All of us want success—like successful and satisfying work, happy relationships, and success in maintaining good health or reversing disease. Decades of scientific research show that an indispensable key to success in those and other areas of life is self-efficacy.
Self-efficacy is believing you can do what it takes to meet your goals and achieve success. It’s not general self-confidence. It’s the confidence in your ability to execute specific behaviors, in specific situations, and achieve specific goals. Write a compelling business memo. Exercise regularly. Please your spouse.
Without self-efficacy, it’s unlikely you will achieve your specific goals. With self-efficacy, it’s likely you will achieve them.
In fact, with higher self-efficacy, you’ll probably set challenging goals—and persist in the face of obstacles.
A study in the June 7, 2024 issue of the medical journal Life shows the power of self-efficacy to maintain healthy habits and achieve better health. The researchers looked at nearly 2,000 people with heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. Most of the study participants had a tough time maintaining a healthy lifestyle, like eating a Mediterranean-style diet or exercising regularly. But a group of participants had “elevated self-efficacy in maintaining healthy habits”—even in the face of challenges like family members eating unhealthy foods, stress, negative emotions, and a busy schedule. These participants demonstrated “a steadfast belief in their capacity to enact positive changes in their lives”—and, compared to the low-efficacy group, were 72 percent more likely to stick with a Mediterranean-style diet, and 30 percent more likely to exercise regularly. On average, they had a lower body mass index (BMI), and were less likely to suffer ill health.
Similarly, studies show that people with higher self-efficacy:
- have better and faster recovery after a stroke, surgery, or injury;
- are better able to follow a medical regimen;
- are less likely to suffer from depression and anxiety;
- cope better with stress;
- have a greater ability to resolve conflict in relationships, and experience longer relationships;
- are more productive, adaptable, and proactive at work; and
- are more likely to embrace learning challenges, and perform better academically.
Five ways to increase self-efficacy beliefs
Research shows there are five main ways to develop self-efficacy beliefs.
Experience your own self-efficacy
Every time you perform successfully in a specific area—you plan, you act, you reach your goal—your belief in your ability to perform in that area grows. For example:
If a teacher gets top ratings from their students—and if they regard those ratings as the result of their ability as a teacher (rather than luck, or easily pleased students)—it’s likely that self-efficacy beliefs in their ability as a teacher will strengthen. On the other hand, if the teacher receives low ratings that they attribute to their lack of ability, it’s likely their self-efficacy beliefs will weaken.
Bottom line: If you want to develop self-efficacy beliefs in a specific area, you have to consistently and effectively act in that area. Begin with manageable tasks, and build up to more challenging ones.
Experience another person’s efficacy
If you watch someone else do something, and learn from watching, you develop confidence in your ability to do that thing. But there’s a caveat: This type of “vicarious” self-efficacy depends on how similar you are to the person you are watching.
If you want to play tennis, for example, and watch Roger Federer or Serena Williams play tennis, you may conclude you’ll never be able to play tennis that well—and give up.
Bottom line: For a vicarious experience of self-efficacy in a specific area, model yourself on someone similar to you.
Imagine self-efficacy
Before taking action, many of us rehearse the action in our mind—what’s going to happen, how to deal with it, and the possible reactions of others. This kind of visualization can be positive or negative, either building or eroding self-efficacy.
In a positive visualization, you see yourself as dealing with and overcoming problems, obstacles, and setbacks, and performing well. The more you mentally rehearse these positive scenarios, the greater your self-efficacy will be when you engage the actual situation.
But many of us do just the opposite, mentally rehearsing negative scenarios. For example: while waiting to start a job interview, you might think, “Oh my god, I don’t know what I’m doing here. This job is too high level for me. What am I going to do if they ask that question?” This negative scenario reduces rather than enhances self-efficacy. Bottom line: visualize positive actions and outcomes before taking action.
Receive encouragement about efficacy
Verbal encouragement about a specific area of action builds self-efficacy in that area. But there are pep talks, and then there are anti-pep talks, the kind that lower self-efficacy. You might tell a friend about a job you’re applying for, and they respond, “You want to do what? You’ve never done that before. You have no experience for that.” Most of our family and friends have no idea of the impact of these types of messages. Ask a family member, friend, or colleague for verbal encouragement for the specific behaviors, actions, and goals you want to do.
Physical and emotional support for efficacy
If you’re anxious—a state in which your emotions are unsettled and your body is tense—you’re likely to have lower self-efficacy. When you’re anxious and tense in specific situations, take a few deep breaths to help reduce the physical and emotional stress. For example, try “box breathing”—inhale for four seconds, hold for four seconds, exhale for four seconds, and hold for four seconds.
