Self-Efficacy Theory, Gabriel Lopez-Garrido
The Choice: Embrace the Possible, Edith Eger
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