If you have THIS then there’s no stopping you
The power of self-belief — and how you can get more of it.
The one trait that all successful writers / entrepreneurs / fill-in-the-blanks have in common is…
Self-belief.
That’s it.
According to Henry Ford, self-belief is one of the most essential ingredients you need for success. (The rest is just a matter of learning new knowledge and skills.)
Here’s an inspiring example of the power of self-belief.
Rose Blumkin arrived in the United States in 1917 with a tag around her neck. She had narrowly escaped World War I with her young family.
Rose spoke no English. Her daughter would come home from school and teach Rose the English words she’d learned that day.
As soon as Rose could speak a little English, she started a small business selling used clothing. She worked day and night while raising four kids.
Finally — after 20 years of hard work — Rose had saved $2500.
But she wasn’t stopping there.
Because Rose had a dream to start a furniture store. So she travelled to Chicago and bought as much furniture as she could with her $2500.
Now, Rose had never been to a single day of school her entire life. She still couldn’t read or write! But Rose was passionate about giving her customers the best experience.
And — more importantly — she believed in herself.
So she worked tirelessly to build her furniture business from the ground up. And 46 years later…
Rose sold her business to Warren Buffett for $60 million.
THAT’S the power of self-belief.
I was so inspired when I stumbled across this story.
But it also made me wonder — what exactly is self-belief anyway? How do you know if you have it? And more importantly, how can you get more of it?
So I put my PhD hat on and set off in search of some answers. And here’s what I found.
What is self-belief?
Self-belief — or self-efficacy — is your belief in your ability to complete a task and achieve what you set out to do.
The father of self-determination theory, Albert Bandura, observed two things:
- If you judge yourself as capable, you are more likely to be successful.
2. If you judge yourself as NOT capable, you are LESS likely to be successful.
As Henry Ford put it –
“Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re right.”
Having high self-belief (or self-efficacy) makes you more likely to take on challenging tasks, helps you develop a deeper interest in what you do, and may even help you overcome setbacks more quickly.
But just as importantly, self-belief is NOT having an over-inflated sense of your own abilities, as this could lead you to develop a fixed mindset.
And you don’t want a fixed mind when you’re aiming for success.
You need enough belief in yourself to keep going & overcoming new challenges… but still be open to working on your weaker areas.
How do you know if you have self-belief?
Psychologists have developed a number of scientific assessment tools to measure self-efficacy.
The most recent — and shortest — tool is the New General Self-Efficacy Scale. This is an 8-question survey that assesses your belief in your ability to achieve your goals, no matter what difficulties you encounter.
The survey asks you to agree or disagree with statements like:
“I will be able to achieve most of the goals that I have set for myself.”
For each question, you rank your agreement on a 5-point scale from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree.
Then you calculate the average across all 8 questions. A higher score indicates greater self-efficacy.
How can you get more self-belief?
The good news here is that Bandura observed that yes, absolutely, you can train yourself to improve your self-efficacy.
So here are three simple strategies to increase your self-efficacy based on Bandura’s self-determination theory:
1. Celebrate your success
This is the most powerful way to build your self-efficacy, according to Bandura. Achieving small wins is the best way to create belief in your ability.
But you don’t want success to come too easily — so make sure you’re setting goals that are still challenging.
2. Observe others putting in effort
When you see others making an effort — and succeeding — this also increases your self-belief.
And the more similar your role models are to yourself, the better.
3. Seek positive feedback
Hearing positive affirmations from people around you, such as friends, family, mentors, coaches, can be hugely valuable for your self-belief.
But on the flip side, negative or hyper-critical feedback can be damaging. So seek feedback from those who have a positive view on what you’re doing.
And while social feedback is important, it’s not the only thing you need to build self-belief. Make sure you get plenty of #1 and #2 as well.
So I hope this has been helpful.
And if Rose’s story has resonated with you like it did with me…
If you know deep down that you’re capable of achieving what you want, whether it’s in your writing, in your business, or whether it’s in a health or fitness goal…
Then I just want to say — congratulations.
Because if you have belief in yourself, you’re on your way to success.
If Rose was alive today, I imagine she would probably say the same thing.
(And I reckon her other piece of advice would be to never stop.)
