“With realisation of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world”
Dalai Lama
In one of our most recent posts we discussed the concept of fear and self-doubt. Both of these if not well managed, can be detrimental in the pursuit of our goals, in fact they can be so paralysing, that they can completely stop us attempting anything and lead to the stress and overwhelm that we at Semester are trying to help you avoid.
Today’s concept ‘self-belief’. This is something which is most definitely needed in helping to conquer the above mindset challenges and go on to lead an academic life of success and fulfilment.
“Self-belief (or self-efficacy) is a person’s belief in their ability to complete tasks and to achieve their goals (Bandura, 1995).
- Judging yourself to be capable of success increases your chances of actual success.
- Judging yourself as not capable of success reduces the chance of success.
Without belief in your ability to perform something you are never going to create the courage to start and then go on to achieve great things. This is particularly relevant when looking at your personal goals that you have defined at the start of the academic year.
So how can you foster self-belief? Here are a few practical suggestions that you can use from today to start developing your self belief and going on to do the great things that you are already capable of doing:
- Practice a task…the more you perform the better you will get
- Reject perfectionism
- Don’t compare yourself to others / Engage in self-competition
- Do not fear failure (Check out our last blog on overcoming fear)
- The more you perform something the better you get at it. I am an enthusiastic writer but when I first began I had a lot of self-doubt, I now believe in my abilities as I have performed the task so many times. I throw myself into the personal development field and as a result I have a lot of knowledge, this gives me confidence to pass it onto others. My message to you is to start taking action, as in doing so, you will start to see your confidence grow.
- Reject perfectionism. This is not one of my weakest traits and something I face a battle with daily, however the truth is perfect doesn’t exist. Seek progress as opposed to perfectionism as again, action is the only way you will learn. Often perfectionism is a mask for fear, and we have to recognise this and do our upmost best to overcome it (however challenging that may be).
- Comparing ourselves to others can be fatal. Remember, there are going to be people ahead of you, who are better than you, who are where you want to be. Instead look at these as a source of inspiration, seek support from them. As well as this, we should engage in self-competition, focusing on trying to be a better you. This is where you will see growth and an increase in self-belief.
- Do not fear failure. This is easier said than done but it is the truth. People fail sometimes. Although failure may jeopardise your self-belief initially, ultimately it would make you a stronger person and in the long run it fosters growth.
As a founder of Semester I am not going to sit here and say I am always full of self-belief because it is far from the truth. I wholeheartedly believe in my knowledge of this subject, I believe in this product wholeheartedly, but without question, I still have my self-doubts, it is part of being human.
You have to recognise the value in self-belief. There will be outside factors which can influence your mindset and without believing in yourself it will make such challenges difficult to overcome. People will question your actions, people will say it can’t be done, and if you believed their every word it most certainly becomes true for you.
When I recently attended a mindset event from dynamite lifestyle he told me that “everything begins with a thought”. He said the chair you’re sitting on now, the notebook your writing in, the screen you’re looking at, the room you’re sat in… it all began with a thought. Some of the greatest visionaries in the world all began with a thought. A thought to take man to the moon, a thought to have a mobile phone in everybody’s hand, there are so many examples, but at some point somebody believed in their abilities to build something great. They will have no doubt faced challenges and self-doubt, but ultimately they believed that they were capable of achieving their dream.
One of my favourite mindset coaches Steven Green often says that as humans we haven’t even scratched the service of what we are capable of. He has built a multi-million pound property portfolio, he runs multiple business, and even has a world record for back to back triathlons covering an insane amount of distance without sleep. He credits this to his belief in himself. If he had begun with the mindset that it wasn’t possible then 1. He might not have even attempted it. 2. He would have beaten himself in his own mind without even trying. But rest assured…we certainly aren’t asking you to even think about back to back triathlons yet!!
Self-belief Vs Self-doubt & Fear can almost feel like a battle of Good vs Evil at times for me personally, but there is no denying that we all need belief in our abilities to succeed in our own personal goals. All the greatest innovators and thought leaders in the world have been capable of their achievements by first starting with a solid self belief…and there is no reason that you can’t do the same and to go on and achieve all of the things that you set out to do.
I hope this article has helped you in some way and as always, if you want any support please reach out to us via the contact page or subscribe to receive our free wellbeing and productivity content that we provide to support your studies.
Also don’t forget to share you journey with us so we can build a community of likeminded people #LetsGrowTogether