SELF-EFFICACY
THE ESSENTIAL SENSE OF LIFE COMPETENCY
tba, draft notes, email me if you want this finished sooner or more.
Is anything more important in life?
SELF EFFICACY IS
“The belief in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations.” (Bandura, 1995, p. 2)
It approaches the idea of self confidence.
THE EFFECTS
Without a sense of self-efficacy, you can't:
Be happy.
Get much done (for your benefit)
Improve your life
Add much to your life
With a poor sense of self efficacy, you:
Fear more
Are more anxious
Think poorly of yourself
Wait to be rescued (which can't be controlled, causing more anxiety)
And if you feel you are not competent to handle life you are sending a clear signal that your survival is at risk, so your alarm system goes into overdrive looking to carry the load.
Opposite is helplessness and a belief in one's being powerless or not powerful enough.
DECREASING OR REINFORCING A POOR SENSE OF SELF EFFICACY
A huge, huge, huge cost....
Not allowing another person to cope on his/her own can have a huge cost.
How else can they learn to cope?
Yes, you might coach them, especially if they have no clue on what to do, but leave it up to them to pull it off!
GAINING SELF-EFFICACY
A person might not be conscious of where he is not competent, but the lack of desired results in an area or overall in life are a sure indicator that there is something to look for.
In order for a person to get to a higher level of life competence, he/she must become aware of what is called "Unconscious Incompetence" and then proceed to the next level of "Conscious Incompetence", where one can start looking for ways to become competent so that we can achieve "Conscious Competence". And when we get so competent that it becomes natural (second nature) and automatic, we reach "Unconscious Competence" - which is the point where it is virtually effortless, but hugely productive. And the effect is to greatly enhance one's sense of self-efficacy, of having personal power over one's life. (See At First You're Always Incompetent - It's Not A Fault, Only A Necessary Step To Becoming Competent.)
HOW TO DEVELOP MORE OF IT
Do an abilities assessment (see Overall Life Test, a strengths assessment and a successes in life list.
Affirm that you can do the key things in life if only you take the time to learn to do what a successful person does (and knows).
Engage in a learning/implementation program.
Do not stop until you've achieved a satisfactory level of key strengths in life.
THE EXPERIENCE OF "PUSHING THROUGH" OBSTACLES
Perhaps the most important lesson for children (of which you were one) is that they can solve problems that may not seem solvable. In one middle school, they took four months to do a major project to produce a working electricity generator and to do what it would take to learn about electricity. They even had friendly competitions around it. One girl notably said what perhaps alot of people were thinking: "I know nothing about science or mechanical stuff. I will fail."
But they did succeed after a string of failures (aka learning experiences) - and they learned one of the most valuable lessons in life - that they CAN do it, they can solve problems and come up with solutions...and it takes effort and pushing it through.
